Ahlstrom Engine Filtration
Taylorville, Illinois
Intern: Paul Jeffers
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Ahlstrom is a Finnish company, which has facilities in 20 countries and employs
over 5,600 people. The Taylorville Engine Filtration facility
produces high quality paper media for air filters, oil filters and water filters. The
intern was tasked with identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption
at the facility.
Anticipated Results:
The intern recommended the following energy efficiency projects:
Install a heat exchange device, known as an economizer, on the package boiler
unit. The economizer can save energy by using hot flue gas to preheat
boiler feed water. This can increase the efficiency of the boiler by
about 2.7%. The potential savings were estimated to be $16,600 a year
in decreased natural gas costs, with a payback period of 16 months.
Shut off lights in the parking lot and loading docks during the day, combined
with shutting off lights in unused parts of the facility. This could
save the company $1,800 a year.
Actual Results:
The economizer was installed in December of 2006. The actual cost
of the unit plus installation was $52,631. The calculated payback was 25.2
months.
From data collected from August 2006 to June 2007, the package boiler is operating
with an increased efficiency of 22% in steam production to gas used. This
equals an annual savings of $25,400 which fall right in line with the 25 month
calculated payback.
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