Plant Services - February 2008 - (Page 34)

EnErgy Reduce space heating energy consumption urr Industries, North American, in Plymouth, Mich., is a global supplier of painting systems and air pollution control equipment for the automotive, aerospace and other markets. Gordon Harbison, a certified energy manager, is leader of Durr’s project development team. His job is to reduce energy consumption and the cost of operations for Durr’s customers. So management says, “If you can do it for them, then do it for us.” In spring 2005, Harbison decommissioned the gas-fired boiler at Durr’s 240,000-sq.-ft. facility. The 20-year-old boiler had a capacity of 10,350 lbs/hr and was in good working order. However, it was inefficient, and rising energy and maintenance costs made it expensive to operate. The boiler heated a manufacturing area using fan coil and unit heaters distributed around the plant. The office had hydronic heating coils, hydronic baseboard radiation, a hydronic snow melting system and a combination of air handlers, both hydronic and indirect gas-fired. The 180,000-sq.-ft. production area, with 25-ft. ceilings, was a challenge because of its uneven roofline, mixture of high-bay and low-bay areas, hanging lights, many windows and hard-to-heat dock area. They considered an infrared heating system, but Durr soon realized it would be too expensive, difficult to install and wouldn’t solve a negative air pressure problem. Roof-mounted Blow-Thru industrial space heaters from Cambridge Engineering became the obvious choice. This direct gas-fired heating equipment operates at 100% combustion efficiency because there are no flue or heat exchanger losses. The equivalent AFUE rating, or thermal efficiency, is 92%. The old steam system would overheat the 60,000-sq.-ft. office space in the afternoon, which affected worker productivity. Performance Engineering Group, a Michiganbased company, provided the new heating equipment. Alan Deal, the company’s president, says, “The challenge for upgrading the office heating system was finding a new location for the gas-fired hydronic boilers, and figuring Closed-transition transfer switch safely supports peak-shaving program out a way to vent them.” The solution was to install three Raypak boilers outdoors. Two 1,800,000 BTU-per-hour boilers were put on the roof and one 500,000 BTU-perhour boiler was located on grade level. The boilers have an 87% combustion efficiency, which is the highest available for this application. A minimum inlet water temperature of 120°F allowed for greater energy savings. The system also was part of a separate snow-melt application that required the use of glycol. The facility was occupied when the new heating systems were installed, but no temporary heating was required. Dave Williams from Kropf Service Co., the local contractor Durr hired to service its HVAC equipment, says, “The new heating system improved ventilation for the plant, solved the negative air pressure problem and provided more even temperatures with increased comfort levels.” Productivity in the office and plant improved because of more effective temperature control. Before the conversion, Durr averaged 4.48 MCF/HDD consumption for the steam boiler system. After the conversion, it was reduced by 23% to 3.44 MCF/HDD. Harbison says, “The energy savings and reduced maintenance costs enabled us to meet our payback goal for the conversion.” From an environmental standpoint, this decreased carbon dioxide emissions by 393 tons, the same effect as planting more than 1,180 trees each year or taking 72 cars off the road. Cambridge Engineering (www.cambridge-eng.com) Durr Industries decommissioned a 20-year-old gas-fired boiler and installed roof-mounted Blow-Thru industrial space heaters from Cambridge Engineering, a move that reduced consumption by 23% to 3.44 MCF/HDD. sors to understand usage patterns on a 24/7 basis and identify reduction opportunities. Two weeks of data was collected with data loggers, offloaded to a PC and analyzed using the datalogger software. Unusually high compressor runtimes were correlated with excessive usage. Correcting the excessive usage “will save the client a substantial amount of money.” Onset Computer Corporation (www.onsetcomp.com) A utility’s program to shave peak loads by offering discounts to customers willing to operate standby generators during periods of peak demand languished due to power interruptions caused by manual open-transfer switches. A new closed-transition transfer switch design safely and automatically transfers load to local generators without interruption, revitalizing the program and saving energy costs for both the utility and its customers. Cummins Power Generation (www.cumminspower.com) Save energy by recovering heat from drain water Identify excess energy consumption with data loggers A metal products manufacturer paired up with a consulting engineering firm to perform runtime monitoring on its air compres34 Hot water from thermally-intensive processes can be drained through a heat exchanger that pre-heats incoming cold water. About 40% of the heat can be recovered, which allows owners to reduce energy costs, increase capacity and/or downsize water heating equipment. RenewABILITY (www.renewability.com) February 2008 www.PLANTSERVICES.com http://www.cambridge-eng.com http://www.onsetcomp.com http://www.cumminspower.com http://www.renewability.com http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

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Plant Services - February 2008 Contents From the Editor Letters The PS Files Up and Running Crisis Corner What Works Asset Manager: Why Six Sigma? Technology Toolbox: Ensuring a Calm Response Cover Story: Best Practices Awards Lubricants: A Slick Success Story Motors: Reliable Torque Compressors: Before You Call for Help Web Hunter: Exploiting Intellectual Capital In the Trenches Product Picks Classifieds Fast Facts Energy Expert: Energy, Climate and Food

Plant Services - February 2008

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