ARCHIVED - Heads Up CIPEC Newsletter - August 2013

August 2013 Vol. XVII, No. 10

• Digging into continual improvement with ISO 50001 certification at New Afton Mine
• Quesnel River Pulp plans strategically for maximum energy savings
• Dust collection system automated control and motor upgrades lead to significant energy savings for Global Wood Group
• Molson Coors' Vancouver brewery partners with BC Hydro for great energy savings
• Building a business case with BC Hydro Power Smart energy studies
• CIPEC upcoming webinars
• Dollars to $ense Energy Management Workshops – fall schedule
• Call for story ideas

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Digging into continual improvement with ISO 50001 certification at New Afton Mine

“Our vision is to make energy performance improvement self-sustaining,” says Andrew Cooper, Energy Specialist at New Gold Inc.’s New Afton Mine in British Columbia. “New Afton has managed to reduce production costs through process efficiencies and specialized mining methods. Now we plan to reduce them even further with sound energy management practices.” New Gold Inc.’s New Afton mine is a gold and copper producer with a design capacity of 11 000 tonnes per day. The facility has about 500 employees with the mine operating 365 days per year.

In 2012 and 2013, the company undertook a number of energy efficiency initiatives including an employee awareness campaign around compressed air leaks, lighting upgrades and a compressor relocation project. Cooper notes, however, that “we wanted to go further than one-off projects by embedding an energy awareness culture early on in the facility’s lifespan.”

While projects that are “low-hanging fruit” may have an attractive return on investment (ROI), Cooper considers them not self-sustaining as the financial benefits initially realized gradually start to drop off. The ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems standard was the perfect next step for the company. Cooper notes that “compliance with the ISO 50001 standard is one important path to continual improvement by optimizing efficiency and minimizing waste.”

New Afton’s goal is to be ISO 50001 certified by the end of 2013, and the mine is well on its way to being the first Canadian mine to attain certification. Cooper notes that a comprehensive energy management information system was installed to support the ISO 50001 system, especially in terms of setting energy objectives and targets, monitoring, measurement and analysis and being aware of significant deviations from target baselines. The most useful resource was the Energy Management Information System (EMIS) Planning Manual & Tool, available free of charge on Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Website.

Cooper opted for RtEMIS software developed by RtTech Software as its EMIS of choice as they had good industrial experience and RtEMIS supported the requirements of ISO 50001.

Cooper notes that the company will continue to build their ISO 50001 energy management system around RtEMIS to obtain the maximum benefits from both systems. Moreover, “I highly recommend using a historian database, such as the PI System, as a platform to build from. Having the raw energy data available is exceptionally useful”.

The company is currently completing the energy planning process, which involves modeling baseline data for the site energy, the Energy Account Centres and processes classified as Significant Energy Uses. At the same time, a comprehensive employee communication, training and awareness program has been designed, in conjunction with BC Hydro and Prism Engineering. Cooper sees the New Afton mine’s experience as proof of concept that will verify the energy savings possible with the implementation of an EMIS and ISO 50001.

Quesnel River Pulp plans strategically for maximum energy savings

“Energy is paramount for us,” says Rod Albers, Manager of Energy and Bioproduct Development at West Fraser. “Quesnel River Pulp is one of the largest individual consumers of electricity in the province.” Quesnel River Pulp mill, a division of West Fraser located in Quesnel, British Columbia, produces about 400 000 tonnes of bleached chemical thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) annually destined for board-grade packaging and paper towels. The pulp mill employs 130 people and operates 24/7 year round.

“Initially, we started with a series of mill-wide audits to identify saving opportunities that were ranked on their payback period,” remarks Albers. One of these audits, a 2008 motor study funded by BC Hydro’s Power Smart Partner Industrial program revealed that 2.4 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy per year could be saved by changing nineteen 20-to 300-hp motors to premium efficiency motors or downsizing motors to match the requirements. Albers notes that this motor retrofit project, completed between 2011 and 2012, has exceeded the projected savings. The total project cost was $1,105,000 of which Power Smart funded $808,607.

