Final Program Session

Paper Title

Authors/Contact Info

Paper Number

Short Summary

1

Back to the Basics in Energy Management

Sean Diamond – Texas Petrochemicals

52

This presentation will discuss the energy management program that was put into place in late 2004 at Texas Petrochemicals LP. It will discuss at a high level the procedures and projects that were conceived and implemented to yield substantial energy savings for the company.

1

Control Structure Selection for Energy Efficiency in Distillation Columns

Steve Obermann – Texas Petrochemicals

53

Selecting the proper pairing of control variables, and closing composition control loops can reduce steam consumption in a two product distillation column. Presentation discusses changes to an existing control structure, and how cycling effects energy consumption in high purity separations.

1

Energy Assessments that Yield Low/No Capital Process Improvements

Colby Rodriguez – Texas Petrochemicals

54

This presentation will dive into the energy assessment process utilized by the company to identify low/no capital process improvement ideas.

2

Exxon Mobil Energy Outlook and Global Energy Management System

Dennis J. Stanley – ExxonMobil

 65

 For many years, ExxonMobil has undertaken voluntary actions to improve efficiency in operations and in customer use of products. First, ExxonMobil will present a summary of their energy outlook as a scene set highlighting the importance of their energy efficiency. Two such initiatives that are having a positive impact in their Refining and Chemicals operations are implementation of their Global Energy Management System (GEMS), and installation of energy-efficient cogeneration facilities. GEMS is a comprehensive system employing international best practices and benchmarking techniques that identify energy efficiencies at each of their refineries and chemical plants driving energy efficiency toward leading-edge performance. The two subsequent presentations provide real-life examples of their cogeneration and GEMS initiatives in action.

Jonathan D. Lowe – Baytown Olefins Plant, ExxonMobil

Jackson L. Simonich – Baytown Olefins Plant, ExxonMobil

3

Final Flue Gas Cleaning (FFGC) Pilot Plant

Mario Romero – WOW Energies

45

The pilot plant (FFGC-PP) was used to test and evaluate removal of air pollution constituents from the flue gas of a power plant to determine the optimum emission reduction system required for a full-scale power plant. The FFGC-PP is a 2,500 ACFM mobile unit being tested at a Texas site located in the Houston non-attainment zone. The FFGC system integrates proven emission reduction techniques into a single, end-of-the-line, multi-pollutant reduction system and is designed to remove Mercury, Sox, NOx, particulates heavy metals and other pollutants from low temperature flue gases using Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP).  The paper will include details of the multi-pollutant FFGC system along with test results to date from the 2,500 ACFM pilot test program. Preliminary test results of the unit demonstrate the capability to achieve 97% to 99% reduction in NOx and Sox, and 99.5% reduction in particulate matter. A significant reduction (>60%) in CO has also been observed.

3

Saving Energy with High Emissivity Ceramic Coating

Mack Hounsel – Thorpe Products Co.

12

New ceramic coatings based on advanced materials technology have been proven to maintain their adhesion and high emissivity properties on ceramic, refractory, and metal substrates at temperatures up to 3500°F. By increasing radiant heat transfer from the hot refractory to the cooler furnace load, significant energy savings, NOx reductions, reduced heat loss, and improved refractory life can be realized.  The application of these coatings cuts across a wide spectrum of thermal process industries and types of equipment. Installations are proving successful in tunnel kilns in brick plants, refinery and petrochemical process heaters, utility boilers, forge and heat treat furnaces.  In this paper, photographs of installations and case histories will be presented. Coating installations over refractory linings in Texas alone include:

• Two ethylene cracking furnaces at Eastman Chemical, Longview, TX in May 2006
• An ethylene cracking furnace at Huntsman Chemical in Port Arthur, TX in July 2005
• A VCM cracking furnace at Formosa Plastics, Point Comfort, TX in April 2006
• A tunnel kiln at Acme Brick, McQueeney, TX in February 2006.

While it is often difficult to isolate the fuel savings benefits attributes solely to the coating in large process heaters, Eastman Chemical and Huntsman Chemical have observed fuel savings in the range of 4 to 5%. Fuel savings in tunnel kilns have been documented as high as 10%.

