If you seek a list of low cost energy efficiency improvements in process energy management in manufacturing, then this post is for you.

This post summarizes best practices for process energy management in selected industries as identified by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) through an Energy Pathfinder Research Initiative.  The goal of this project was to identify and quantify low cost opportunities to improve, control, or optimize specific end uses and energy intensive processes for selected industries within Ontario’s industrial and manufacturing sector.

This project resulted in a document which I have summarized here to save your time on reading.

Best Energy Use Reduction Practices for All Manufacturing

  • Replace ceiling fans with local fans for comfort: 10-50% of ceiling fan capacity
  • Lighting: use LED, align to occupancy and natural light level
  • Shut down compressors when plant does not work
  • Avoid over compressing air
  • Avoid misuse of compressed air, replace with electric blowers
  • Align heating/cooling to occupancy
  • Collect contaminants at source to reduce fresh air requirements
  • Use heat exchange to reduce hating load
  • Use ceiling fans during heating season and local fans during cooling season

Industrial Baking

  • Recover stack heat with an economizer to pre-heat gas: saving 30-60% of gas
  • Exhaust waste heat from process cooling outside
  • Align chiller compressor load to coolant temp: 20-30% electricity savings
  • Align ceiling fan to season: 5-10% of heating / cooling cost

Meat Processing

  • Pre-cool warehouse overnight to reduce peak load
  • Use heat exchanger to pre-cool incoming air while drying carcasses

Plastic Injection Moulding

  • Implement start-up sequence to reduce peak
  • Install bypass valves to avoid loss of compressed air while idling machine
  • Use VFD on fan in cooling tower to match fan to cooling load

Metal fabrication

  • Use VFD on fan in cooling tower to match fan to cooling load

Machining

  • Align machine running to production

For complete report see attached file, which I have highlighted for your convenience.