General Industry

Key Characteristics
Energy use in Industry can be broken down into three areas:

1) Energy is used to operate the process (this will include furnaces, machine tools,
process heating and cooling systems etc.).
2) Energy is used to operate process services (e.g. compressed air, steam, hot and cold
water, etc.) related to production.
3) Energy is used in building services such as space heating, ventilation and lighting (such
non-production energy use is often a major cost for many businesses).

Why save energy?

Energy costs can usually be reduced by at least 10%, and often by as much as 20%, by simple
actions that produce quick returns. It is often easier to increase the profitability of a company by
reducing energy costs. In many businesses, a 20% cut in energy costs represents the same
bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales. No-cost or low-cost measures can be introduced
to achieve major financial savings.

Where to start

The key to energy efficiency is management of your energy resources. The best strategy for
saving energy will depend on the nature and scale of your business.

• Make someone responsible for being the energy champion of your organisation.
• Measure how much energy you are using and check that you are not paying too much
for the fuel, electricity and water you are using. For free advice on interpreting energy
bills contact the Action Energy help-line on 0800 58 57 94.
• Involve your staff in finding the areas of obvious waste, identifying where investment is
needed, and working out an action plan for the company.
• Keep your control system under constant review.

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Major Opportunities for Savings

Compressed Air

With the compressor switched on, check pipes networks for leaks, verifying with soapy water.
Repair all leaks immediately and implement regular inspection and repair regimes.

To reduce leakage don’t generate air at a higher pressure than necessary – the higher the
pressure the more air that will escape through a given size hole. Don’t keep your whole system
pressurised during non-productive hours just because a few items of machinery require a
constant supply of compressed air. Add isolation valves to divide your compressed air system
into separate zones, which require air at different times. Remove unnecessary pipework. Isolate
items of machinery that are prone to leakage, such as presses. Rationalising and adding zone
control to a compressed air system can make real savings.

Most compressed air systems rely primarily on some type of air dryer. You can waste
considerable amounts of energy on poor air-drying. If the air is wet as a result of dryer
problems, condensate drains are often left partially open to ensure that receivers and piping
systems are permanently bled. This can lead to over 5% of total compressed air being wasted
through leakage

Check whether a cheaper alternative source of power could be used, for example using
electrically driven power tools rather than compressed air driven ones. Calculate long-term
energy savings against investment cost.

It is very easy to make savings. For every £100 spent on supplying compressed air, £30 could
be saved by simple, effective, no-cost or low-cost measures. Improving compressed air
treatment alone can make average energy savings of 35%.

Boilers

Boilers are not 100% efficient, around 20% of heat generated is lost up the chimney, this heat
loss can increase to 30% or more if the boiler is poorly maintained or operated.

A weekly check of your boiler plant will quickly detect any problems. Look for signs of leakage
from pipework, valves and flanges and any warning lights or undue noise from pumps and
burners.

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Conduct regular checks to ensure that ventilation openings are kept free and clear at all time.
Restricting air supply to a boiler will not only result in a loss of efficiency due to incomplete
combustion; it can also allow the release of potentially dangerous gases.

Check thermal efficiency, poor thermal efficiency increases fuel consumption and raises energy
costs. Boilers should be adequately insulated to a minimum of 50mm thick insulation. Insulation
of the distribution pipework, which is not contributing useful heat to work areas, can reduce heat
loss from pipes by over 70%.

Monitor the performance of your boiler by installing a flue gas thermometer. The flu gas
thermometers cost approximately £20. The boiler will need cleaning again when the maximum
temperature of the flue gases rises by over 40ºC since the last service.

Refrigeration

Refrigeration is very energy intensive, good housekeeping practices, such as efficient

Refrigeration operating costs vary according to the temperature. Operating a plant in the full
heat of summer is more expensive than at other times. Analyse weather data and seasonal
variations in temperature for your location. Where possible reschedule operations in accordance
with most favourable daily temperature conditions.

Establish which periods of the year are when natural cooling could replace refrigeration for
specific operations.

Set up a programme for regular inspection of seals and replace all seals that show any signs of
wear or damage. Worn or damaged seals increase refrigeration costs by allowing warm air to
enter refrigerated space and cold air to leak out.

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Process Control

Evaluating product costs against energy is one of the first steps in managing energy used in
process activities. Check that relevant flows, temperatures, pressure compositions and other
key indicators are recorded regularly.

