Energy Reports 8 (2022) 1377–1387

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Energy Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/egyr

Research paper

Toward energy-efficient industrial thermal systems for regional

manufacturing facilities
∗
Sean Kapp a , Jun-Ki Choi a , , Kelly Kissock b
a
Industrial Assessment Center, University of Dayton, OH 45409, USA
b
Energy and Efficiency Institute, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: As large energy consumers, manufacturing facilities have considerable potential to increase their
Received 5 October 2021 energy efficiency by improving processes and protocols. Energy audits can identify such opportunities
Received in revised form 8 December 2021 that supply facilities with technical information and economic context for implementing a given
Accepted 20 December 2021
improvement. This work utilized industrial energy-efficient thermal systems data achieved from 220
Available online 31 December 2021
industrial energy auditing performed in the past ten years. Engineering models are developed to
Keywords: calculate the energy savings and emission reductions for each energy efficiency recommendations.
Industrial energy efficiency In addition, economic and environmental benefits of the energy auditing program are presented not
Energy audits only at the factory level but also at the localities level by integrating a macro-economic model and
Thermal systems the results from the engineering analysis. This article focuses on energy efficiency recommendations
Energy economics
regarding thermal systems, encompassing such areas as heat reclamation and containment, steam
Input–output analysis
systems, and chillers. It details several case studies of energy-efficient recommendations that represent
a larger set of 93 recommendations made out of 343 thermal systems recommendations implemented
during the period and quantifies the economic impacts of these implementations and corresponding
investments through an economic input–output analysis. The results demonstrate that energy audits
can be an effective means not only to save energy but to produce high-impact and high-value
investments. The finding that the implemented recommendations created direct, indirect, and induced
economic impacts whose benefits extended far beyond the cost of implementation has significant
implications for the manufacturing industry and local, regional, and national policymakers.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction given facility’s energy usage, thus offering large potential energy
savings.
The effect of the carbon dioxide created by current ener- One of the practical, real-world analyses and interventions
gy-producing processes on climate change is well-understood that can help realize this potential for energy savings is an energy
and well-documented (Crowley and Berner, 2001; Manabe and audit, in which a team of specially trained engineers examines a
Wetherald, 1980). In 2019, the United States used over 100 facility and makes recommendations based on real-world obser-
quadrillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy (EIA, 2021), a vations with specific and measurable impacts on energy usage.
third of which is estimated to be used by the industrial sector, Such audits target specific industrial systems, such as combustion
which encompasses manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and con- systems, to help facilities identify energy-efficient practices that
struction (Giampieri et al., 2020). Therefore, the manufacturing could be implemented. Out of many existing audit programs all
sector is one of the main contributors to energy usage and climate around the world (Andersson et al., 2017; Trianni et al., 2019),
change (Worrell et al., 2008). This is especially true with regard the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program sponsored by
to natural gas, which is currently used at a higher rate than any the United States Department of Energy provides energy audits
other resource and is expected to increase through 2050 (National for small and medium-sized industrial facilities at no cost (DOE,
Association of Manufacturers, 2020). The thermal systems used 2021).
by industry for process heating, boiler operations, and cooling Even when an energy-saving recommendation is made, vari-
and refrigeration systems represent a significant amount of a ous issues and barriers can discourage manufacturers from im-
plementing energy-efficient practices. Some barriers include the
∗ Corresponding author. implementation cost, risk, and inconvenience of possible pro-
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.-K. Choi). duction issues (Fleiter et al., 2011), a lack of knowledge and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.12.060
2352-4847/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
S. Kapp, J.-K. Choi and K. Kissock Energy Reports 8 (2022) 1377–1387