A pump study, also supported by BC Hydro, resulted in the replacement of five 200-hp pumps for fewer 300-to 400-hp pumps and the elimination of redundant pumps for annual savings of 1 GWh. Moreover, variable frequency drives are currently being installed to increase pump efficiency. Additionally, three detailed engineering studies were done on specific pumping processes, which included 30 pumps. “Half of these have had upgrades so far,” notes Albers.

Other opportunities that were identified include upgrades to compressed air systems, debris screening, and dewatering systems, as well as the automation of several processes and water balance improvements. In total, these projects – implemented between 2006 and 2010 – are saving the mill 9.4 GWh annually.

In December 2012, Quesnel River Pulp received a $250,000 incentive from FortisBC, through its Industrial Technology Retrofit Program, which provides incentives of up to 50 percent of the cost of energy efficiency upgrades to a maximum of $1 million. Albers says that the project entailed the replacement of three shell and tube heat exchangers with four high efficiency spiral-wound units, which leaves heat in the pulp thereby reducing the amount of heat required for pulp drying. The project is expected to save the mill close to 70 000 gigajoules of natural gas annually which represents a reduction of 3317 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

West Fraser’s current focus is on strategic projects, says Albers, with a BC Hydro PowerSmart project to begin in the fall of 2013, which will see a significant design change on the mill’s low consistency refining line. “The increase in efficiency expected from this project is projected to save 31 GWh annually.”

Albers states that as part of the mill’s path to continual improvement, “we will continue to check off projects on our long list identified by our initial audits and by our employees.” There are at least 24 projects that are economically feasible at this point in time and only require some more engineering.

Dust collection system automated control and motor upgrades lead to significant energy savings for Global Wood Group

“We wanted to go beyond substituting low-efficiency motors for high-efficiency ones, which can have a long payback period,” says Vladimir Rabinovitch; Project Manager at Global Wood Group; however, “when motor upgrades are combined with industrial control systems, the savings are significant.” The company’s retrofit of its Toronto-area plants’ dust collection systems proves that point, boasting up to 50 percent annual reduction in electricity use.

Global Wood Group, a furniture manufacturing company with locations in Toronto and Concord, Ontario, employs more than 100 people at each plant.

The 5574 square-metre Toronto facility was the first to be retrofitted in 2010. The facility generally operates on a three-shift schedule, five and ½ days a week for 50 weeks a year. The two dust collection systems were powered by 50-hp and 75-hp motors running at full speed throughout the production period, accounting for about 30 percent of the facility’s total electricity consumption. The dust collection system consumed almost 590 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) in electricity a year. Moreover, this continuous use led to significant wear on the system belts and bags and to high noise levels within and outside of the facility.

The significant energy consumption prompted the company to look for new dust collection technology able to save energy. Rabinovitch explains that EcoGate Smart Dust Collection system that was selected automatically closes unused ports, reducing the air volume substantially, which, in turn, translated into significant savings. For an air volume reduction of 10 percent, for instance, power use is reduced by about 30 percent.

The EcoGate system uses motorized gates at each workstation, which are opened by sensors that are activated when a machine is turned on. The production machines’ activity is monitored, air volume is calculated, and the duct collector fan speed is controlled via variable frequency drives (VFDs). Minimum airflow is maintained in the duct system to avoid dust settling. “The system has been in operation for three years and performance is good with a steady 25 to 30 percent saving in energy cost on dust collection,” notes Rabinovitch.

In September 2012, a second EcoGate system was installed at the Concord facility which generally operates on a two-shift schedule, five and ½ days a week for 50 weeks a year. The two dust collection systems were powered by two 100-hp motors running at full speed throughout two shifts per day. The retrofit also included the replacement of one of the 100-hp motors with a 100-hp NEMA MG1, Part 31 standard motor, modification of the duct network, the installation of 19 gates and 36 sensors at 28 production machines, as well as the installation of two VFD and GreenBox controllers, and the wiring that connects the sensors and gates to the controllers.

