Air Handling

In many industrial facilities, air compressors use more electricity than any other type of equipment. Inefficiencies in compressed air systems can therefore be significant. Energy savings from system improvements can range from 20 to 50 percent or more of electricity consumption. For many facilities this is equivalent to thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of potential annual savings. A properly managed compressed air system can save energy, reduce maintenance, decrease downtime, increase production throughput, and improve product quality.

 

Energy costs are the largest portion of the lifetime costs of a compressed air system. It is therefore wise to consider energy use when making system improvements or buying a new system.

 

Boilers

 

Choosing an efficient new condensing boiler, or retrofitting your existing boiler and practicing efficient boiler O&M, can save you up to 35 percent in fuel costs. Large boiler systems generally operate at between 75 to 85 percent efficiency. New condensing gas-fired boilers have efficiencies above 92 percent, an improvement of 35 percent over some older boiler systems. Given the large amounts of energy passing through commercial and industrial boilers, they should be operated and maintained to maximize efficiency and save on fuel costs. To gain further energy savings, existing boilers can be fitted with devices like economizers that increase efficiency. Of course, proper boiler O&M is the key to maintaining system efficiency and can produce energy savings of up to 20 percent in new boilers.

 

Blanchers

 

Blanching is a necessary step in the preparation of vegetables for freezing, drying, or canning. In water blanching, the product is submerged in water at 190-210 F for a specific period of time, then rapidly cooled. In steam blanching, the product is exposed to steam at a specific temperature for a specific time and then rapidly cooled.

 

Conveyors

 

Conveyors that move food for processing and sorting tasks have the potential to use large amounts of energy unnecessarily. Two types of conveyors are frequently used in the food processing industry.

 

 

 

However, pneumatic conveyor systems typically use between five to ten times the energy of mechanical systems. So if energy efficiency is a priority, than the use of pneumatic conveyor systems may not be the best option.

 

Mechanical conveyor systems can be made more efficient through the use of energy efficiency motors to drive the belts or other mechanical systems that are conveying materials.

 

Evaporators

Evaporators are widely used in the food processing industry to remove a portion of the water from food products. This reduces bulk and weight for subsequent processing, increases solids content (as for jams and molasses), helps preserve the product, provides convenience to the end consumer and concentrates color or flavor.

 

Evaporation generally involves heating the fluid in a vessel under vacuum to cause a change in state of water from liquid to vapor and then recovery of water by passing the vapor through a condenser. The component parts of the evaporator include:

 

 

In some products evaporation causes the loss of flavor volatiles. In this case, a low temperature unit is added to recover the flavor volatiles so that they can be added back to the product.

 

Fork Trucks and Utility Vehicles

BUYING THE RIGHT LIFT TRUCK

Electric lift trucks save money because they don't require fuel, oil changes, or replacement parts like points and plugs.

Several factors go into deciding which lift vehicle to buy.

 

Motors

Because nearly 70% of all electricity used in the industry is consumed by motor systems, increasing the energy efficiency of existing motor systems would lead to dramatic energy savings. It is estimated that industrial motor energy use could be reduced by 11 to 18 percent if facilities managers undertook all cost-effective applications of proven efficiency technologies and practices.

 

Packaging

The challenge of packaging food products is unique in that a wide range of safety, marketing, and logistical concerns must be addressed when engineering a packaging strategy for food and beverage products. There are energy savings that can be achieved through the use

 

Aseptic Packaging

 

Aseptic packaging (such as that used for juice boxes) uses less energy to deliver the same amount of beverage as standard drink packaging. Therefore, from an energy perspective, the use of this type of packaging can be a preferred option. Reasons for the relative energy gains available through aseptic packaging include easier shipping due to the squareness of the packaging and lighter weight of the packaging material (as opposed to glass or plastic bottles).

 

Opinions vary as to whether it takes more or less energy to fill aseptic packaging on a production line process. Taken together with the energy savings of the packaging, it is estimated that it takes about three times more energy to deliver a beverage through glass or plastic bottle packaging than with aseptic packaging.