information on these energy-efficient practices (Rohdin and Thol- Heat is produced by all equipment, intentionally or not, and
lander, 2006; Choi et al., 2018b). Success in overcoming these recapturing excess heat for reuse or another process application
barriers is also contingent on financial factors such as payback can be useful and energy-saving. The types and applications of
period or return on investment (Choi et al., 2019, 2013). Firms heat exchangers are numerous, ranging from simple, easy-to-
have been found to tend to place more value on investment implement heat pipes to advanced devices that use specialized
costs than on energy savings (Anderson and Newell, 2004), so substances to capture even small amounts of heat (Jouhara et al.,
demonstrating the economic value of a given recommendation 2018). Selecting an appropriate device typically begins with iden-
can be vital to its eventual implementation. tifying significant sources of waste heat (Woolley et al., 2018).
While the engineering and economics aspects of the energy- Because industrial boilers waste 10%–30% of input heat from fuel
auditing process are well-known to energy engineers within such in flue gases (Barma et al., 2017), they are a frequent target for
organizations, it is helpful to publish analyses based on this previ- heat recovery devices. A common heat recovery recommendation
ously unreported data. This serves to establish the efficacy of the involves using the waste heat from these flue gases to preheat air
energy audit and the inside-out framework, prioritizing energy- entering the combustion chamber of the boiler, which increases
efficiency measures that are straightforward and inexpensive to boiler efficiency and the steam-per-fuel ratio and saves fuel (Sun-
implement. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an urgent and tivarakorn and Treedet, 2016). These devices perform especially
necessary task and providing data on the feasibility of doing so well when the process temperatures are particularly high, such as
enables positive practices to become more widespread. in metal furnaces (Brückner et al., 2015) or ceramic kilns (Delpech
In this paper, all industrial energy-efficient thermal systems et al., 2018). Once a source of waste heat is identified, a heat
data are achieved from real industrial energy auditing performed exchanger may be designed with particular specifications to be
in the past ten years. Engineering models are developed to calcu- both effective and economical for the given application. Such an
late the energy savings and emission reductions for each energy analysis is applied in Section 4.3 of this paper.
efficiency recommendations. The case studies showcase some en- In cases where heat recovery is not practical, waste heat may
gineering analyses to provide cost-effective and energy-efficient be mitigated by applying insulation to heated or cooled surfaces,
recommendations to manufacturers. In addition, the economic making the equipment run more efficiently and saving electricity
and environmental benefits of the energy auditing program are or fuel. The application of insulation can benefit a myriad of
presented at the factory level and the impacts to the localities equipment, including furnaces, ovens, boilers, and pipes carrying
by integrating a macro-economic model and the results of the high-temperature fluids. Understanding heat flows to and from
engineering analysis. process equipment allows for simple calculations to optimize the
implementation of insulation (Bahadori and Vuthaluru, 2010). For
2. Literature review on industrial thermal systems
example, insulation has been shown to reduce heat loss in steam
systems by 90% and in annealing furnaces by 40%–60% (Worrell
In an industrial setting, the term ‘‘thermal system’’ may refer
et al., 2010). Similar analyses have revealed benefits to chiller
to any number of devices or processes that interact with thermal
systems and a 29% reported decrease in energy use in insulated
energy. To narrow the scope of research and derive meaning-
versus uninsulated conditions (Aktacir et al., 2010).
