{"id":7233,"date":"2006-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/energy-assessments-illuminate-potential-for-mechanical-insulation\/"},"modified":"2017-06-09T20:21:12","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T20:21:12","slug":"energy-assessments-illuminate-potential-for-mechanical-insulation","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/energy-assessments-illuminate-potential-for-mechanical-insulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Assessments Illuminate Potential for Mechanical Insulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to the U.S. Department  of Energy (DOE), there are more than 226,000 manufacturing facilities in the  United States. Most of these can economically benefit, to varying degrees, from  proper insulation of their steam and process heating systems.<\/p>\n<p>Heat is a key ingredient in the  creation of almost all manufactured goods. At stake is valuable energy used to  transform works in progress into final goods. Proper insulation of industry&rsquo;s  mechanical systems is therefore a central strategy for conserving energy&mdash;and money&mdash;that  otherwise would disappear, literally, into thin air.<\/p>\n<p>Accurate measures of the  potential market for mechanical insulation are difficult to develop. Most  steam-facility managers lack the time and motivation to take inventory of their  facilities&rsquo; current insulation profiles. In other words, they have no idea how  their current insulation usage compares to an economically optimal level. Even  if facilities do maintain such inventories, the results are regarded as  confidential. <\/p>\n<p>Perennial questions about the  mechanical insulation market may include:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>How many facilities (and which ones) can benefit from improved insulation?<\/li>\n<li>What are specific patterns in the under-application of insulation?<\/li>\n<li>What is the distribution of economic opportunities for insulation improvements? (For example, what proportion of insulation-improvement       opportunities represents contracts under $10,000? Over $100,000?)<\/li>\n<li>What is the range of financial paybacks provided by typical insulation improvements?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Definitive answers to these  questions remain elusive. However, diligent observers can get a limited view of  the insulation market through energy assessments (audits) published by the DOE,  whose Save Energy Now (SEN) program is conducting energy assessments for many  of the largest industrial facilities in the United States. The DOE began  promoting these assessments in the wake of the 2005 hurricane season, which  disrupted energy markets. U.S. industrial profitability was severely threatened  by dramatic spikes in the price of natural gas and other forms of energy. In an  unprecedented policy initiative, the DOE offered free energy assessments on a  first-come, first-served basis to facilities that applied for assistance and  met eligibility criteria. <\/p>\n<p>The DOE&rsquo;s energy assessments  investigate many energy-saving opportunities, not just insulation. Common  assessment recommendations also include combustion tune-ups, steam-trap improvements,  condensate return, and changes in operating procedures. Participating companies  got a detailed, confidential assessment, while a &ldquo;sanitized&rdquo; version (with  confidential information removed at the recipient&rsquo;s discretion) was developed  for publication. In 2006, 200 such assessments are being produced, with an  additional 250 to be delivered in 2007.<\/p>\n<p>The initial facilities reviewed  included a wide variety of industries and locations. The first 53 facility  assessments (through September 2006) are posted on the DOE&rsquo;s website, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.energy.gov\">www.energy.gov<\/a>. This first batch of assessments  was studied for this article, with a particular focus on insulation  recommendations. Insulation opportunities were recorded in 27 (or 51 percent)  of the assessments. The facilities that received insulation-improvement  recommendations are listed in Table 1.<\/p>\n<p>While each report is  enlightening, the collection is not compiled consistently. This is because  participating companies enjoyed editorial power over what information would be  included in the published versions of their reports. Here are examples from  reports where some estimates of savings attributable to insulation improvements  are included (savings estimates were calculated using fuel prices that  prevailed when the assessments were conducted):<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>The Boise Cascade report (ESA-006) estimates cost       and energy savings due to insulation improvements. The estimated cost for       all insulation improvements at this site is $25,000, and related savings       should be $80,000 per year. One project&mdash;500 feet of piping that       supplies 160&deg;F feedwater to a deaerator&mdash;would cost about $12,000 and       reduce annual energy losses by about $40,000.<\/li>\n<li>An insulation survey of the National Starch &amp;       Chemical Co. power plant (ESA-029) in Indianapolis, Indiana, covered       piping only, but revealed opportunities to save a total of $25,000 per       year, at a cost of about $7,000.<\/li>\n<li>Goodyear&rsquo;s production facility (ESA-031) in Union       City, Tennessee, features a number of partially insulated process units.       Insulation upgrades are estimated to save $402,000 per year, and could be       achieved at a cost of $80,000 to $200,000.<\/li>\n<li>Sterling Chemical&rsquo;s facility (ESA-074) in Texas       City, Texas, can potentially save $123,000 a year through improved pipe       insulation. <\/li>\n<li>Dow&rsquo;s Hahnville, Louisiana, facility (ESA-103) can       save 81,100 MMBtu (million British thermal units) in annual natural gas       consumption, or $81,000, by improving steam-system insulation.