Energy Conservation In Industry

1. INTRODUCTION

The industrial sector is a major energy consuming sector in India and

uses about 50% of the total commercial energy in the country . The total industrial

energy consumption, including non-energy uses grew from 54700 Ktoe in 1984-85 to

74940 Ktoe in 1994-95. In terms of percentage for the same period the percentage

increase of GDP was 84.6% compared to a percentage increase of 63.9% in the

energy consumed . Of the commercial sources of energy, coal and lignite contribute

about 56%, oil and natural gas about 40%, hydroelectric power around 3% and

nuclear power 1%. Over 42% of energy sales from utility sector in 1991-92 were to

the industrial sector. In addition, the industry produces 10% of total utility

generation through captive power plants, most of which is consumed in-hours.

In general, Indian industry is highly energy intensive and energy

efficiency is well below that of other industrialized countries (Table 1).

Country Steel Cement Pulp and Paper Fertilizer

India 9.50 2.00 11.13 12.23
U. K. 6.07 1.30 7.62 11.25
U.S.A. 6.06 95 9.70 11.32
Japan 4.18 1.20 -- --
Sweden 5.02 1.40 7.56 --

Efforts to promote energy conservation by such industries could lead

to substantial reduction in their cost of production, making them more competitive

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globally. The consumption of electricity per unit of product in these industry is much

higher than in developed countries. Part of it reflects the outdated production

processes still in existence. Most of the energy intensive plant are based on

international technologies developed during the period when energy efficiency was

considered a secondary criterion for plant design. Even in the fifth and sixth plans,

hardly any capital schemes encouraging energy conservation were formulated.

Concern, if any, in this direction has remained confined at the conceptual level

within the consultancy organizations without making inroads into the industry in a

major way.

2. ENERGY TRENDS IN THE INDIAN INDUSTRY

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The section below discusses few of the major energy consuming

industries of India with regard to their energy conservation effort and trends shown

by the industries.

Table 2 : Absolute energy consumption of energy intensive industries

Absolute energy Scope of energy Energy cost as

Industry consumption conservation in Percentage of mfg
(million G Cal) the sector (%) cost (%)
Fertilizer 112 10 60
Sugar 100 20 + cogeneration 12
Cement 67 10 40
Textile 52.5 20-25 13
Aluminium 30.1 15-20 40
Mini-steel 27 9 25
Paper 26 20 25
Chlor-alkali 20 15 30-35
Glass & Ceramics 15 15 30
Food processing 15 13 30

CEMENT:

India is the 4th largest producer of cement in the world after China,

Japan and USA. The cement industry is highly energy intensive with energy costs

making up as much as 40% of the total cost of manufacturing . This has been one of

the reasons for the high responsiveness of the industry to energy conservation. The

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

drop in specific energy consumption has been spectacular (Table3). New cement

plants have their energy performance comparable to international best standards. The

various studies conducted by the CII indicates a potential energy saving of 10%

translating into Rs 3,000 million/year with an investment of approximately Rs 6,000

million to achieve the projected energy savings.

Cement industry produces particulate emission that has a significant

influence on the environment. The energy saving projects in the industry will also

have a huge direct benefit on the environment.

Specific energy consumption.

1991-92 1993-94
Specific electrical energy consumption (units/tone
122 114
of cement)
Specific energy consumption (kcal/kg of dinker) 930 880

PAPER INDUSTRY:

The paper industry is highly energy intensive. The weighted average

energy cost as a percentage of manufacturing cost has increased from 11.5% in 1971

-72 to 15% in 1979-80 and farther to ;4.5% ranks only next raw material cost. This is

in sharp contrast to energy cost in advanced countries where energy cost forms

energy 12-14% of the manufacturing cost. A study by DSIR (1990) points out that

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

average steam consumption in tonnes of steam per tonne of paper is 6.5-8.5 in mills

abroad whereas it is 11-14-in Indian mills. Similarly the electrical energy

consumption per tonne of paper is 1500-1700 kwh in India compared to 1150-1250

abroad. The creation of many small mills has reduced the average size of the

production l»it from.J3~s in 1970 to 9,500 tonnes in 1988. Larger mills, both agro

and forest based, are comparatively more energy efficient mills compared to the

smaller ones.

Among the causes for higher energy consumption in paper industry

are that most smaller mills do no: have chemical recovery systems and co-gene-

ration due to installation of low pressure boiler, lower labor productivity, old

technologies, and shortage of conventional raw material leading to lower capacity

utilization.

FERTILIZER:

The paper industry is one of the largest consumers of hydrocarbon

energy, it is estimated that manufacture, packing , transport and application of I kg

of nitrogen fertilizer requires 2 kg of fossil fuel. The performance of fertilizer plants

from the energy viewpoint has shown a steady improvement over the years as cam

improvement over the years as can be judged from the specific energy consumption

for ammonia production which has reduced from 14.8 Gcal/Mt in 1979-80 to 11.4

Gcal/Mt in 1992-93. The new (gas based) fertilizer plants in India ha. ye specific

energy consumption comparable or even better than plants in the world (Table 4).

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

The energy consumption of naphtha and fuel oil based plants is also encouraging

though the same cannot be said about coal based plants.

Table4. Energy consumption of gas based ammonia plants.

Plant Energy consumption (Gcal/Mt)

P.T. Pupak Kaltim III 8.21
ASEAN Bontulu Fert. 9.19
Quarter Fertilizer Co., U.A.E. 12.10
USA (average all plants) 9.98
India (average all plants) 9.41

For further encouraging investment in energy consumption project it

is recommended that appropriate provision be made in the retention pricing scheme

(RPS). This scheme along with special fiscal incentives has encouraged

improvement in energy efficiency over and above norms.