ful information from the database, we classified the Assessment
The type of insulation for a specific application may differ.
Recommendations (ARs) that fell within the broad category of
Mass or bulk insulators prevent conduction by way of a large
thermal systems into four subcategories: Steam, Heat Recovery,
thermal mass that prevents heat from reaching the surface, while
Heat Containment, and Cooling recommendations.
reflective insulators inhibit radiative heat transfer (Aditya et al.,
The first of these, steam systems, are especially prevalent in
industrial processes. Facilities in the United States produce 2.93 2017). Mass insulators are the more prevalent kind and are gener-
trillion lbs. of steam for industrial processes each year, demand- ally more applicable. The insulation applied to boilers, piping, or
ing considerable energy and water consumption (Walker et al., tanks is typically mass insulation. For other applications, such as
2013). Because a large fraction of the operating costs associated burn-off ovens or equipment that operates at similarly high tem-
with steam systems goes toward using and maintaining steam peratures, a large amount of heat may be lost as radiation, making
traps, failed steam traps offer enormous potential for energy reflective insulation more appropriate (Reduce Radiation Losses
loss (Risko, 2011). The number of traps in an ordinary steam from Heating Equipment, 2006). Effective reflective insulation is
system may exceed a thousand, and without proper maintenance, contingent on the emissivity rather than the thermal conductivity
10%–50% of the traps may be losing energy on a daily basis (Bloss of the insulation. Because radiation is the singular mode of heat
et al., 1997). Although this problem can be easily mitigated by transfer addressed by reflective insulation, the movement or lack
instituting regular maintenance and replacing underperforming thereof of air through systems thusly insulated is neglected (Lee
traps, the time-consuming nature of steam trap maintenance and Lim, 2016). When these conditions are applicable, a radiant
work, lack of understanding of its potential benefits, and lim- shield provides a simple and effective means of heat preserva-
ited budgets make steam trap maintenance programs regrettably tion, as can be seen in Section 4.4. A general benefit of adding
uncommon (Walter, 2014; Therkelsen and McKane, 2013). insulation, whatever its type, is the high rate of return and low
Open condensate return systems also represent an oppor- simple payback period. The simple payback period for insulation
tunity for improvement because they are susceptible to rela- application for heating and steam systems has been estimated
tively large flash vapor losses as condensate depressurizes to to be a year or less (Hasanbeigi and Price, 2010; Keçebaş et al.,
atmospheric conditions. Closing these condensate systems and 2011).
pressurizing the condensate or deaerator tank can reduce en- Chillers are an especially prevalent source of energy usage in
ergy losses and increase thermal efficiency (Bujak, 2009). Con- industrial settings and can account for more than half of a build-
sequently, failed steam traps and open condensate systems are ing’s energy consumption (Yu and Chan, 2012). Energy-saving
obvious energy reduction targets that energy engineers easily recommendations may target constituent parts of an energy-
identify. Adopting a steam trap maintenance plan is a recommen- using system because modifications to these parts typically will
dation that pays off quickly and reduces waste energy, as seen by pay off quickly. However, the replacement of large equipment
the steam trap case study in Section 4.1 of this paper. Similarly, may be economically feasible among thermal systems in high-
Section 4.2 analyzes the benefits of closing a condensate return energy use applications. Upgrading to high-efficiency chillers has
system. been identified as an effective means of energy use reduction not
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Fig. 1. Framework for analyzing impacts of thermal systems investments.