The results are impressive, with 50 percent reduction in power demands – from 142 kilowatt (KW) to 72 KW, and an estimated 280 000 kWh, or about $33,600, in annual electricity savings, with payback period of about two years. The company also received a rebate from Ontario’s Power Stream saveONenergy program of $39,776 for the project.

Rabinovitch advises other companies who are looking at motor retrofits to analyze energy savings for each application and says that investments in VFDs and industrial control systems are the best route to maximize energy savings. 

Molson Coors' Vancouver brewery partners with BC Hydro for great energy savings

“As suggestions are collected by our energy team we add them to a long list of energy efficiency projects,” says Scott Gordon, Energy Manager at Molson Coors’ Vancouver brewery, a CIPEC Leader in the Food and Beverage Sector. “We are always looking for projects and initiatives to improve energy efficiency and reduce our water consumption,” he adds. In 2012, the company set new targets to achieve a further 25 percent reduction in energy intensity, 15 percent in GHG intensity and 20 percent in water per unit of production by the year 2020.

The Vancouver brewery operates a can, bottle and keg line on either a two or three shift schedule generally five days a week. Like other Molson Coors facilities, the Vancouver plant has an active energy team with representation from all departments. “We meet weekly to review our metrics, develop an action plan and associated tasks,” says Gordon.

Town hall meetings, held regularly for the plant’s 175 employees, are another example of the two-way communication flow between employees and the energy team about energy and water conservation issues and ideas. Gordon notes that they “are currently developing a targeted energy and water reduction communication strategy.” It is no surprise that the Vancouver plant was awarded a CIPEC Leadership award in the category of Employee Awareness and Training.

The Vancouver brewery has a long-term partnership with BC Hydro’s Power Smart Program (PSP) and has conducted several Energy Efficiency Feasibility Studies between 2007 and 2009. One of those, a 2007 refrigeration study, pointed to the energy gains in retrofitting the existing ammonia-based refrigeration system that relied on three, inefficient brine shell and tube heat exchangers with a glycol system with plate and frame heat exchangers. Moreover the compressors and condensers for the system were upgraded to new variable frequency drive compressors that run at 30 psi suction pressure instead of 18 psi. “The savings were significant at 3 megajoules (MJ) per hectolitre (hL), representing a 10 percent overall plant reduction in electricity consumption,” notes Gordon.

In 2008, quite a few changes were made to the compressed air system, many funded through BC Hydro’s PSP. The plant’s dessicant regenerative dryer was replaced with a more efficient heat of compression dryer. The latter uses 30 percent less compressed air; “this gave us immediate savings and we were able to shut down one of our 250-hp compressors.” Gordon adds that oversized compressors were replaced with ones tailored to the job.

Also in 2008, after a lighting study funded by BC Hydro PSP, the plant changed its large exterior messaging board from incandescent lighting to LED fixtures. A lighting retrofit was also completed in the plant’s can line and the packaging area where old HID fixtures were replaced with induction lighting.

In terms of water conservation, Gordon notes that “water is a major focus of the company right now; we want to continue to be good water stewards.” For example, the facility replaced water-cooled with air-cooled compressors, immediately saving 100 000 hectolitres (hL) annually. “We actively reclaim our process water and reuse water where we can.”

Asked what is next, Gordon notes that the energy team is currently planning to retrofit the beer cooler system from shell and tube heat exchangers to plate and frame heat exchangers, which could allow for an increase in suction pressure from 30 psi to 35 psi, thus reducing electricity use. 

Building a business case with BC Hydro Power Smart energy studies

“The electrical Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study offered through BC Hydro’s Power Smart Partners (PSP) program, builds the business case for successful energy efficiency projects,” explains Greg Lehoux, Senior Program Manager, BC Hydro Power Smart Industrial Solutions. Moreover, Power Smart also provides funding that allows the quantification of energy efficiency projects, reduces customer resource requirements, and provides an investment grade justification for customer project approval.