Carry out routine performance monitoring. Analyse recorded data at least monthly – preferably
on a daily basis. Look out for any negative trends and take action to rectify immediately.

Motors

Motors typically account for 65% of the average industrial electricity bill, and so taking action to
reduce their costs makes sound economic sense. Opportunities exist for you to make energy
savings of typically 20% in motor systems across your site by using best practice techniques.

The simplest way to reduce energy consumption is to ensure that all motors are switched off
when not in use. Just switching off a machine over the weekend can save a significant amount.
Set up a procedure to ensure that machinery is switched off during stoppages (lunch, production
breaks etc).

Assess the viability of fitting automatic controls. Although manual switching is the cheapest
method, various more reliable automatic methods are available, including time switches.

Carry out an audit of starting techniques used for large motors, and assess the possibility of
fitting alternative starting techniques. Electronic soft starting techniques provide opportunities for
energy and power saving.

Identify applications where it is possible to reduce the speed of the motor. The most likely
candidates are large centrifugal pumps, fans and agitators. It is more efficient to reduce the
speed of the load by using variable speed drives (VSDs) or by changing pulley ratios.

It would be more cost effective to replace broken or older motors with higher efficiency motors
(HEMs). HEMs are 3% more efficient and are now available at the same price as older types.
When purchasing a more efficient motor, ask your supplier to quote for a HEM.

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Transport

Check tyres regularly for signs of wear. Tyre wear occurs when steering is misaligned.
Misalignment also increases fuel consumption. One degree of misalignment increases
consumption by 3%. Under inflated tyres also increase fuel consumption by 3% on a drop in
pressure of 2 psi.

Controlling fuel costs makes good commercial sense. Consider paying mileage rates rather than
meeting fuel costs to encourage economical driving techniques.

Check that drivers remove any unnecessary weight (including roof racks) from their vehicles
whenever possible. Excess weight will increase fuel costs.

Consider the possibility of improving the aerodynamic profile of commercial vehicles. This can
save fuel and money.

Industrial Buildings - Heating

The heating of industrial buildings depends on a large number of interrelated factors. One of the
most important is the internal temperature, which should be appropriate for the activities being
performed. For people doing physically demanding work an internal temperature of 13ºC may
be adequate, while for those undertaking sedentary work, temperatures around 19ºC are
appropriate. Intermittently occupied areas such as stores/warehouses may only need to be
heated to frost or condensation protection levels

Various time and temperature controls may be fitted. Specific information can be found on the
industrial building factsheet available free from the Action Energy Helpline Tel: 0800 595794

Industrial Buildings - Lighting

Roof lights are common in factories and provided they are clean can provide good day lighting
for much of the day. Electric lighting should only be used when required and then only at a level
necessary to complement any available daylight.

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General lighting
The choice of lamps is usually between tri-phosphor fluorescent tubers or high-pressure sodium
lamps. For mounting height greater than about 4.5 meters, practical considerations such as the
higher wattage lamps and hence fewer fittings and easier maintenance favour high-pressure
sodium over fluorescent tubes. However, these lamps have relatively poor colour rendering and
where this is important metal halide lamps are a good alternative.

Where lighting levels need to be very high, consideration should be given to using task lighting.

Lighting controls
Lighting controls achieve energy savings by controlling the level of electric lighting to that which
is sufficient for the task, while taking full advantage of any available daylight. It follows that an
important function of controls is to ensure lighting is switched off when not required.

Some degree of automatic control will normally be cost effective.

Industrial Buildings - Ventilation

Mechanical ventilation of industrial building is often required to remove excess heat or fume
arising from the process. The most important energy saving measure is to ensure that the
ventilation fans only run when required by the process. All too often ventilation fans run
continuously creating an addition burden on the heating system to warm the incoming make up
air.

Where there is a varying demand for ventilation, consider fitting variable speed drives to the fan
motors.

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Further Action Energy support
• More help on your specific processes is available free from the Action Energy helpline
0800 58 57 94.or by visiting the website at www.actionenergy.org.uk

• An energy review may also be available to highlight areas where your organisation can
be more energy efficient. Again, for further information call the Action Energy helpline
on 0800 58 57 94.

Action Energy is a programme run by Carbon Trust and funded by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, The Scottish Executive, Invest Northern Ireland and the
National Assembly for Wales. It is designed to help businesses and public sector organisations
cut their energy costs through the provision of free, professional advice and assistance. Action
Energy is an integral part of the Government’s climate change programme, aimed at meeting
the UK's carbon reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

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