only for process cooling but also for HVAC applications (Giampieri The financial burden of implementation costs is a major obsta-
et al., 2020). The energy and cost savings from such a substantial cle to adoption. To mitigate this, recommendations are based on
undertaking are represented in a case study in Section 4.6. inside-out analysis. Energy conversion devices, for instance, are
Refrigeration systems, another large contributor to energy use, cumbersome, expensive equipment that facilities are reluctant
present another potential source of energy savings. One study to replace or upgrade unless necessary. To help make energy-
found that auditing cold storage and evaluating the performance efficient investments more feasible, the energy audit team fo-
of food cooling processes could reduce energy usage by up to 72% cuses on the end-use of energy savings first, evaluating where
annually (Evans et al., 2014). Operating conditions are a common savings might be made at the process level and offering recom-
target for optimization (Oh et al., 2016), likely due to the ease of mendations that are likely to be relatively inexpensive and have
implementation and lack of cost. Maintenance is another espe- a short payback period and high rate of return. Facilities are then
cially prominent factor for efficient operation. Non-condensable encouraged to use those savings to make further energy-efficient
gas can interfere with refrigerant vapor and reduce the efficiency investments.
of the entire system (Evron et al., 2020). A recommendation such The larger financial impacts of these recommendations fall
as the one in Section 4.5 combines these ideas into an analysis into three categories: direct, indirect, and induced. Direct impacts
that provides instant energy savings with no associated cost. represent investments made in a particular sector; for example,
insulating a condensate requires investing in purchases from
3. Methodology insulation manufacturers. Indirect impacts are broader in scope
and include expenditures that benefit supporting industries such
As industrial facilities become increasingly interested in re- as shipping companies, utility companies, or other providers.
ducing their energy use, energy audit programs were established Finally, induced impacts result from direct and indirect impacts.
nationwide to help evaluate relevant industrial systems. Audit They include institutions that are not involved with the initial
teams with specialized training collect and process energy data investment but that benefit from growth in the direct or indi-
to recommend decreasing energy use and improving efficiency. rectly impacted industries, such as health care systems that serve
Due to the highly individualized nature of industrial energy us-
the employees of those industries. All three of the impacts are
age, such audits are performed case-by-case. The audit recom-
calculated through input–output (IO) analysis.
mendations featured in this paper were all conducted in small
The model used is the Leontief IO model, which considers
to medium-sized facilities categorized by annual energy bills
external changes in demand and calculates the necessary pro-
between $100,000 and $3.5 M.
duction to maintain supply equal to demand (Leontief et al.,
Fig. 1 illustrates the framework for this study. The audit begins
1985). The core of this model is the fixed direct requirement
with a physical site visit that allows the energy engineers to
matrix, the collection of factors that represent the cost required
observe normal plant functions and equipment and gain firsthand
for a company to create a dollar of output. The change in a total
knowledge of operations from on-site personnel. During that visit,
production vector x can thus be predicted from a final demand
the auditors take measurements required for energy calculations
vector y by Eq. (1):
and cost savings, which may be as simple as a thermal probe
or infrared thermometer reading of a furnace or process line or ∆x=(I − A)−1 ∆y (1)
as complex as a full combustion analysis to determine boiler
efficiency. Gathering accurate information from tools or estimates where A is the n x n direct requirement matrix, y is the mon-
from plant personnel is crucial to making useful and effective etary amount of the final demand column vector, and x is the
energy savings recommendations. Once the data are collected, total monetary industry output column vector. This model has
the team is able to calculate potential energy and cost savings. been previously applied to determine the impacts of investments
Engineering analyses that deal conceptually with the mechanical in energy-saving technologies (Choi et al., 2015; Brown et al.,
and thermal behavior of systems are performed first to calculate 2020; Errigo et al., 2022; McLaughlin et al., 2021; Choi et al.,
how much energy will be saved. Using unit costs specific to each 2014) and energy efficiency policies (Choi et al., 2014; Berck and
facility, the potential cost savings are calculated to determine Sandra, 2002; Choi et al., 2018a). IO models are used not only
such factors as implementation costs, simple payback period, and to estimate dollar amounts but changes in GDP and employ-
internal rate of return. ment (Yushchenko and Patel, 2016).
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Table 1
Breakdown of energy-saving recommendations for thermal systems.
Parent category Description of recommendations
Steam Repair or replace steam trapsa
Shut off steam traps on super-heated steam lines when not in use
Eliminate heat exchangers and close condensate return systema
Install/repair insulation on condensate lines
Install/repair insulation on steam lines
Repair and eliminate steam leaks
Close off unneeded steam lines
Reduce excess steam bleeding
Use minimum steam operating pressure
Heating Use optimum temperature
Heat recovery Use waste heat from hot flue gases to preheat
Recover waste heat from the equipment
Install a heat exchanger on furnace to preheat combustion aira
Heat containment Insulate bare equipment
Use optimum thickness insulation
Install a radiant shield on the burn-off ovena
Cover open tanks
Isolate cold or hot equipment
Reduce infiltration, isolate hot equipment from refrigerated areas
Avoid cooling of process streams/materials that need subsequently be heated
Cooling Use cooling tower water instead of refrigeration
Use cooling tower or economizer to replace chiller cooling
Modify refrigeration system to operate at a lower pressure
Fix auto-purger to eliminate non-condensable gases on refrigeration systema
Replace the existing chiller with a high-efficiency modela
Chill water to the highest temperature possible
Utilize a less expensive cooling method
a
Indicate the selected example for this paper.

