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Need answers to your energy management problems and question, without conducting a full energy audit or appointing consultants?

FREE - Our Energy engineers answer email questions for commercial/industrial organisations

If you have a question regarding energy management, energy audits, energy efficiency or energy strategies you can submit your questions (in English) to the Kelcroft energydesk for FREE energy conservation advice from the energy experts.

Don't forget to provide as much detail as possible, and double check your email address is CORRECT before submitting.

Interesting energy saving / conservation or energy management questions will be published on this page.

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Previously submitted questions submitted to the Kelcroft Energydesk

Q. How to conduct an energy audit for a chemical process plant?

A. The same as any other audit. Now that might seem overly brief, but bear with me a moment. We receive many questions on similar topics, but the chemical process plant is a worth a special mention.

Like any energy audit, the auditor needs to identify all the energy inputs and outputs, trace any losses and identify financially viable EMO (Energy Management Opportunities).

However, chemical plant operations typically have one further complication, many processes involve change of state, by which I mean boiling, condensation, etc. These physical changes require additional calculations, similar to the process in a steam system.

Noteworthy also is that many process lines are lengthy, and often located in exposed positions. Particular care is needed to assess insulation, cladding, and heat gain to low temperature product lines, for example gases including LNG.


Q. How to conduct an energy audit?

A.  A brief but complex question. An energy audit is a systematic methodological review of the building energy inputs, including all fuel, oil gas, and electricity and the like.

The raw energy data is analysed and compared with industry standards, similar building benchmarks and metrics.

Furthermore the audit analysis identifies energy conservation or management opportunities, typically sub divided into three categories, that will lower the operating cost for the building owner.

Q.  What are the energy saving measures in electric motors & which is the cheapest means?

A.  Electric motors consume 2/3 of the power generated globally. Therefore energy efficiency opportunities is important, there are several strategies to minimise power consumption, and improving efficiency.

Investigating the lifetime cost of motors, quickly reveals that a typical standard electric motor consumes power equivalent to its capital cost in a only few months. Therefore choosing the most efficient (read hi-efficiency) motor available will lower the lifetime electricity consumption, and lower operating cost (OPex).

In both the HVAC environment and industry systems are designed for peak capacity operation (100% load), however seasonal demand often means systems operate at part load throughout most of the year.

Therefore the designer must consider the seasonal load to determine the need. Options include variable speed drive, two speed motors, pony motor or VFD (variable frequency drive). These permit lower motor speed (and lower power consumption) matching the load, and hence lower operating current saving electricity charges.

Even small changes in speed can result in significant reductions in energy consumption. For instance, lowering the speed of a fan or pump by 20% may reduce shaft power requirements by as much as 50%. A detailed energy analysis is recommended depending on the application.

Click here to read more about Kelcroft's energy auditing.