Industrial System Optimization

Energy consumed by US industry accounts for over 1/3 of the country’s annual energy bill. Industrial systems such as steam systems, motor-driven systems, and process heating equipment consume the bulk of this energy and are common to all industries. Improvements to these cross-cutting systems can yield dramatic energy and cost savings. The key to these savings is applying the best available energy efficiency technology and management practices.

 

Motor System ChartIndustrial motor systems such as pumping systems, fan systems, compressed air systems, and materials processing systems account for 63 percent of the electricity consumed in the US industrial sector, and cost US companies over $33 billion per year. For example, electric motor-driven systems used for production processes consumed 679 billion kWh. As shown on this chart, pumping, fan, and compressed air systems represent over ½ of the motor-driven system electricity consumption. These systems, along with steam systems and process heating equipment, have been a particular focus of LBNL’s activities.

 

Economically viable energy efficiency improvements to individual motor-driven systems average about 20% reduction in energy consumption. Non-energy benefits, such as maintenance savings and reliability improvements, typically are inherent to energy efficiency projects and further increase the total savings amounts.


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