4. Energy-efficient thermal systems recommendations Steam exiting the throttling valve at a known pressure has calcu-
lable latent heat and saturation temperature, and the condensate
Table 1 lists the energy-efficiency recommendations for ther- temperature is measured directly. Multiplying this quantity by
mal systems made by the University of Dayton IAC between 2008 the amount of losses due to failed steam traps (represented here
and 2018. It is followed by several case studies of assessment as a mass flow rate) gives the energy loss rate. Incorporating the
recommendations intended to demonstrate the technical efficacy efficiency of the boiler as in Eq. (3) gives an estimate for the total
of these energy audits. natural gas savings from fixing the leaks. Repairing the steam
The payback period for a given investment is calculated during traps results in reduced boiler operation, saving natural gas and
Eq. (2): thereby energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Annual natu-
ral gas cost savings were $3938, and 57 tonnes of CO2 emissions
Implementation Cost 12 mo.
Payback period (month) = × (2) were avoided due to this recommendation.
Annual Savings year
Lsteam + Cp (Tsaturation − Tcondensate )
[ ]
There exist many works that are focusing on techno-economic Natural Gas Savings = ṁleaks
management through combined systems considering different εboiler
means of generation, responsive loads, storages, thermal units (3)
and in the presence of uncertainties (Tan et al., 2022; Xia et al.,
2021; Al-Ghussain et al., 2021; Rezaei et al., 2021). In this paper,
4.2. Steam: eliminate heat exchangers and close condensate return
we have calculated the energy savings and emission reduction of
system
thermal systems with the technical analysis we have developed
in decades (UD-IAC, 2021).
Three identical boilers supply steam to a parchment plant. Due
to pumping problems, condensate from process steam traps is
4.1. Steam: Repair or replace steam traps cooled by a tube-in-shell heat exchanger before entering conden-
sate return vessels open to the atmosphere. The condensate is
Two hundred and fifty-six thermostatic steam traps serve the then pumped back to the deaerator tank. This system wastes heat
steam system of a facility that produces thermosets for trucking energy in the condensate and allows excess steam to vaporize
applications. Plant personnel indicated that there is no preventa- or flash as the pressure of the condensate drops from the supply
tive maintenance program in place to identify and fix failed steam pressure to atmospheric pressure. These problems are eliminated
traps, and the Department of Energy estimates that 15% and 30% by installing a closed condensate return system with a steam-
of the installed steam traps may have failed in systems that have powered pump, as shown in Fig. 3. The steam-powered pump
not been maintained (U.S. DOE, 2012). Fixing failed steam traps operates at high condensate return temperatures and eliminates
is highly cost-effective and will result in natural gas, emissions, the need to cool the condensate. The quantity of excess steam
and cost savings. vaporized is also reduced because the deaerator tank operates at
The required parameters to determine the benefits of fixing 6 psig instead of atmospheric pressure.
the failed steam traps can be determined from basic thermo- The parameters to determine the energy savings from elim-
dynamic data and an analysis of the facility’s boiler and steam inating the heat exchanger is determined by the thermal and
system, shown in Fig. 2. Using the parameters from this figure, mechanical behavior of the condensate and cooling fluid. Incorpo-
mass and energy balances are performed on the steam system. rating the head-loss of the appropriate pipe allows for an estimate
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Fig. 2. Steam system schematic.