3

Super Boiler

Rick Knight – Gas Technology Institute

22

GTI and Cleaver-Brooks have teamed up to develop the Super Boiler, a compact firetube boiler system that can achieve 94% (HHV) efficiency simultaneous with NOx emissions below 5 ppmv. With support from DOE, the natural gas industry, the State of California, and industrial partners, the Super Boiler team has built and tested a 100-horsepower (4 million Btu/h) lab system, and is currently demonstrating two 300-horsepower (11 million Btu/h) systems in Alabama and California. Plans are in the works for additional boiler system deployments, development of dual-fuel capability, heat recovery system retrofits to existing boilers, and the application of the technology to large industrial watertube boilers (second generation to Super Boiler) with high pressure steam capability.

4

Mining Gold from your Cooling Water System

Chuck Sherman – Benham

Tino Mendez – Benham 

20

Advances in variable speed drives and controls technology have opened the door for reductions in flow to be accomplished on a consistent basis. These flow reductions result in large energy savings due to the pump affinity laws. Learn how to generate these savings with a minimum investment in time and effort. This case study will present results from a cooling system providing 10,000 tons/hr of peak cooling at an engine manufacturing plant. Construction costs were approximately 20% of a conventional chiller plant, with annual operating costs 10% of a conventional chiller plant. A similar project for a major chemical producer on the Gulf Coast is projected to save in excess of $4 million annually.

4

Six Ways to Use Storage to Control Compressed Air Costs

Dean E. Smith – Air Science Engineering

43

There are many ways to use storage in compressed air systems to improve the performance and repeatability of production equipment. There are six basic areas where storage should be properly engineered and applied in the system. This presentation will address these six critical areas in detail:

1.        Dedicated storage to improve the speed, thrust, or torque of an application.

2.        Dedicated storage to protect a critical application from pressure fluctuations.

3.        Dedicated storage to meter a high rate of flow application into the system.

4.        General or overhead storage to support applications during the transmission time to the supply side and to create transparency between applications.

5.        Control storage to support events in the system within an allowable pressure drop.

6.        Off-line, higher pressure air stored to support large system events and reduce peak electrical demand.

4

System Optimization/

Failure Analysis.

The Impact on Total Cost of Ownership of Pumps & Motors

William C. Livoti  - Rockwell

47

Motors/driven equipment are one of the largest energy users and therefore, should require the most attention when assessing Total Cost of Ownership. This presentation will discuss the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) specific to motors and driven equipment with a focus on optimum efficiency. System Optimization and Root Cause Failure Analysis, as key factors in long term reliability will also be addressed in “Case Studies” from the power generation industry.

5

Development of In-Situ Sensors for the Chemical Industry

JD Tate, The Dow Chemical Company

49

During this presentation Dow will provide a summary of our project to develop and commercialize in-situ sensors relevant to energy conservation. Dow will discuss the commercialization of three measurement technologies and results realized to date. Dow will also provide some specific examples of how these technologies are being used for optimization and control of combustion processes.

5

Energy Management at Dow

Joe Almaguer, The Dow Chemical Company

50

During this presentation Dow will discuss the need for a well structured, supported and integrated corporate energy efficiency and conservation program in achieving ht sustaining energy saving results. Key elements of a successful program will be described including the importance of top level leadership commitment, setting aggressive goals, developing appropriate organizational structures, and methods and tools for identifying, tracking and monitoring savings.

5

Saving Water and Energy: Dow’s Water Strategy

Karl Fennessey, The Dow Chemical Company

51

Dow will share the process used to redefine the scope of water management, the techniques used to quantify the opportunities and the methods used to implement the work on a local level. The integration of opportunities into multiple functions, energy savings and some of the barriers that prevent further reductions will be shared with attendees. The goal of the session is to describe the process such that attendees have sufficient information to understand the process and begin to move forward within their own organizations in developing internal support, setting internal objectives, and developing processes to reduce water and energy consumption.

6

Distillation Column Flooding Predictor

George E. Dyzacky – 2ndpoint, LLC

16

The Flooding Predictor increases petroleum refining capacity by increasing efficiency of distillation columns. The Distillation Column Flooding Predictor is an advanced process control strategy that utilizes a patented, pattern recognition system to identify the onset of pre-flood conditions in distillation, absorption and stripping columns. The strategy recognizes the onset of incipient flood and briefly relaxes column severity at the pre-flood state causing long-term operation to become significantly more stable and energy efficient. Flood conditions are avoided because the strategy controls the column at the hydraulic limit without letting it go into flood. This leads to increased column stability and a 6% increase in column throughput.

