Innovation for Energy Efficiency. Proceedings of the European Conference, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 15–17 September 1987

383 Pages·1988·17.923 MB·English

by  D.A. Reay and A. Wright (Eds.)

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Innovation for
Energy Efficiency
Proceedings of the European Conference
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
15-17 September 1987
Edited by
D A REAY
David Reay & Associates, Whit ley Bay, UK
and
A WRIGHT
NEI-International Research ά Development Co. Ltd,
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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First edition 1988
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Innovation for energy efficiency.
Includes index.
1. Energy policy—Europe—Congresses. 2. Energy
conservation—Europe—Congresses. 3. Energy
policy—Congresses. 4. Energy conservation—Congresses.
I. Reay, D. A. (David Anthony)
HD9502.E8I55 1987 333.79Ό94 87-19016
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Innovation for energy efficiency: proceedings of the European
conference, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, 15-17 September
1987.
1. Energy conservation.
I. Reay, David A.
333.79Ί6 TJ163.3
ISBN 0-08-034798-3
Printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton ά Co. Ltd., Exeter
Innovation for Energy Efficiency
The Conference and associated Exhibition entitled 'Innovation
for Energy Efficiency' were organised within the framework of
a series of European Conferences on Technology and Innovation,
aimed at encouraging innovation and new approaches to energy
efficiency. The Conference which was held at Newcastle Upon
Tyne was supported by The Commission of the European
Communities, NEI-International Research and Development Co Ltd,
Newcastle upon Tyne City Council and British Gas pic Northern.
Energy efficiency is not just as a matter of engineering and
managerial performance, but also is a key target for both
regional industrial investment and neighbourhood self-help.
As the long-term trend remains towards energy-expensive
economies, then the need for decision-makers to promote
comprehensive and responsible approaches to the efficient
use of energy in all sectors is vital.
The Conference was an opportunity to bring together on a
European and International basis the three major interests of
economic regeneration, neighbourhood-based action and energy
efficiency.
The main themes highlighted by the papers in these Proceedings
are:
* The promotion of practical policies for energy efficiency
and economic investment in areas of major structural change.
* The demonstration of the scope for the use of existing,
improved and new technologies and services in the pursuit of
energy efficiency.
* The scope for mobilising citizen, municipal and business
investment in energy efficiency, through neighbourhood, regional,
national and international programmes.
David A Reay
Alan Wright
v
The Organising Committee
David Green, M.B.E. Newcastle Upon Tyne
City Council
Arthur Hoare Regional Energy
Efficiency Office
Trevor Jones European Commission
Luxembourg
Rick O'Farrell Regional Energy
Efficiency Office
Linda Pickering Energy Inform Ltd
David Reay David Reay $ Associates
Alan Wright NEI-International
Research and Development
Co Ltd
VI
The Plant Manufacturer in the Energy
Market
P. C. Warner, M.A., C.Eng., F.I.Mech.E., F.Inst.E., F.B.I.M.
Director of Corporate Engineering, Northern Engineering Industries pic
ABSTRACT
The manufacturer of energy plant aims to be energy efficient, not only in
his ov/n manufacturing operations, but also by designing the plant to be
efficient in service. Increasingly his customers are choosing to weigh up
the total cost of ownership of the plant they purchase, covering both its
first cost and its energy consumption (and of course its reliability); so
low losses become an objective of product design. The energy industries
in the United Kingdom are well used to assessing total cost of ownership
and to taking initiatives in developments, in which the plant manufacturer
is able to collaborate, in both traditional and. new energy systems. The
resulting advances in the technology are to the benefit of the general
customer both at home and in the export market.
KEYWORDS
manufacturer, plant, energy, efficiency, fuel consumption, service,
lifetime
i^rmoDUCTioN
Conventional analysis of energy matters commonly envisages two parties
only: the consumer of the energy, and its supplier. Almost invariably
there is a third one, namely the provider of a whole variety of mechanical
and electrical plant and systems for the industrial, commercial, and
domestic markets, which are needed to bring the energy to the point where
it is needed by the consumer, and to enable him to employ it as he wishes.
The provider is, in other words, the plant manufacturer, and he is the
subject of this paper. As in all businesses, the overall objective is to
satisfy the market and thereby to earn enough money to service the
borrowings and to renew the enterprise.
The theme of energy efficiency pervades this particular field, and there
are three aspects to its impact on the manufacturer:
1
2
1. The energy consumed in the whole cycle of production from design and
development to delivery.
2. The energy that the products actually use in service (they are
designed to use as little as possible).
