Federal Energy Management Program: FEMP Focus - An Operations & Maintenance Focus Lowers Cost, Increases Efficiency

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FEMP Focus - Fall 2004

An Operations & Maintenance Focus Lowers Cost,

Increases Efficiency

There are numerous measures that may improve fuel-use efficiency and
reduce energy consumption—and the accompanying cost—at federal
facilities:

In Buildings

Check and adjust combustion efficiency of natural gas-fired equipment.

Inspect furnaces, space heaters, and water heaters. Tune and adjust
natural gas burners to achieve proper excess air settings and uniform,
efficient combustion. Performing this maintenance can often save from 2
to 12 percent of annual fuel use. Contact the local natural gas utility
company for assistance if necessary.

Lower thermostat settings, particularly in large heated spaces during the

coldest winter days. A common rule-of-thumb is that for each degree the
thermostat setting can be lowered, a 3 percent reduction in fuel
consumption can be achieved. Implement dress code changes to allow the
use of warmer functional clothing.

Lower setback temperatures in buildings during unoccupied periods. For a

typical building, a 10 percent reduction in annual fuel consumption can be
achieved if the thermostat setting is lowered 10 degrees an average of 8
hours each day. Isolate unoccupied building areas to further reduce space
temperatures and provide only minimum freeze protection.

Optimize morning warmup and night setback controls. Programmable

temperature controls, particularly energy management and control
systems (EMCS) at large installations, are oftentimes not adjusted to
coincide with building occupancy schedules as they change. Heating is
needlessly activated when the buildings are not in use. Fuel savings can
be achieved by updating warmup and setback control schedules to
coincide with current occupancy periods in affected buildings for each
heating zone and weekday.

Reduce and eliminate major sources of infiltration. Leakage of outside air

into heated spaces during the coldest winter days can be the largest
single contributor to the heating load in some buildings. Keep large
overhead doors tightly closed in warehouses, hangars, and industrial
buildings. Check and repair overhead door seals which are often deficient
and can allow significant leakage. Shut off exhaust fans when not needed.

Minimize use of outside air for process ventilation. Many large installations
use 100 percent outside air to ventilate hazardous areas, meaning that
none of the heated air is recirculated. The heating requirement associated

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Federal Energy Management Program: FEMP Focus - An Operations & Maintenance Focus Lowers Cost, Increases Efficiency

with these kinds of systems can be substantial. It is estimated that the

fuel cost that will be incurred this year to heat one facility at one DOE site
with this type of ventilation system will be about $250,000, if gas prices
increase as anticipated. Verify with facility managers the cost implications
of outside air ventilation in view of the higher fuel prices expected this
winter, and that all available opportunities have been taken to minimize
the impact.

Modify work activities to reduce heating requirements without affecting

productivity. During the coldest part of the heating season, implement a 4-
day work schedule for buildings that are least energy efficient. Large
industrial shops having minimal insulation and high infiltration would be
good candidates for this initiative. Where possible, temporarily relocate
work activities from larger, less energy-efficient buildings to smaller, more
efficient ones.

Minimize the use of natural gas-fired refrigeration equipment. Several

federal installations operate gas-fired refrigeration equipment (including
absorption refrigeration and steam turbine-driven centrifugal machines) to
provide space cooling in one or more buildings. Natural gas-fired
refrigeration equipment is typically more expensive to operate during the
heating season than electric-driven equipment. The use of natural gas-
fired refrigeration should be minimized during the winter if mechanical
refrigeration is required and electric-driven equipment is available.

In Central Heating Plants

Conduct boiler efficiency tests. Boiler efficiency tests are often the only
reliable way of revealing deficiencies in a heating plant and identifying
problem areas that can impact fuel consumption. Boiler efficiency tests
should be conducted for the largest site boilers if such testing has not
been completed within the last several years.

Optimize combustion efficiency. It is important that the correct air-to-fuel

ratio be maintained in boilers and that sufficient excess air is used to
assure complete combustion. Maintaining too much excess air is a
common occurrence and unnecessarily wastes fuel. With well designed
natural gas-fired boilers, an excess air level of 10 percent is usually
attainable. Excess air levels should be continuously monitored by utility
personnel and corrected if necessary. An often stated rule-of-thumb is
that fuel costs can be reduced by 1 percent, if the amount of excess air is
reduced by 15 percent.