<\/li>\n<li>The General Motors facility (ESA-138) in Pontiac,       Michigan, features opportunities to repair and replace missing insulation,       yielding estimated annual savings of $298,000.<\/li>\n<li>Bayer CropScience&rsquo;s steam facilities (ESA-142) in       Institute, West Virginia, feature opportunities to replace or repair       insulation on steam distribution and condensate return lines. The annual       savings due to these improvements is estimated to be $926,000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The assessments give an idea of  industrial insulation potential.<\/p>\n<p>While the DOE assessments did not  consistently estimate the cost and savings impact of recommendations, the  findings were at least classified as &ldquo;near-term,&rdquo; &ldquo;medium-term,&rdquo; or &ldquo;long-term&rdquo; opportunities, defined as follows:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Near-term:<\/strong> Improved operating or maintenance practices that could be performed at       relatively low cost. These activities could typically be accomplished in a       time frame of less than a year. <\/li>\n<li><strong>Medium-term:<\/strong> Improvements that require the purchase of additional equipment and\/or       changes in facility systems. These activities would also require       additional engineering analysis, and they could be carried out in a 1- to       2-year time frame.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-term:<\/strong> Opportunities that involve the testing of new technologies and       confirmation of their performance in the context of the subject plant&rsquo;s       operating conditions and investment criteria. These activities might be       accomplished in a 2- to 5-year time frame.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By these definitions, about 82  percent of all insulation recommendations were near-term opportunities. Fifteen  percent were described as medium-term opportunities, with the remainder being  long-term opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Insulation costs were calculated  in only a few of the assessment reports. Two recommendations were priced at  $10,000 or under. One fell in the range of $10,000 to $80,000. One project was  estimated to cost $80,000 to $200,000. These observations are insufficient to  make robust generalizations about the overall value of potential  mechanical-insulation contracts. However, the following interesting conclusions  can be made even from this limited study:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>About half of all these assessments recommended some form of insulation improvement. If this proportion applies to the entire population of U.S. industrial facilities, approximately 113,000 facilities would benefit from insulation improvements.<\/li>\n<li>Even companies with award-winning energy-management programs had room for improvement. Some good examples are 3M Worldwide (ESA-001); J.R. Simplot (ESA 002); and Rohm &amp; Haas Company, owners of the Morton Salt facility (ESA-004).<\/li>\n<li>Remedial improvements to already-existing insulation represent a significant share of investment opportunities. In fact, this was the most frequently cited opportunity (over a third of all insulation recommendations).<\/li>\n<li> Insulation is predominant among &ldquo;quick-and-easy&rdquo; energy-saving opportunities. Over 80 percent of all of the insulation-improvement recommendations made were near-term opportunities that would be achievable in less than 1 year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The DOE continues to publish energy assessments generated  by its Save Energy Now program. The DOE is continuing the program into 2007, which  will make even more reports available for analysis. A more thorough description  of the DOE&rsquo;s Save Energy Now program, as well as information on its assessments  and plans for future activity, can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eere.energy.gov\/industry\">www.eere.energy.gov\/industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"images\">\n<div class=\"figure\"><a href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IO061202_01.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IO061202_01.jpg\"\/><\/a><b>Figure 1<\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"figure\"><a href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IO061202_02.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IO061202_02.jpg\"\/><\/a><b>Figure 2<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), there are more than 226,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States. Most of these can economically benefit, to varying degrees, from proper insulation of their steam and process heating systems. Heat is a key ingredient in the creation of almost all manufactured goods. At stake is valuable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[73],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[301,28],"class_list":["post-7233","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-design","category-energy-savings","author-christopher-russell"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Energy Assessments Illuminate Potential for Mechanical Insulation - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/energy-assessments-illuminate-potential-for-mechanical-insulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy Assessments Illuminate Potential for Mechanical Insulation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), there are more than 226,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States. 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