6

Practical Application of Distillation Synthesis for NOx Reduction, Energy Cost Savings, and Improved Environmental Compliance

Dr. Juergen Rarey – Dortmund Data Bank & Separation Technologies – Oldenburg, Germany

Todd J. Willman – EPCON International – Houston, TX

17

The application of highly accurate, physical property data banks and expert software systems developed by the Dortmund Data Bank & Separation Technologies  (DDBST) have been demonstrated to pinpoint azeotropic boundaries in distillation processes that significantly contribute to excessive energy usage. This distillation synthesis technology consisting of integrated physical property databanks and intelligent process engineering software provides a practical solution for plant based engineers to systematically reduce NOx emissions through lower overall energy usage while improving overall environmental compliance.

6

Saving Energy in Fractionation Operation

Douglas C. White, Emerson Process Management

18

The management of fractionators at a major process site can be difficult with many daily operating decisions that must balance competing economic and production issues.  Real time modeling of process and utility equipment and monitoring of the energy usage in columns permits allocation decisions to be made much more frequently and accurately, often resulting in substantial savings.  In this paper, results from many installations are summarized to provide guidance to the plant staff on likely areas for savings.

7

Technologies on the Horizon-part 2

8

Backpressure Steam Turbine Optimization Evaluation

Gilbert A. McCoy – Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program

30

This presentation summarizes the findings of a feasibility evaluation for the installation of backpressure steam turbine generators at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton. The steam plant at the complex contains three boilers that can each supply about 140,000 pounds of steam per hour to serve loads at the naval station, shipyard facilities, dry-docks, and piers. The steam plant typically maintains two active boilers while having one in cold standby service. Natural gas use at the steam plant is about 1 million MMBtu per year...costing about $5.9 million at the 2004 price of $5.87/MMBtu. This presentation will cover turbine alternatives and their sizing, equipment selection, and the studies necessary to justify reducing the main steam header pressure. Also to be covered are boiler modifications required for operation at a higher pressure, interactions with other steam BestPractices efficiency measures, value of electrical output, increases in natural gas consumption, value of energy produced and overall project cost-effectiveness.

8

Case Study of Energy-Efficiency Improvement in Bayer, Baytown

Pratik Misra – Bayer Corporate & Business Services, LLC

40

This presentation is a case study of steam savings in a polyurethane raw material unit of Bayer Material Science LLC located in Baytown, TX. A six-sigma quality, rate and energy improvement was launched for this unit in 2003. To implement the initiative, a cross-functional team was formed that consisted of production, lab and technology personnel. The methodology used was rooted in the principles of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). Steam use in different sections of the unit was assessed and improvement plans were implemented. Process monitoring and control solutions were implemented for sustaining steam savings. As a result of process improvements, process monitoring and control improvements steam usage per unit product has shown a consistent decline. No major capital investment was made to get these savings.

8

Finding Benefits by Modeling and Optimizing Steam and Power Systems

Bennie A. Jones – INEOS

David A. Nelson – Nelson & Roseme, Inc.

29

A site-wide steam modeling and optimization program (Visual MESA) was implemented at the INEOS Chocolate Bayou site. This program optimizes steam production, compressor turbine extraction, spared pump (turbine/motor) operation, as well as the monitoring of the entire steam system. The program is used for both day-to-day site optimization as well as long-term site planning.  In this paper we will discuss who the main users of the program are and how they and the plant derive benefits from its use. The primary users are the site shift supervisors and the energy manager. The shift supervisors, who have a day-to-day responsibility for operating the utility system at a minimum of cost, and the site energy manager, who has both a short and long-term view and uses the model to identify key places for capital improvement.

9

Integrating Energy and Production Optimization for an Olefins Unit

 John A. Carlson – Chevron Phillips Chemical Company
Cedar Bayou Plant

 60

 The Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Cedar Bayou Plant implemented an improved optimization process that included integration of energy utilization into it daily production optimization for its Olefins unit.  The improved process and tools resulted in over a 1.5% reduction in EII.  This reduction, coupled with capital project improvements completed in 2004 have yield an EII improvement of 5.8%

The challenge was for the Cedar Bayou Olefins unit was to develop an integrated work process that not only optimized the unit’s production, but ensured that the unit would always operate at the lowest optimum cost.    Following the completion of the unit’s scheduled turnaround in 2004, the plant developed a work process and monitoring tools to take full advantage of capital improvements made in the turnaround.  These include:

1. A cross functional work process to evaluate unit data and provide daily guidance to on optimum operating conditions.
2. Development of monitoring tools with limits and variables.
3. Evaluate unit constraints and energy variables daily; put plans in place to resolve.
4. Daily follow-up to ensure desired results.