Perform boiler maintenance. Stack temperature more than 150 degrees

Fahrenheit above steam temperature often indicates the presence of
excessive water-side scaling, which can reduce heat transfer and increase
fuel consumption by as much as 10 percent. If stack temperatures are
excessive, heat transfer surfaces should be cleaned to remove scaling.

Minimize boiler blowdown. Reliable steam plant operation requires that a

portion of the boiler water be discharged to drain in order to maintain
acceptable solids concentrations. Blowdown rates are often excessive and
waste fuel. Plant personnel should continuously monitor boiler blowdown
to minimize energy losses.

Optimize steam plant heat balance. Many large steam plants use a
combination of electric motors and steam turbines to drive auxiliary plant
equipment. Continuous venting of large amounts of steam at a steam
plant usually indicates that these drives are not optimally balanced, which
can be costly when fuel prices are high and electric rates are low. Plant
personnel should immediately correct these imbalances when they occur.

Minimize deaerator steam venting. Excessive steam losses in a steam

plant can often be attributed to deaeration, a corrosion control process
that removes air and gases from boiler feedwater. Plant personnel should
keep deaerator venting to the minimum acceptable level.

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Federal Energy Management Program: FEMP Focus - An Operations & Maintenance Focus Lowers Cost, Increases Efficiency

Optimize boiler loading to coordinate the operation of multiple boilers and

ensure that all load conditions are met in the most efficient manner.
Selected boilers should be shut down during the low load periods so that
the remaining boilers can operate at higher, more efficient firing rates.

With Thermal Distribution

Inspect/replace steam traps. Steam traps are mechanical devices that

remove condensate from steam piping and equipment. Hundreds of steam
traps may be in service in a typical system, and it is not uncommon to
find 15 to 20 percent not functioning properly. Collectively, trap losses
can be significant. A single failed trap, which might cost $400 to replace,
will increase fuel costs by about $2,000 this year if gas prices increase as
expected. In systems with a scheduled maintenance program, leaking
traps should account for no more than 5 percent of the total trap
population.

Inspect/repair condensate return equipment. Inoperative condensate

return equipment, like steam traps, often go unnoticed because collected
condensate can be wasted to drain, while the steam system continues to
function. Condensate contains useful thermal energy that can be
recovered to offset fuel costs. If condensate is returned to a steam plant,
fuel costs will typically be reduced by about 10 percent.

Locate/repair steam leaks. Steam leaks can also be significant. A

continuous steam leak with a visible plume only a few feet in length will
likely cost about $8,000 in additional gas purchases this year if no
corrective action is taken. Steam leaks can also pose a significant safety
hazard.

Repair insulation. Up to one-quarter of total heating system fuel costs can

be attributed to the thermal losses from distribution piping, valves, and
equipment. Deteriorated or missing insulation from a 10-foot section of a
6-inch steam line, for example, will increase gas costs by about $1,000
this year if left unrepaired. An uninsulated 6-inch steam valve will cost
about $300 in additional natural gas purchases. Thermographic
instruments and infrared pyrometers can be helpful in surveying steam
lines and identifying areas needing repair.

Isolate non-essential distribution piping. Changing missions have reduced

the steam requirements at many sites. Steam distribution systems may
no longer be optimally configured to serve facility loads. Opportunities
may exist to discontinue operation of major sections of a distribution
system originally designed to supply much larger loads, allowing existing
loads to be served by other more efficient means. The avoided distribution
losses can be substantial. Fuel purchases attributable to thermal losses
from a typical 6-inch steam line 1,000-feet in length, for example, will
cost about $12,000 this year at the anticipated higher natural gas price.

Reduce distribution pressure. Load reductions that have resulted from

changing missions and energy conservation measures may also afford the
opportunity to lower steam pressures in existing distribution systems to
achieve a corresponding reduction in thermal losses. For example,
lowering the average distribution pressure in 1,000 feet of 6-inch steam
line from 120 to 80 psig would reduce distribution losses by about 10
percent, saving about $1,200 in natural gas purchases this year.

For more information on O&M, please visit the Operations and

Maintenance Web site.

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Federal Energy Management Program: FEMP Focus - An Operations & Maintenance Focus Lowers Cost, Increases Efficiency

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Content Last Updated: 02/20/2004

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