return versus operating conditions. The difference in the closed

condensate system is made manifest: maintaining the pressure
at 6 psig in the deaerator tank increases the enthalpy, saving
648 mmBtu per year. The entire natural gas savings represent
the combined impact of these two recommendations and totals
3449 mmBtu per year, which corresponds to a carbon dioxide
emissions savings of 183 tonnes of CO2 per year.

4.3. Heat recovery: install a heat exchanger on furnace to preheat

combustion air

A melting furnace in an aluminum recycling plant produces

exhaust in excess of 1800 ◦ F. The existing exhaust system-induced
plant air into the exhaust flue to decrease the temperature. The
combustion air for the furnace is similarly provided by plant
conditions by a centrifugal fan. Recovering waste heat from the
Fig. 3. Closed condensate return system.
exhaust and using it to preheat the combustion air reduces the
natural gas consumption of the furnace. To reclaim the heat lost
in the exhaust vent, an annular counter-flow heat exchanger is in-
stalled onto the exhaust air duct above the air break. The measure
of a volume flow rate V̇ of cooling water. The existing system
of how much potential heat the exchanger will transfer to the
incorporated a heat exchanger, which created a temperature dif-
new process is the effectiveness of the heat exchanger, ε hx . Heat
ferential ∆T. The heat removed by the exchanger is calculated by
exchanger effectiveness and size are closely related. To decrease
Eq. (4).
implementation cost, the required effectiveness is calculated to
Heat losses = V̇ρ Cp ∆T (4) recommend the smallest (and therefore least expensive) heat
exchanger. Eq. (6) is a specific form of the ‘‘number of transfer
where ρ and Cp represent the density and heat capacity, respec- units’’ equation for heat exchanger effectiveness that presumes
tively, of the condensate. equal heat capacity rates (Bergman et al., 2011).
This value, combined with the efficiency of the system’s boiler, ( )
represents the natural gas savings from eliminating the heat Tpreheat − Tplant
exchanger, in this case, a value of 2800 mmBtu per year.
εhx = ( ) (6)
Texhaust − Tplant
A steam system model is developed based on the average
steam production, and amount of condensate returned and in- where Tplant , Tpreheat , and Texhaust represent the ambient air tem-
corporated the existing return tank at atmospheric pressure. This perature, the desired combustion air temperature, and the ex-
system uses 6.273 mmBtu per hour of natural gas. The system is haust temperature, respectively. The placement of the exchanger
modified to add the closed condensate return system by changing and accompanying ducts can be seen in Fig. 4. The total annual
the operating pressure of the deaerator tank from atmospheric natural gas savings are 11,832 mmBtu per year, corresponding to
to 6 psig. The energy from natural gas required by the boiler is an annual emissions reduction of 1445 tonnes of CO2 per year.
calculated by Eq. (5).
4.4. Heat containment: install a radiant shield on the burn-off oven
ṁsteam (h2 − h1 )
Qboiler = (5)
εboiler An equipment facility uses a natural gas fired oven to burn
where ṁ represents the steam production of the system, ε is the paint off part-carrying racks. The parts enter and leave the oven
efficiency of the boiler, and h represents the enthalpy of steam at by a continuous conveyor through an opening that allows heat to
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Table 2
Model data and associated savings for auto-purger repair.
Term Value Units
Annual energy use 1,148,202 kWh/year
Cost of electricity $0.0719 /kWh
Carbon intensity of electricity 1.56 lb-CO2 /kWh
Net annual energy savings 18,137 kWh/year
Carbon dioxide emissions savings 13 tonnes/year
Cost savings $1303 /year