The largest of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s chemical manufacturing facilities, the Cedar Bayou Plant located in Baytown, TX, undertook the task of creating a facility-wide energy management and improvement program.  The Cedar Bayou Plant is a highly integrated petrochemical complex on over 1000 acres, which operates seven process units, one olefins unit, two alpha olefins units, one poly alpha olefins unit, and three polyethylene units as well as a central utilities unit and support facilities.

Throughout the plant history, efforts have been made in individual operating units to improve energy efficiency but there was also a need to create a more focused, coordinated effort to reduce the plant’s total energy usage.  A team was formed to address this need, to not only focus on individual operating unit energy issues but plant-wide opportunities for energy management and optimization, as well.

      This presentation will focus on the common-sense approach taken to start a plant-wide energy effort in a large petrochemical facility.  The elements of how the energy team was formed, how goals were set and the assessment process for the facility will be discussed.  Energy savings results from several large projects and smaller improvements to date will be briefly covered along with the methodology for execution of future improvement work.

10

NOX Reduction –part 1

11

DOE’s Save Energy Now Assessments:  Overview and National Results

Bob Gemmer, US DOE

NA

The results from US DOE’s 2006 Save Energy Now assessments will be presented. In 2006 US DOE qualified specialists conducted almost 200 assessments of steam and process heating systems at the US largest industrial energy users. Results from this first round are presented, as well as plans for 2007.

12

A Better Approach to Energy Performance  Benchmarking 

Joe Davis – KBC Advanced Technologies Inc.

2

This paper will explain an alternate benchmarking approach known as Best Energy Technology (BT).  BT, used in hundreds of plants worldwide, was developed based on rigorous simulations of all refining processes and provide an indication of best achievable energy performance using first principles.  This paper will provide the following additional details relating to BT:

• Examples of BT results from several case studies
• Marginal fuel and power costing examples
• Instructions for carrying out a BT “Gap Analysis” in order to identify specific, practical areas of improvement, such as:
  1. Steam usage vs best practice
  2. Fired heater efficiency
  3. Shaft work generation efficiency
  4. Heat integration effectiveness

12

Key Energy Variable (KEV) Console Monitoring

Martine McDonald – ExxonMobil Chemical Co.

38

The ExxonMobil Baytown Chemical Plant in Baytown, TX implemented improvements to its Key Energy Variable (KEV) tracking system in November 2004. The purpose of KEV tracking is to realize cost reduction through energy savings. Since that time, a 0.6% annualized energy savings per production unit was realized (113,000 MMBtu/Yr). Additional net greenhouse gas reduction of 6547 annualized tons was also realized as a result of the KEV improvements. Key steps in KEV tracking system improvement include:

     1. Developing a program which automatically:

·         Compares each KEV to its optimum target

·         Computes the financial impact of each deviation

·         Computes credits for doing energy-related maintenance work (e.g. cleaning fouled integration exchangers)

·         Generates and prints the resulting report at the control center

     2. Rolling out KEV tracking to each unit operating console

     3. Creating ownership of energy efficiency at the   operator level

     4. Increasing frequency of KEV reviews from weekly to daily KEV program development time was two months. Time to install and implement the program was 1 month. This work was done using existing spreadsheet and process data collection programs and required negligible investment. This activity could easily be applied throughout the company and the chemical industry.

12

The Energy Dashboard

Paul Jagen – DuPont Performance Materials

11

The Energy Dashboard is a cost control feedback tool. It monitors the cost of energy consumed and the health of the site’s energy program. The dashboard automatically makes suggestions on how to improve performance and provides system status updates. It compares process performance over time and compares shift-to-shift performance. It provides energy cost information on individual processes, on individual production areas and on an entire site. In its first month of use, it increased the gains from Six Sigma energy projects by 40% and is resulting in operator performance near the theoretical upper limit. It has increased operational discipline and consistency and eliminated some misunderstanding about how to reduce energy costs. This paper will describe how to build, program and use the dashboard.