3. The energy losses in the operation of the plant provided to the energy
supply industry and employed in the handling and conversion of energy
itself (that plant too is designed to be as efficient as possible).
All three aspects are considered in this paper.
WHY ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Efficiency was not always the major theme it is today, because there
seemed to be plenty of energy around. The Industrial Revolution was in a
period of cheap coal, to be displaced as the dominant fuel by cheap oil in
the years following the second world war; oil is now so established as a
world commodity that shifts in its price are reflected by coal and gas and
other fuels.
We saw two big jumps in oil prices in 1973/74 and in 1979 as the producer
nations came to realise and exert their collective marketing strength.
Then in 1986 they found they had overreached themselves and oil prices
dropped quite sharply. The two upward moves had been useful shocks to the
Western economies, who had grown complacent from the long years of
apparently plentiful energy at low prices and the enormous growth in
worldwide oil production. Most countries started to take a grip on their
energy consumption, and to invest in ways of employing it more
efficiently. The more recent fall in oil prices has eased the pressure,
especially on countries in the developing world that are not themselves
producers. On the other hand, some commentators and makers of policy have
been treating the reduction as permanent, almost as though we could now
relax our efforts to use energy efficiently. That would be a mistake.
Looking ahead, we must prepare for a scarcity of fossil energy resources
that is genuine, not merely caused by political factors, because by and
large we are burning fossil fuels faster than we are discovering new
reserves: exploration and recovery costs will rise, carrying prices with
them. The shortages of the 1970s were man-made in the sense that they
were the creation of the OPEC cartel. The political forces behind that
may be in temporary retreat but only until the underlying shortages assert
themselves. It may turn out to have been a useful rehearsal.
Obviously oil is not the only fuel. Others are more abundant, but they
have their drawbacks, which count against them economically. Coal is
environmentally difficult; so, it is widely supposed, is nuclear power,
but it is more realistic to say that it has problems of public acceptance;
the very large reserves of gas are not in convenient geographical places,
and while pipelines are a solution overland, gas is not easy to transport
by sea; and finally, renewabl.es are a relatively small, contribution, some
of them still requiring much development.
On energy supply grounds alone, there is a strong case for using
efficiently what we have. When environmental considerations are thrown
in, it becomes even stronger: no source of energy is without some impact
and we should keep the level as low as possible.
3
ENERGY IN PLANT MANUFACTURE
As a rule, plant of the type discussed in this paper is produced as
one-off or in batches, with little quantity production except perhaps for
small bought-in components or instruments. The processes of production
are not energy intensive in the same way as, for instance, in the
materials or chemical industries, and it is not an explicit objective of
product design to reduce the energy actually going into its manufacture.
This is not to imply that production as a whole does not consume a fair
amount of energy, but it does not depend directly on the design of the
product. There is scope for economy within some of the production
processes; and in matters like lighting, heating, and the provision of
services.
Savings designed to reduce energy consumption normally require some
investment, which ought to be viewed in the same way as other investment
proposals. The ultimate objective is to improve the efficiency with which
the organisation's resources are being used, and to the extent that
production costs will fall if the intended energy savings are achieved,
then normal financial criteria (return on capital employed and
availability of cash) will determine whether the investment is worthwhile.
It ought not to be necessary to impose special rulings giving energy
saving investment preference over other forms, and the criteria set by
management in a properly run business should produce the desired results.
Even so, it has to be recognised that attention to opportunities for
energy saving have not unti] the mid 1970s been part of the normal
experience of management and it was a new concept to many staff. It was
therefore found valuable to appoint Energy Managers who could perform
energy audits, advise the energy users throughout the offices and factory,
calculate for them their energy costs and potential savings, suggest
improvements that would not perhaps be immediately obvious, and perform
technical evaluations. In a group of companies heavily engaged in the
supply of mechanical and electrical engineering plant directed at the use
and conversion of energy, there is ample technical knowledge available to
ensure that all activities are duly economic thermodynamically, but it
still pays to direct attention specifically to that end.
ΤΉΕ ENERGY INDUSTRY
We now turn to two areas concerned with the behaviour of the products in
service, but distinguishing between those for the general customer who is
using energy, and those for the energy specialist to help him in his task
as a supplier of fuel or electricity. By way of background, it is helpful­
to look in outline at the structure of the energy industry.
Fig. 1 shows the three groups: consumers, suppliers, and manufacturers.
