Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Glass Industry. An ENERGY STAR Guide for Energy and Plant Managers

Abstract

The U.S. glass industry is comprised of four primary industry segments-flat glass, container glass, specialty glass, and fiberglass-which together consume $1.6 billion in energy annually. On average, energy costs in the U.S. glass industry account for around 14% of total glass production costs. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There is a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. glass industry to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, system, and organizational levels. A discussion of the trends, structure, and energy consumption characteristics of the U.S. glass industry is provided along with a description of the major process steps in glass manufacturing. Expected savings in energy and energy-related costs are given for many energy efficiency measures, based on case study data from real-world applications in glass production facilities and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. glass industry reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of the measures-as well on as their applicability to different production practices-is needed to assess potential implementation of selected technologies at individual plants.

Technological Energy Efficiency Improvements in Cement Industries

“…Among them, there are improvements in the electricity transformers, several interventions to make the kiln more efficient, some solutions to increase the sustainability of final milling, and so on. The other solutions listed in Table 2 were already suggested by scientific authors [4,[15][16][17]34,35]. In this case, by mentioning them, expert industrialists confirmed their current goodness as sustainable technologies.…”

“…Engines Engines Replacing belt motors with hydraulic motors or gearboxes [17] Engines Engines Re-wiring the engines [9] Engines Engines Installing motors correctly sized in relation to the power required by the system [17,18] Pressure systems Pressure systems Replacing compressors, air supply and refrigeration systems with more advanced and efficient machinery [17,34,43] Pressure systems Pressure systems Installing inverters on compressors, pumps, or fans (i.e., kiln fans) [17,34] Pressure systems Pressure systems Select turbomachinery appropriate to plant requirements [4,18] Pressure systems Pressure systems Installing tanks and systems for storing excess compressed air [4,44] Pressure systems Compressors Replacing compressors needed to cool, suck, stir or inflate glass with fans and blowers [17,34] Pressure systems Pressure systems Insulating pipes, valves, and pumps and installing sealing to reduce air leakage [4] Pressure systems Compressors…”

“…Installing gaskets or other devices or replacing damaged components to reduce air leakage at pipe joints and leakage points [4,17,34,43,45] Pressure systems Compressors Replacing compressors needed to clean or remove debris with brushes, vacuum pumps, or blowers [17,34] Pressure systems Compressors Replacing compressors needed to move components with electric or hydraulic actuators [17,34] Pressure systems Compressors Replacing compressors needed to create a vacuum with vacuum pumps [17,34] Pressure systems Compressors Replacing compressors to power machines, tools, and actuators with electric motors [17,34] Pressure systems Compressors Installing compressors powered by electricity (with lower maintenance costs, longer service life and less down-time) [4,18] Pressure systems Compressors Installing gas-fueled compressors (for which it is easier to obtain variable-speed machines and for which lower plant operating costs are obtained) [4,18] Pressure systems Compressed air distribution systems Correctly size fittings, filters, and hoses to minimize air leaks [45] Pressure systems Compressed air distribution systems Fitting valves and pressure regulators in compressed air distribution systems to regulate air supply or shut it off when the machinery is not in use [17,34] Pressure systems Compressed air distribution systems Installing pipes with the largest possible diameter in air distribution systems to reduce losses [4,18] Pressure systems Compressor nozzles Replacing and renewing compressed air delivery nozzles (which may be worn, clogged, or corroded) [4,18] Pressure systems Ventilation system fans Replace gas handling fans with more efficient ones [17,34,43] Pressure systems Heat exchangers Installing heat exchangers or other systems to recover heat from the compressors [43,45] Pressure systems Silo cement extraction plant…”

Development and analysis of neural networks to predict the efficiency parameters of regenerator checker of glass furnace

“…Значительного увеличения эффективности работы печи до 45 % можно добиться за счет добавки стеклобоя в шихту. Качественные и количественные показатели зависимости добавления стеклобоя в шихту приведены в работе [9]. Моделирование процессов коррозии огнеупоров и воздействие на конструкцию печи описано в работе [10].…”

Multicriteria Analysis for Retrofitting of Natural Gas Melting and Heating Furnaces for Sustainable Manufacturing and Industry 4.0

“…The aluminum industry is an energy-intensive industry (EII) contributing around 0.21% of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the industrial sector [1]. This has caused EIIs to continuously face new challenges to increase the efficiency, reliability, and competitiveness of their processes [2].…”