Plant-wide Assessment Summary: $1.2 Million in Savings Identified in Caraustar Assessment.

摘要

Caraustar and its partners applied a systematic plantwide assessment (PWA) approach to identify energyand cost-saving opportunities at the corporation’s recycled paperboard mill in Rittman, Ohio. The assessment team identified $1.2 million in potential annual savings. Large quantities of electricity, natural gas, coal, and oil are used in the production of recycled paperboard. Energy accounts for 15 to 25% of the Rittman Mill’s total operating expenses and is second only to raw material and labor in operating cost structure. The assessment team’s comprehensive strategy focused on identifying and quantifying energy inputs into plant processes, assessing process efficiency, and examining process outputs (including waste and energy). The assessment team recommended six projects: reconstruct powerhouse steam turbine generators, benchmark mill energy use, replace direct steam injection into pulpers with fill-water heat exchangers, modify steam injection stock heaters, eliminate coater oven steam requirements, and renovate vapor-absorption systems to use direct stack gas heat recovery from boilers. The savings from six selected projects ranged from $27,000 to over $1 million annually. DOE funded the assessment at $75,000 and required at least a matching amount from Caraustar.