SUGAR:

India is one of the largest producers of sugar with the industry

expected to grow at the rate of )% p.a. It is also one of the most regulated industries

in India. The total absolute primary energy consumption in the industry is around

100 million Goals. The energy consumption is high because of the presence of a

large number of small inefficient mills, non-incorporation of energy saving devices

and inadequate implementation of energy conservation measures.

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

The sugar Industry holds a great potential for cogeneration due to the

surplus bagasse produced. This potential which has been identified at 3500 Mw can

improve the financial state of the mills and the power situation in the country.

TEXTILE:

The India;, textile industry for 20% of the world production and

contributes 25-30% of the total value of exports from India. The condition of the

plants is quite diverse. In some plants there is a total lack of systematic energy

management while in some progressive mills efforts in tuning and systematic energy

management at the plant level has significantly contributed to overall profitability of

the mill. There is a great potential for using solar thermal energy in this sector

because of the requirement of large quantities of low grade heat. The energy saving

potential using solar energy is 5 to 30%.

ALUMINIUM :

The aluminium industry is highly concentrated, with five players

accounting for the entire production capacity. Energy consumption varies from plant

to plants as their smelters are based on different design parameters. NALCO has

adopted the latest energy efficient systems au-Ml has the lowest specific heat

consumption of 13,500 kwh per tonne of aluminium production whereas for the

remaining plants it is in the range of 15,000 to 18,100 kwh per tonne of Al.

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

Aluminium production is highly energy intensive and provides a great scope for

energy conservation. A coordinated approach would enable an energy saving of 15

-20%.

3. ENERGY POLICY IN INDIA

The energy conservation policy is determined in a manner similar to

energy policy. The Ministry of power has been designated as the nodal agency for

energy conservation and consequently much of the policy formulation is initiated in

the Ministry of Power. However, policy formulae ion have also been initiated in the

Ministry of industry and Ministry of Petroleum. They are generally discussed with

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

the Ministry of Finance, and in Inter-Ministerial Committees before being sent to the

cabinet for approval.

Major Government initiatives towards energy conservation are :

a) Depreciation allowance at 100% in the first year on certain energy saving devices

and systems.

b) Certain energy-efficient equipment are exempt from the payment of excise and /

or custom duty, and reduced custom duty is applicable on specified

equipment/devices used in the industry.

c) Soft loans from financial institutions for technology upgradation and introduction

of energy conservation measure.

d) Subsidies for consultancy y and training in the areas of energy management and

conservation;

e) Strengthening of Energy Management Centre (EMC) for coordinating

information dissemination, and strengthening of National Productivity Council

(NPC), TIFAC and other organization.

4. ROLE PLAYED BY TERI

Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) is an autonomous, non-for-

profit, research institute established in 1974. In the initial period the institute

concentrated on documentation and information dissemination activities. Towards

the end of 1982, research activities were initiated in the fields of energy, and

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

expanded soon to cover the environment, biotechnology, forestry and a whole mage

of sustainable development issues.

TERI is working in close association with the Indian industry for

enveloping solutions to the challenges posed by the growing demand of energy on

one hand and the growing demand of fuel coupled with increasing prices on the

other. It is involved in disseminating knowledge and developing expertise in the

energy conservation among industry personnel through the major activities a) Energy

audits, b) Technology promotion/demonstration, c) Training/information

dissemination.

Energy audits : Energy audits can be considered as the first step

towards understanding as to how energy is being used in a given facility. It indicates

the ways in which different forms of energy are being used and quantifies energy use

according to discrete functions. Energy audit does not provide the final answer to the

problem but only identifies, where the potential for improvement lies and therefore

where the efforts of the management should be concentrated upon.

Technology promotion/demonstration : This involves demonstration

projects (presently small scale and refrigeration sectors) and macro-level studies on

energy efficient technologies and process.

TERI aims at finding solutions to the energy and the environment

problems of the SSI through technology upgradation and human and institutional

development in some small scale energy intensive sectors. Four small scale sectors

are presently being covered foundry, glass, brick and sericulture. Besides

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

demonstration projects awareness programs and training of the entrepreneurs and

operators will also be carried out simultaneously to familiarize them with the new

technologies. Appropriate mechanism (to support the preparation, financing and

implementation of replicable projects) will be worked out with an effort try and

make this program sustainable beyond the project intervention.

Training/ information dissemination : Many investors and most of

the consumers have insufficient information on the rapidly evolving technologies

that are available. Furthermore, they are uncertain regarding the energy saving and

cost-efficient designs. By organizing training programs and workshops TERI is

disseminating knowledge gained through energy audits sex. demonstration projects

to industry personnel.

5. CONCLUSION

In general, it can be seen- that there is considerable scope for the

improvement of energy efficiently in the energy intensive industries. Efforts to

promote energy conservation by such industries could lead to substantial reduction in

their cost of production, making them competitive globally. As 1 keh saved at the

user end could mean a relief of 2-4 kwh of generation capacity depending upon the

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 Energy Conservation In Industry

plant load factor, transmission and distribution losses, and end use efficiency, energy

conservation offers the least cost option for bridging the ever widening gap between

demand and supply of energy.

In order to motivate entrepreneurs to take up energy efficiency drive

seriously, many state governments have made energy audit mandatory for units

above a certain size (generally related to connected load). But the fact remains that

the real motivation will come when the entrepreneurs start realizing the actual

benefits of energy use and use it as a tool to increase profits and productivity, rather

than view it as a statutory requirement.

REFERENCES

1) Maynard’s Industrial Engineering Handbook – Willium K. Hodson.

2) Energy Stimulation in Building Design – Jaclar Ke.

3) Renewable Energy from the ocean – William H. Avery Chih Wu

4) Renewable Energy – N. K. Bansal

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