Caterpillar Inc. U.S.
Operations Division
East Peoria, Illinois
Intern: Eric Nussbaum
Bradley University, Peoria
Caterpillar has grown to be the world’s largest manufacturer of construction
and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines.
The U.S. Operations Division in East Peoria manufactures track-type tractors.
The facility covers 600 acres.
The intern project focused on the industrial motors efficiency and the radiant
heating systems at the facility.
Results:
The intern completed the following tasks:
Using a power meter, the intern collected data from 50 motors from a pool
of 500 motors in the facility that had been inventoried previously. The data
was entered into the U.S. DOE MotorMaster software, which records the motor’s
current, voltage, power and power factors over a 24-hour time period. Based
on the readings, the intern recommended that 5% of the motors in the facility
be replaced with premium efficiency motors. This project would have the potential
to save $125,000, with a 1-2 year payback. The project could also be replicated
at other Caterpillar facilities around the world.
Radiant heating systems have been installed at the facility. In an effort
to determine how much energy has been saved, a parts storage building was modeled,
using a radiant heating calculation guide. The modeling determined that over
$37,000 is saved with a radiant heating system over a conventional gas-fired
heater, with an energy savings of approximately 18%.
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