The Growing Push for Energy Efficiency in Pumping Systems

Written by Michelle Segrest

Page 2 of 2

Jacobs Engineering

Jacobs Engineering works with companies to improve energy efficiency through projects involving sustainability, repair and modernization. According to Steve Dowe, the company's director of pulp and paper process, "There is more pressure on companies to produce quicker, and it takes more time to get materials. These are all realities. We work with our clients to prioritize and reach goals, while keeping energy efficiency in mind."

In evaluating the energy efficiency practices of a company, Jacobs suggests improved design standards, software selection, project team education, life cycle analysis, value engineering and design philosophy.

According to Jacobs Engineering, the development of efficient pumping system designs should include:

Making realistic assumptions
Learning from examples
Trimming impeller based on final design
Sizing control valves correctly
Using turbulence inducers in shell and tube heat exchangers
Designing systems to minimize pump head (by using 3-D models)
Using variable speed drives
Grouping shower services by pressure range
Sizing in-line devices
Line sizing

"The drive for energy efficiency must come from the top down," Dowe says. "We should all be looking for opportunities to team with suppliers and utilities to achieve our goals."

3M Corporation

3M has maintained an energy management program since 1973 that has produced a steady decline in its inefficient use of energy. By tracking all data since 1973, the company determined it is only using about 35 percent of the energy it used prior to establishing the program.

The corporate energy management team provides global leadership to control energy costs, improve operational efficiency, reduce environmental impacts, ensure the availability of reliable energy supplies for all operations and develop and implement a strategic energy management plan.

According to Corporate Energy Manager Steve Schultz, 3M's energy reduction goals for 2008 include a 4 percent reduction in energy use per pound of product produced and the implementation of projects representing a 4 percent savings of the 2006 energy expenditures. 3M also hopes to have a 20 percent reduction in energy use/net sales from 2006 to 2010.

3M provides many resources to its plant energy teams, including implementation guides, best practices, online data and news, an energy database, an HVAC recommissioning program, regional meetings, conference calls, specialized optimization teams and both internal and external plant energy opportunity assessments.

More than 2,700 energy projects were identified since 2000 and all have been tracked in an energy cost reduction projects database.

Based on 3M's success, Schultz offers advice on how to increase energy conservation project implementation:

Develop a corporate initiative
Screen for opportunities
Assign experts to study energy conservation in-depth
Simplify the up-front process and identify the likely candidates to devote more time and effort on the project
Do not try to make everyone an expert. 3M's ongoing push for energy efficiency includes:
- A pump systems screening tool
- Corporate initiative to screen facilities for energy saving opportunities
- DOE Save Energy Now assessments
- Reward program for plants and managers who achieve energy efficiency goals

"It is important to 3M to reduce the environmental impact of our energy use," Schulz says.

The Dow Chemical Company

Dow is one of the world's largest industrial consumers of power and steam and is among the world's largest industrial energy consumers, according to the company's Energy Conservation Leader Bill Behr. "The energy used at Dow is equivalent to that of San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego combined," Behr explains. The company requires 3,700-MW of electricity to operate, and the feedstock and energy demand is estimated at $25 billion per year (which is almost 50 percent of its total revenue).

In 1994, Dow began its first long-term energy reduction drive and saved $4.3 billion in an 11-year period. Dow's energy efficiency drive focuses on four vehicles:

Businesses/Tech Centers - responsible for technology implementation, setting business-specific energy goals and plans and driving the energy efficiency efforts.
Six Sigma - the methodology used to ensure sustainable results and to measure the success of all projects with savings tracked versus goals.
The Sites - the site energy focal points that drive the site energy efficiency efforts to develop tools and methods, drive assessments and best practices, develop the culture of energy conservation and ensure active participation with DOE's Save Energy Now Program.
All Employees - establishing the culture of energy conservation, and developing energy efficiency training in which everyone participates. "If people consider efficiency in small things, then they are more likely to consider it in large things," Behr says. "If they think about turning off the lights when they are not in use, then they may think about turning off the pumps when they are not in use."

Behr says his company believes in site-wide energy efficiency efforts for the following reasons:

Ensure process plant projects translate into actual savings at the site/company level
Maximize integration and energy use synergies between plants
Share and leverage energy savings ideas and projects
Identify savings opportunities in site-managed activities
Support energy studies that may be initiated at a site
Improve planning for changes in utility needs for new plants and shrinking sites

Dow has 60,000 pumps (avg. 15-hp) at 130 sites in 500 plants, which generate power consumption of 300+-MWh. This translates into $175 million per year in energy costs at $60/MWh. Therefore, designing pumping systems for energy efficiency is critical. Some of the actions to achieve this include:

Developing specifications and design aids with selection criteria
Developing line sizing optimization programs
Evaluating offers from other suppliers
Conducting a pump design process that calls for default use of variable frequency drives

Dow also engages in about 25 percent outside energy efficiency consulting to combine with about 75 percent of in-house expertise.

"The industry needs all the help it can get to achieve its energy goals," Behr says. "The stakes and opportunities are big for both pump supplier and pump users. But there needs to be a big change in the approach to system design. We must do it faster and cheaper, and it will require working together to get there."

For more information, contact Pump Systems Matter, 9 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054, 973-267-9700, www.pumpsystemsmatter.org.

U.S. Department of Energy-Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, 1-877-337-3463, www.eere.energy.gov.

Michelle Segrest is the editor of Pumps & Systems.

Pumps & Systems Editorial Advisory Board members Mike Pemberton and Robert Asdal contributed to this report.

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