Energy Efficiency
There is a huge potential to save energy in agro industries. As of today, more than half of the sugar industries in Asia have the potential to reduce the energy demand by 20 to 30% in the processing plant through better maintenance and small investments.
There is also a potential to increase the boiler efficiency by about 10 to 20%. The overall power plant/cogeneration plant efficiency can also be increased considerably by rehabilitation measures.
Reduction in the process energy consumption could result in additional excess electricity available for export to the grid or fuel savings as in bagasse which can be stored and used during the non-milling season. Several viable technical options are available to lower the specific energy consumption of sugar production while allowing better utilization of bagasse as a fuel.
If the steam demand of the process is higher than that available at the exhaust of the steam turbines, then a reduction of steam demand would help in avoiding the direct expansion of high pressure steam in pressure reducing valve. As a consequence, more steam would be available for power generation. On the other hand, if the process steam demand is less than that available at the turbine outlet, the net amount of steam can be further expanded in a condensing turbine to generate additional power.
Some of the commonly known areas for steam savings are in the evaporation section, continuous vacuum pans, milling section, centrifuges, boiler house, etc. Similarly palm oil industries are also having a good potential to reduce the energy demand in the process plant, boilers and cogeneration plant.
The specific electricity consumption and steam consumption can be reduced considerably in new sugar and palm oil mills, by giving importance to energy efficiency. The specific energy consumption for rice milling is high in few developing countries like Africa, which uses out dated hullers driven by diesel drives. The energy efficiency can be improved by using modern mills.
Agro industries can remain competitive only if they give importance to energy efficiency and reduce energy cost for processing. In this aspect, several countries have already come up with energy conservation acts.
Apart from agro industries, importance is given for energy conservation in buildings and household sectors. To encourage energy conservation, energy labels are given for equipments such as TV, refrigerator, air-conditioners etc. In some countries, incentive schemes and special funds are also available to promote energy conservation. For services related to energy efficiency contact us.