Analyzing and reducing energy use

The aim of this strategy is to illustrate how it is possible to study the energy situation at a chemical industry site and propose measures for reducing the energy use and the environmental impact. The strategy is based on experiences from Akzo Nobel.

Optimizing and reducing the use of energy are always important tasks for process engineers in the chemical industries for different reasons. Traditionally, the focused benefits of energy savings are financial. The competition is continuously growing keener, especially for businesses of which the products are already balancing on the margin. During the recent decades, the focus has widened to also comprise the environmental benefits of energy savings. With support from the Environmental Code in Sweden, authorities have begun to make demands on companies to better and more thoroughly monitor, follow up and decrease their use of energy.

The purpose of this particular study was to illustrate the total energy situation at a certain production site and identify areas where it might be possible to save energy and reduce the environmental impact. Following are examples on some issues that were addressed:

• The possibility to utilize more of the excess hydrogen gas formed as a by-product in the production process as fuel for steam generation
• The possibility of cleaning, compressing and selling hydrogen gas
• The possibility of exchanging energy with nearby industries
• The possibility of using more of the energy content in the feed water
• The possibility of controlling the process to a higher extent with respect to energy use, for example by using pump speed control or installing more flow meters

Project managers who co-ordinate the technical competence, collect data and put together a complete picture of the energy situation might benefit and get ideas from this strategy. In the described example, personnel from a central environmental staff coordinated the project and assisted the local environmental department in reporting the result to local authorities.

Working procedure