 

Process Controls & Sensors

The first programmable controller, introduced in 1970, was developed in response to a demand from General Motors for a solid-state system that had the flexibility of a computer, yet could be programmed and maintained by plant engineers and technicians. These early programmable controllers took up less space than the relays, counters, timers, and other control components they replaced, and they offered much greater flexibility in terms of their reprogramming capability.

 

Process Heat

Process heating encompasses a wide array of technologies and processes involved in food processing. Areas of particular interest include the use of heat to cook or warm food products and systems for transferring heat from one process or application to another. General Rules on Process Heating Technologies:

1. ATMOSPHERIC CONTROL

Maintaining the Proper Circulation

In order to maximize the transfer of heat from air to the product needing to be heated it is important that the hot air striking the product be moving at the right velocity. At less than ideal velocities more energy may be needed than is necessary to accomplish the heating of a product. Modifying the air flow in a production line to optimize heat transfer may require increasing air flow pressure, redesigning ductwork and nozzles, and other similar steps.

2. UPGRADING TECHNOLOGY

Using Combustion Ratio Controllers

In cases where excessive or excessively inconsistent levels of oxygen are impeding the combustion processes a combustion ration controller may be a beneficial investment. Large processes that operates in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit may also benefit from the use of a combustion ration control device or series of devices.

Using Heat Pumps Instead of Combustion Processes

By using a single heat pump to create both chilled water and process heat energy savings for heating on the order of 75 percent are achievable.

Using Preheating Devices

Processes needing combustion air between 1,000 and 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit or higher may benefit from the use of heat exchangers, recuperators, or regenerators to preheat the air being combusted depending on how high the exhaust gas flow is. Generally speaking, if another process with either a lot of exhaust air, or exhaust air that is particularly hot can be tapped into economically then preheating combustion air may make sense.

Insulating Properly

For every 100 degrees Fahrenheit of oven temperature there should be at least 1 inch of insulation applied to the applicable surfaces in order to ensure proper heat stability. If the current insulation is sub-standard, then this is an easy and cost-effective way to improve energy efficiency.

 

Pumps

Pumps should be surveyed to baseline your current pumping energy consumption and costs, to identify inefficient pumps, determine efficiency measures, and to estimate the potential for energy savings. Generally, only pumps over a minimum size (such as 50 hp or 100 hp) are surveyed.

The efficiency of pumping plants can be maintained or even improved by performing routine maintenance and inspections. When you conduct your survey, inspect your pumps for the following conditions:

Those performing the pump survey should gather pump and drive-motor nameplate information, plus document operating schedules and pump load profiles. Obtain a pump head/capacity curve from the pump manufacturer, and document the pumping system design point and current system flow and pressure requirements. The pump style, nameplate and operating speed, number of stages, and specific gravity of the fluid being pumped must be noted. If possible, measure the pump flow rate and the suction and discharge pressures.

Steam

 

Calculating Your Cost of Steam

You must determine the cost of producing steam to efficiently manage your steam system. This cost is dependent upon fuel type, fuel cost, boiler efficiency, feedwater temperature, and steam pressure. An analysis of the true cost of producing steam must take into account the combustion efficiency of your boiler when firing various fuels. Alternative fuels must be compared on the basis of their Btu heating value. You can use these fuel energy contents and combustion efficiencies to determine the cost of usable heat from a boiler or other combustion unit. Other factors to consider include the energy consumption of accessories such as fuel pumps, fuel heaters, and steam atomizers, and the variable maintenance costs for operating your combustion equipment with alternative fuels.

 

Waste Reduction

Waste reduction is normally associated more with environmental goals like recycling than with energy reduction. In the food processing industry, however, reducing the amount of waste that is generated can have significant energy reduction benefits. This is because for most food processing operations there are substantial treatment regimens that must be applied before the waste from these operations is dispelled into the existing waste transfer infrastructure in a community. Therefore reducing the amount of waste that needs to be treated can reduce the total amount of energy used in food processing operations.

 

Water Usage

SURVEY THE PLANT

A plant survey helps to establish facility water savings potential by identifying areas where water is wasted or where water could be reused.

EVALUATE SURVEY

(source : www.nwfpa.org)