non-condensable gases may indicate some malfunction in the

automated purging system. Considering that the malfunction may
be temporary, a conservative estimate places the annual quantity
of non-condensable gases at 20 psi. The baseline refrigeration
energy use, including the problematic 20 psi, is calculated to be
1166 MWh per year.
Table 2 contains the parameters used to model energy use
after the auto-purger fix. The model accounts for winter and sum-
mer energy uses when the 20 psi of non-condensable gases are
eliminated. Combining these values gives a total annual energy
Fig. 4. Annular heat exchanger implementation schematic.
usage of 1148 MWh per year, for a net savings of 18,137 kWh
per year. With a carbon intensity of electricity of 1.56 lb-CO2
per kWh, the expected annual emissions savings total 13 tonnes
escape from the oven in the form of radiation. A radiation shield of CO2 per year. The cost savings for electricity total $1303 per
made of shiny and reflective material could cover this opening. year. Because plant personnel can perform the repairs, there is
Obstructing the opening in this way reduces radiative heat losses, no associated payback period with this recommendation.
lowering the amount of natural gas needed to maintain the inside
temperature. 4.6. Cooling: replace existing chiller with a high-efficiency model
The average temperature inside the oven is measured at 750
◦
F, and the surrounding temperature is 78 ◦ F. The oven is consid- A 120-ton air-cooled chiller supplies cooled water for office air
ered 100% efficient because the products of combustion remain in conditioning and maintaining the temperature in a facility. This
the oven. The dimensions of the oven’s interior were measured chiller has two 60-ton compressors with the ability to operate at
10 ft × 10ft × 30 ft. The emissivity of this interior surface is part loads of 45 or 30 tons. Fig. 5 shows the current draw of the
estimated at 0.9. The radiant shield, which covers 80% of the chiller over a 3.5-day period, including a weekend. Motor startups
oven’s exposed opening, has an estimated emissivity of 0.1. are visible as tall spikes in the current draw. The brief period of
The radiant shield prevents 1,795,958 Btu/hour of radiant heat no recorded current draw indicates when the chiller was shut off
loss from the oven. This corresponds to 4786 mmBtu of gas entirely. The remainder of the graph represents an operation.
that would otherwise be required to maintain oven temperature. A two and a half-hour snapshot is shown in Fig. 6. When the
The natural gas savings equates to savings of 254 tonnes of chiller loads a compressor, it loads 45 kW initially, followed by
CO2 annually. Manufacturers estimate the cost of an appropriate an increase to 60 kW, then a step down to 45 kW before shutting
radiant shield at $1500 and installation labor at $500. With an off. This cycle repeats over the entire period that was logged.
implementation cost of $2000 and a calculated annual natural gas The efficiency of older, air-cooled chillers decreases as the
savings of $33,356, the economic payback period is one month. part-load ratio decreases, meaning the chiller requires a higher
kW draw per ton of cooling produced. New, variable speed,
4.5. Cooling: fix auto-purger to eliminate non-condensable gases on water-cooled centrifugal chillers have higher power requirements
refrigeration system and lower coefficients of performance at full load than at part
load (Yu and Chan, 2009). Chillers are sized for the maximum
A meat production facility has an automated purging sys- possible load but rarely operate at that point. Because the chiller
tem to prevent the build-up of non-condensable gases that re- operates at part load for most of the year, a variable-speed chiller
duce the efficiency and capacity of its refrigeration system. How- is more efficient than a constant-speed chiller.
ever, onsite measurements indicated the presence of as much The facility also utilizes a cooling tower. Since chilled water is
as 40 psi of non-condensable gases in the system. Eliminating required throughout the year, there will be times when the cool-
non-condensable gases leads to electrical energy and cost savings. ing tower can directly supply water at the required 45 ◦ F without
A thermal probe was used to measure the temperature of engaging the chiller. Running the cooling tower alone uses one-
refrigerant pipes exiting the condenser at 72 ◦ F. To determine the fifth as much energy as running the water-cooled chiller. The
pressure of the non-condensable gases, the refrigerant pipes are cooling tower will produce colder condenser water at low loads
assumed to have negligible thermal resistance, and the refrigerant during winter. Regional weather data is used to determine that
sub-cooling in the condenser was insignificant. The condens- the cooling tower operating at a temperature range of 5 F can
ing temperature is taken to be the same as the temperature of deliver 45 ◦ F water for 9.3% of the year. Piping arrangements for
the refrigerant pipes, corresponding to a refrigerant condensing a typical water-cooled chiller and a water-cooled chiller, includ-
pressure of about 119 psig. Readings from the refrigeration sys- ing the chiller bypass loop to directly exchange water from the
tem control panel indicate that, at the time of the temperature cooling tower when it can provide cool enough water, are shown
measurement, the observed head pressure was 159 psig. The in Fig. 7. Additional piping (shown in red) allows cooling tower
pressure of non-condensable gases can be calculated as the dif- water to be used directly for process cooling via a heat exchanger
ference between the total head pressure and the partial pressure when the weather is sufficiently cold and provides cooling for the
of the condensing refrigerant, or 40 psig. This large amount of condenser when it is not.
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Fig. 5. Logged chiller current draw over three and a half days.

Fig. 6. Two and a half-hour snapshot of logged chiller current draw.