13

Challenges in Industrial Heat Recovery

Tony Dafft
Rohm and Haas Company

 71

 This talk will discuss several completed and working projects involving waste heat recovery in an industrial facility. Specific examples will be shown and some of the challenges to successful implementation and operation of heat recovery projects will be highlighted.

Frederick. P. Fendt

Claudia O’Rourke

14

NOx Reduction – part 2

Lee J. Rosen – Praxair, Inc.

15

Technology Transfer:  UK to US 

Lindsey Bartlett

British Consulate, Houston

NA

The British Consulate will identify 1-3 speakers  on technologies used in Europe by the petrochemical sector to achieve high energy intensity. 

Ray Deyoe – Integral Power, LLC

Replacing traditional mechanical traps with the GEM Condensate Return System, featuring the GEM Venturi Steam Trap, provides the following benefits:

• Elimination of trap failures and therefore a massive reduction in the associated maintenance costs
• Permanent reduction in the overall steam consumption of the plant – typically 10-30%
• Elimination of water hammer due to failed mechanical traps
• Increased safety of the distribution system due to elimination of failed mechanical traps
• Improved warm-up times at start-up and for batch process
• Improved heat transfer of process applications and a potential increase in production
• Increase stability of process control applications
• Reduction in back pressure of condensate system hence increased flexibility of processes

16

A Case Study in Developing Process Unit Energy Metrics

Joseph L. Davis – KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc.

3

This paper will discuss the methodologies that were successfully deployed to identify process unit energy metrics at the El Sugundo refinery. It will explore an effective methodology for determining which process unit energy metrics are important, how to effectively set targets, and how to incorporate metrics into an effective energy management system. Plants have generally done a good job of stewarding the 80% of savings available through Utility and Equipment related energy metrics, primarily because target setting is fairly straightforward. However, the 20% of savings available from Process metrics, such as tower reflux ratios, pump around rates, and steam stripping ratios, are typically missing from energy management systems due to the difficulty in first identifying them, and second, determining the optimum targets.  In terms of how to identify process energy metrics, the paper will discuss which energy intensive processes should be examined first, such as crude distillation and naphtha reforming.  In terms of target setting, the paper will describe how process engineering experience is combined with simulation to develop meaningful targets that characterize the point where yield and energy are simultaneously optimized.

16

A Holistic Approach to Capturing and Sustaining Energy Savings

Joe Desouza – Aspen Tech

33

This paper will illustrate the value of taking a holistic approach to energy reduction versus deploying single point solutions. A holistic approach enables manufacturers to capture the most opportunities to increase bottom line profitability. Such a strategy addresses four key focus areas:

• Buy cheaper
• Use less
• Generate and distribute more efficiently
• Invest wisely

This approach to reducing energy costs for process industry manufacturers will be demonstrated by means of a case-study on a typical petrochemicals manufacturing complex. We will show how the process design objectives of capacity increase and optimum energy efficiency can both be achieved while avoiding unnecessary capital investment. We will also show that if the implementations of operational support tools are not carefully coordinated, they can end up pulling in different directions, resulting in sub0optimal overall performance.

Cliff McCain – DES Canada Corp.

James E. Robinson – DES America, LLC

17

Energy Management Implementation and Preliminary Results

Jo Stal – Sterling Chemicals, Inc

 58

 Sterling Chemicals, Inc. has always sought to minimize energy usage. However, with the huge increase in energy prices, it became evident that a step change in the energy management was needed. To accomplish this change, Sterling decided to adopt the Sinclair Energy Management Process. A formal energy policy was developed and an Energy Management Team was established to direct the energy reduction effort. This presentation will review the Sinclair Energy Management Process and Sterling’s implementation of this process. Communication techniques, auditing processes and results will be presented.