The consumers include people, who .live in houses, drive cars - and also
obtain services and buy goods; other consumers are the industrial and
commercial organisations large and small who provide those goods and
services and use energy to do it. Consumers choose between electricity,
or gas, or coal, and decide how much. They have an influence on the
energy suppliers, essentially the electricity supply industry and the fuel
companies (coal, oil, and gas). Consumers must equip themselves with
devices appropriate to the particular form of energy they have selected,
and they get those from plant manufacturers. As an obvious example, a
railway must choose whether to operate its trains on electricity or on
4
oil, and that decides whether it will purchase electrical or diesel
locomotives. It does not matter why the consumer behaves as he does:
whatever his reasons, they .lead to those two influences, a fuel choice
influence on the energy supplier, and a plant choice influence on the
manufacturer. It is not open to a consumer to switch to a cheaper fuel at
short notice unless he has already installed the relevant plant. For
instance, if he has gas central heating, he cannot take advantage of lower
electrical prices without storage heaters, which may be expensive to hold
merely for stand-by. Few general consumers do have alternative equipment.
The manufacturers of plant are a composite group made up of many different
firms: they supply equipnent and systems to one or more of the consumer
markets, domestic, commercial and industrial; and to the energy suppliers.
A manufacturer reacts to perceived market need in the classic manner by
trying to adapt his products to it and to improve competitiveness for
price, quality, and delivery. That would be backed up by new product
investment, design and development work on the products, and by regular
up-dating of the manufacturing facilities.
ENERGY
CONSUMERS
Invest in:
MANUFACTURING
Observe need <^ ^^
for plant \Π INDUSTRY New Products
equipment R&D
ENERGY & systems ^>
SUPPLIERS Manufacturing
Facilities
PTG. 1 THE ENERGY INDUSTRY
So much for background; we shall be returning to a number of these points
in what follows.
5
ΊΗΕ CONSUMER'S PURCHASING PRACTICES
We have seen that from time to time the consumer of energy will also
purchase the devices in which the fuel will be used, namely the
engineering plant which are products for instance of NEI companies; and
that in principle he has two sets of choices, one about the fuel, and one
about the devices to select. For many purposes (machine tools, cranes,
etc) there is no real choise of fuel: they have to be driven electrically,
so the energy plant takes the form of electric motors, with the
switchgear, transformers, and other distribution devices inseparable from
its use. For other purposes associated either with the production process
or with the heating or ventilation of the works and offices, a fossil fuel
may be more appropriate, and the list of devices lengthens to include
boilers, heaters, fuel handing and ash disposal plant, etc. Either way,
the consumer of energy is also a purchaser of devices and it is important
for manufacturers to understand the factors that may influence him.
Traditionally, preference was given to the cheapest plant; and purchasing
rules would stipulate a minimum of three tenders with the contract awarded
to the lowest except in special circumstances. Fortunately, it is now
being more widely realised that it is the total cost of ownership over the
effective life of the purchase that should be the determining argument,
not merely the first cost.
The emphasis on plant reliability and the recognition that enforced
outages and remedial work represent potentially high costs throughout its
life have spurred the development of Quality Assurance with its concept of
minimum quality cost, i.e. the aggregate of production, inspection, and
remedial costs. At the tender evaluation stage, it is difficult to be
confident numerically about remedial costs, so they are usually dealt with
through an assessment of the vendor's quality performance, giving a
limited list of approved tenderers. Quality requirements are imposed
increasingly by customers, especially by the more technically conscious,
but a surprising number are reluctant and there are obvious contrary
pressures. For instance, the personal performance of a procurement
executive is unlikely to be measurable by his achievement of the lowest
total cost of ownership, for the obvious reason that the proof of success
lies in the future - and the benefit will be credited to an operating
rather than a purchasing department. It is altogether easier to measure
success by relating the combined purchases to the allowed budget. The
purchasing process as a whole remains biased in favour of low first cost.
ENERGY PLAtfT FOR THE GENERAL CONSUMER
We have seen that purchasing departments in industry and commercial
organisations, and for that matter the ordinary domestic householder, have
traditionally had a bias towards low first cost, but that better
understanding of the total cost of ownership is beginning to favour plant
with good reliability. Assessing the cost of ownership has a bearing
also on energy considerations. For one thing, there are differentials in
price between the various fuels, which will not remain constant throughout
life (expressed per unit of energy). For another, different devices have
differing efficiencies, either because of the choice of fuel (a gas fired
boiler being more efficient than a coal fired one, for instance, and
neither as efficient as an electrical heater), or because of features in
the design of the device itself. Ihe plant purchases are capital
investments that commit their owner to a definite type of fuel and to a