The results of an electrical Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study (EEFS) can estimate the electricity cost savings to within 10 percent and implementation costs estimates to within 30 percent. The PSP program will fund 75 percent of the cost of an Energy Study upon acceptance of the study report and an additional 25 percent if several of the report’s recommendations are implemented within 18 months of the study. Either the customer or BC Hydro can hire the consultants to conduct the study.

Lehoux explains that Industrial Transmission Service Rate or Industrial Large General Service rate customers are eligible and that the industrial systems, which are being studied, must consume more than 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) annually. If the energy savings opportunity identified by the study can save at least 50 megawatt hours (MWh) per year in electricity consumption, then it may be eligible for BC Hydro Power Smart incentive funding.

In addition to Energy Studies, BC Hydro also funds plant-wide energy audits, which provide companies with an overview of energy opportunities in a facility, and End Use Assessments (EUAs) that identify energy efficiency opportunities of a specific process or piece of equipment.

Lehoux explains that since the launch of these offers in 2008, nine plant-wide energy audits, 101 EUAs and 504 energy studies have been completed. Most of the energy studies conducted to date have been in the pulp and paper, as well as, wood (e.g. sawmills, pellet plants, finished wood products) industrial sectors. Other sectors such as food and beverage, cement, oil and gas, and general manufacturing have also taken advantage of PSP offerings with energy studies specific to refrigeration or pumps. “The mining industry is an increasing user of energy studies with primary end-uses being crushing and processing operations,” says Lehoux.

BC Hydro customer, Lafarge North America, took advantage of the Energy Study offer. Claude Brûlé, Energy Manager at the Lafarge Richmond Cement Plant says that both energy studies and EUAs were conducted recently at his facility. “The performance of individual systems was studied, deficiencies were highlighted and upgrade options were identified. All of this came with estimated energy savings, project upgrade cost estimates and simple payback periods.”

Lehoux notes that most implemented energy efficiency projects come from energy studies. The conversion rate (from study recommendation to implemented project) is around 60 percent, although the rate is likely higher since “many of the projects have a three to six-year shelf life and will be implemented over the longer term.”

To find out more about BC Hydro Power Smart Industrial programs, visit www.bchydro.com/industrial.

CIPEC upcoming webinars

Fleetsmart - Learn How to Save Big on Fuel!

English webinar – September 24 at 12:15 EST
French webinar – September 26 at 10:15 EST

To register click here

SmartWay, la façon intelligente de transporter des marchandises – Oct 1 at 13:00 EST
The SmartWay to transport goods – Oct 8 at 13:00 EST

To register or to receive more information, contact Francis Charette at 613-996-7744 or Francis.Charette@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

Dollars to $ense Energy Management Workshops – fall schedule

Energy Management Information Systems (offered in English)
Date: September 17
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Offered in collaboration with Efficiency Nova Scotia

Energy Efficiency Financing (offered in English)
Date: September 19
Location: Cambridge, Ontario
Offered in collaboration with VeriGreen Inc.

Energy Management Planning (offered in English)
Date: October 22
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Offered in collaboration with Efficiency Nova Scotia

Spot the Energy Savings Opportunities (offered in English)
Date: October 29
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Offered in collaboration with Manitoba Hydro

Energy Efficiency Financing (offered in English)
Date: November 21
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Offered in Collaboration with Efficiency Nova Scotia

To register, visit oee.nrcan.gc.ca/industrial/training-awareness/4481

For a complete list of industrial events, visit oee.nrcan.gc.ca/industrial/opportunities/calendar/417.

Call for story ideas

Has your company implemented successful energy efficiency measures that you would like to share with Heads Up CIPEC readers? Please send your story ideas for consideration to the editor, Jocelyne Rouleau, by e-mail at jocelyne.rouleau@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

If you require more information on an article or a program, contact Jocelyne Rouleau at the above e-mail address.

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