Industrial Audits

Industrial
Audits
CHENMA430 – ENERGY
MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Outline Audit Services
Industrial Energy Rate Structures
Process and Technology Data Sources
Conducting the Audit

What makes industrial audits complex and
interesting?
 Variety of Highly Specialized Industrial Equipment
The auditor and energy The specialized consulting
management specialist is in charge engineer examines the processes
of learning and understanding the involve in the plant in order to
operation of the equipment to come recommend operational and
up with improvements to the equipment changes that would result
processes and the equipment that can in greater energy productivity.
save energy and money.
Audit Services
Some gas and electric utilities that are large enough can offer industrial audits
to their customers. With their trained engineers and process specialists, they can
recommend operational changes or new equipment to reduce energy costs in a
production environment.
If they can not offer audits, they give out financial incentives for facilities to
install high efficiency lighting, motors, chillers, and other equipment. This makes
ECO’s (Energy Conservation Opportunities) very attractive.
Audit Services
Who can receive free energy audits
throughout this program?
 Small and medium-sized industries that

fall into the Manufacturing Sector (SIC
2000 to 3999), and are in the service area of
one of the Industrial Assessment Centers
(IAC) funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
Audit Services
There are 30 IAC’s operating in the
eastern and mid-western areas of the
U.S. They are administered by the
University City Science Center in
Philadelphia, PA, and Rutgers
University in Piscataway, NJ.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Except for the smallest industries, facilities will be billed for energy services through a large
commercial or industrial rate category. It is important to get this rate structure information
for all sources of energy—electricity, gas, oil, coal, steam, etc.
◦ (1) Gas, oil and coal are usually billed on a straight cost per unit basis—e.g. $0.90 per gallon of #2
fuel oil.
◦ (2) Electricity and steam have complex rate structures with components for a fixed customer
charge, a demand charge, and an energy charge.
Gas, steam, and electric energy are often available with a time of day rate, or an
interruptible rate that provides much cheaper energy service.
Advance notice of the interruption is almost always given, and the number of
times a customer can be interrupted in a given period of time is limited.
For Industrial Audits, it is critical to get in advance as much information as
possible on the specialized process equipment so it can be studied and researched
for the following purposes:
(1) TO understand the particular processes being used;
(2) TO identify what improvements in operation or technology are available
Auditors should have information on processes and technology, and should know where
to find additional information.
Where can auditors get additional information on processes, process
equipment, and other technologies?
(1) Research organizations

(2) Government facilities
(3) Equipment suppliers
(4) Other organizations
EPRI/GRI U.S. DOE INDUSTRIAL
DIVISION
STATE ENERGY EQUIPMENT
OFFICES SUPPLIERS
Electric Power Research Funds research into new Good sources of information, as They provide additional sources
Institute (EPRI) and the Gas processes and technologies, and well as good contacts to see for data on energy efficiency
Research Institute (GRI) also funds many demonstration what kind of incentive programs improvements to processes.
projects to help insure that might be available in the state.
promising improvements get
implemented in appropriate
industries.
EPRI has a large number of Maintains a wide network of They offer programs of free By marketing new, cost-effective
projects to show the cost- contacts with government- boiler tune-ups, free air processes and technologies, they
effectiveness of electro- related research laboratories conditioning system checks, provide sales for the companies as
well as help industries to be more
technologies using new seminars on energy efficiency productive and economically
processes for heating, drying, for various facilities, and other competitive.
cooling, etc. services.
GRI also has a large number of These laboratories have many of Most have well-stocked energy
projects underway to help their own research, development libraries, and are also tied into
promote the use of new cost- and demonstration programs for other state energy research
effective gas technologies improved industrial and organizations, and to national
commercial technologies. laboratories and the USDOE.
I. Safety Considerations
Conducting  Safety is the primary consideration in any industrial

audit.
the Audit  Safety glasses, safety shoes, durable clothing and possibly
a safety hat and breathing mask might be needed during
some audits.
Gloves should be worn while making any electrical
measurements, and also while making any measurements
around boilers, heaters, furnaces, steam lines, or other very
hot pieces of equipment.
 Adequate attention to personal safety is a significant
feature of any industrial audit.
II. Lighting
Conducting  It may not be as great a percent of total industrial use as it

is in the commercial sector on the average, but lighting is
the Audit still a big energy use and cost area for many industrial
facilities.
A complete inventory of all lighting should be taken during
the audit visit.
Timers, Energy Management Systems, and occupancy
sensors are all valuable approaches to insuring that lights
that are not needed are not turned on.
During the lighting inventory, types of tasks being
performed should also be noted.
III. Electric Motors
Conducting  A common characteristic of many industries is their

extensive use of electric motors.
the Audit A complete inventory of all motors over 1 hp should be
taken, as well as recording data on how long each motor
operates during a day.
For motors which are used infrequently, it may be possible
to shift the use to off-peak times, and to achieve a kW
demand reduction which would reduce energy cost.
IV. HVAC Systems
 An inventory of all space heaters and air conditioners should be
taken.
Conducting Btu per hour ratings and efficiencies of all units should be
recorded, as well as usage patterns.
the Audit The construction of the facility should be noted—how much
insulation, what are the walls and ceilings made of, how high are
the ceilings. Adding additional insulation might be a cost effective
ECO.
Production floors that are not air conditioned often have large
numbers of ventilating fans that operate anywhere from one shift
per day to 24 hours a day.
- These are good candidates for high efficiency motor
replacements. Timers or an Energy Management System might be
used to turn off these ventilating fans when the plant is shut down.
V. Boilers
Conducting
 All boilers should be checked for efficient operation using a
stack gas combustion analyzer.
the Audit Boiler specifications on Btu per hour ratings, pressures and
temperatures should be recorded.
The boiler should be varied between low-fire, normal-fire, and
high-fire, with combustion gas and temperature readings taken at
each level.
Boiler tune-up is one of the most common, and most energy-
saving operations available to many facilities.
The auditor should check to see whether any waste heat from the
boiler is being recovered for use in a heat recuperator or for some
other use such as water heating.
VI. Specialized Equipment
Conducting
Most of the remaining equipment encountered during the
industrial audit will be the highly specialized process production
equipment and machines.
the Audit This equipment should all be examined and operational data
taken, as well as noting hours and periods of use.
All heat sources should be considered carefully as to whether
they could be replaced with sources using waste heat, or whether
a particular heat source could serve as a provider of waste heat to
another application.
VII. Air Compressors
Air compressors should be examined for size, operating pressures, and

Conducting type (reciprocating or screw), and whether they use outside cool air for
intake.
the Audit Efficiency is improved with intake air that is cool, so outside air should
be used in most cases—except in extremely cold temperature areas.
Screw-type air compressors use a large fraction of their rated power
when they are idling, so control valves should be installed to prevent
this loss.
A good source of waste heat – with nearly 90% of the energy used by
an air compressor shows up as waste heat, it can be used as heating
input air to a heater or boiler.
The auditor should determine whether there are significant air leaks in
air hoses, fittings, and in machines – air leaks are a major source of
energy loss and should be corrected by maintenance action.

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Industrial Audits

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Industrial

Outline Audit Services

Industrial Energy Rate Structures

Process and Technology Data Sources

Conducting the Audit

 Small and medium-sized industries that

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

(1) Research organizations

Conducting  Safety is the primary consideration in any industrial

Conducting  It may not be as great a percent of total industrial use as it

Conducting  A common characteristic of many industries is their

Air compressors should be examined for size, operating pressures, and

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