17

Synergy between Energy Management and Reliability Efforts

Sterling Chemical Showcase

18

NOx Reduction – part 3

19

Clean Air and Efficiency in the Industrial Market Place

David Synder - CenterPoint Energy – Houston

19

The paper will detail the results to date of compressed air services through the use of case studies and lessons learned as well as the results of the Clean Air Technology Program which focuses on the reduction of NOx emissions in CenterPoint Energy’s service area. During the first year of the compressed air services program, three (3) projects were completed which resulted in 1,152 kW and 11,734,500 kWh saved. For this calendar year we have nine (9) projects scheduled for five (5) customers. Along with the compressed air services, CenterPoint has developed a new program named “Clean Air Technology”. This program focuses on the reduction of NOx emissions in CenterPoint Energy’s service area. It is designed to work with industrial customers and port authorities in the eight county non-attainment areas to reduce emissions through the use of off-road electric vehicle used for material handling and high efficiency electric motors used for pipeline compression and in industrial processes.

19

Landfill Gas Energy – A Proven Cost Effective Energy Source for the Industrial Sector

Brian Guzzone – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

25

Landfill gas (LFG) is an available, proven, economically competitive, and growing renewable energy resource.  As of January 2006, 400 LFG energy (LFGE) projects in the United States were generating electricity or providing a direct-use energy source for boilers, furnaces and other thermal applications. Over 100 direct-use LFGE projects in operation burned over 70 billion cubic feet of LFG in 2005. These direct-use projects used pipelines that range from a few hundred yards to 23 miles in length to deliver from 20 to almost 10,000 cubic feet per minute of LFG. Based on estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), there are still approximately 600 landfills that are viable candidates for project development, with a potential gas flow capacity of over 280 billion cubic feet per year. The presentation will address industrial projects in the Texas and Gulf Coast region, as well as opportunities that have been identified and how to find partners for projects.

19

Plasma Gasification and Oxidation for Spent Caustic, Tank Bottoms, Sludge and NOx Reduction

Todd L. Foret – Plasma Whirl Technologies

42

Plasma technologies will affect 3 major problems – clean energy, clean air, and clean water. A small plasma system can efficiently gasify and vitrify solid waste while generating hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be used for reducing NOx in furnace flue gas or for hydrogenation processes. Likewise, it has been demonstrated that plasma can effectively treat spent caustic, plus reducing the loading on an ethylene plant’s wastewater treatment plant. The Electric Power Research Institute has shown that plasma is 2 to 3 times more energy efficient for heating gases than natural gas. The speaker will present results from field testing and demonstrations from a Houston steel foundry, Quality Electric Steel Castings, a biodiesel refinery located in Ft. Worth, an ethylene facility located in Port Arthur and the conversion of diesel to hydrogen at a Dallas Truck Stop (distributed hydrogen generation).

20

Process and Energy Optimization Revitalizes Energy Management at Eastman

Kevin McGuire – Eastman

15

In response to rapidly increasing energy prices, the Energy Management Team (ETM) at Eastman-Texas Operations initiated a new energy optimization program to improve the site’s energy intensity. This new program utilized a process and energy optimization (PEO) approach to identifying energy improvement projects.  The presentation will provide more specifics about the assessment methodology, specific project examples, and keys for successful implementation of a process and energy optimization program at a large chemical manufacturing facility. In all areas assessed, there were both non-capital (behavioral) projects, as well as capital projects, with paybacks that were normally less than two years. In 2005, savings from projects implemented were $>2M/yr and the projected goal for 2006 savings is “$12M/yr with >70 PEO projects currently being pursued.

20

Energy Optimization Strategies and Options in the Industrial Sector

Peter J. Ryan – Bayer Technology Services Americas

26

This presentation will review the various options available for energy optimization, from advanced process control to six-sigma and lean six-sigma optimization methods, to meet the various needs in the industrial sector. The review will include a comparison of the resources and capital associated with each method, a typical pay-out period or ROI, and the resources needed to implement the different methods. Two industrial examples will be given to illustrate the concepts and methods.

20

Energy Monitoring or Energy Management? – Focus on the Drivers

David Stockill – Shell

10

This paper will explore the experience of Shell refineries both in Europe and in the US in taking the path to structured energy management and sustainable energy improvements.

To fully realize the economic value that true plant wide energy management can bring, there are two vital key elements:

1. Complete integration into the plant management and work-practice systems.
2. A full understanding of the drivers and linkages behind energy consumption on each unit and on the entire manufacturing plant.

The latter is often not fully understood as key to successful longer-term energy management. Driver analysis provides two benefits; firstly, plant data analysis in the building of the energy management system can throw new light onto operational and process issues affecting energy consumption; secondly, with a mature system, monitoring the key energy drivers keeps you ahead of the game.