Fig. 7. Water-cooled chiller system with heat exchanger and chiller bypass (additions in red). . (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Replacing the constant-speed air-cooled chiller at the end of 5. Regional economic and environmental impacts of imple-
useful life with a variable-speed water-cooled chiller in addition menting the energy efficient thermal systems
to installing a heat exchanger and controls to allow the cooling
tower to directly supply chilled water leads to energy, emissions, Between 2008 and 2018, the IAC team visited 220 manufactur-
and cost savings. The logged data indicate that the chiller operates ing facilities and made 343 thermal systems recommendations, of
45% of the time and is 44% loaded. Based on this data and the which 93 were implemented. Table 4 shows the implementation
air-cooled chiller performance graph shown above, the estimated cost, annual savings, and a simple payback of those implemented
average specific power over the year is 1 kW/ton. Manufacturers’ recommendations, organized by the thermal system category.
data for a variable-speed, water-cooled chiller are shown in Ta- Labor costs reflect payments made to businesses that perform
ble 3. Based on the logged current data, the average annual load maintenance or installation of thermal equipment. Equipment
on the 120-ton chiller is taken as a constant 44%. The average costs represent investments in such equipment as new chillers or
specific power of a new water-cooled VSD chiller would be about steam-powered pumps, while material costs refer to purchasing
0.35 kW per ton at this load. materials such as insulation or piping.
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Fig. 8. Direct, indirect, and induced impacts on 15 selected sectors.

Table 3
Inputs and savings for upgrading chiller at the end of useful life.
Term Value Units
Percent of year when cooling tower water is viable 9.3%
Energy savings from using cooling tower water 18,184 kWh/year
Energy savings from using variable-speed chiller 143,500 kWh/year
Total energy savings 161,684 kWh/year
Demand savings 16 kW
Energy cost of electricity $0.0745 /kWh
Demand cost $4.79 /kW-month
Carbon intensity of electricity 1.56 lb-CO2 /kWh
Annual energy cost savings $12,045 /year
Annual demand cost savings $920 /year
Carbon dioxide emissions savings 102 tonnes/year

Using the input–output analysis detailed in the methodology

section required allocating costs to specific industries represent-
ing direct investments into those sectors, using the North Ameri- Fig. 9. Implementation cost, annual savings, and carbon emissions reduction for
can Industry Classification System (NAICS) of 546 sectors (Bureau varying recommendation implementation rates.
of Economic Analysis, 2021). Due to the variable nature of thermal
systems recommendations, the investment costs for the imple-
mented recommendations were distributed across 13 of those While these investments represent significant financial sav-
sectors, as shown in Table 5. ings and avoided carbon dioxide emissions, they represent only
The IMPLAN software (IMPLAN, 2018) was used to identify the a portion of the total potential savings that could be achieved
direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the investments included
through audit recommendations. For the period being examined
in these data. The monetary impacts, sorted by type, are seen in
(2008–2018), the 93 implemented ARs reflect a 27% implemen-
Fig. 8. As shown, the direct investments also contributed to sec-
tation rate for all the thermal systems recommendations offered
tors completely unrelated to the area of the initial investments,
by the audits. To explore the possible effects of more widespread
such as doctors’ offices and hospitals, which reflect induced im-
pacts from spending by employees in direct-impact sectors. A few adoption of thermal systems recommendations on the previously
of these industries received more than one type of impact. The analyzed sectors, the data were extrapolated to larger scales. In
iron and steel manufacturing sector, for instance, received both Fig. 9, Scenario 1 presents the completed implementation and
direct investment in the form of material costs for steel piping effects. Scenario 2 encompasses only ARs that were not imple-
and indirect benefit from the manufacture of equipment that uses mented. Scenario 3 combines the two to get a picture of the
steel or iron components, and insurance carriers achieved indi- ultimate potential if the implementation rate had been 100%.
rect benefits from selling their products to companies providing Fig. 10 shows the direct, indirect, and induced impacts for each
goods and services to the manufacturing facilities and induced scenario and the employment impacts predicted by the IMPLAN
benefits from selling policies directly to the employees of those software. As it shows, the implemented recommendations have
companies. resulted in 39 new jobs across all the recognized sectors. The
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Table 4
Implementation costs and savings from thermal systems investments.
Category Labor costs Equipment costs Material costs Annual savings Average payback period (months)
Steam $125,504 $20,126 $123,031 $459,315 9
Heat recovery $62,450 $75,000 $13,950 $229,312 18
Heat containment $34,014 $12,000 $59,620 $339,493 7
Cooling $679,180 $680,175 – $484,940 7
Total $901,148 $787,301 $196,601 $1,513,060 10

Table 5 are currently active in the region (OMA, 2018), producing an an-
Description and disaggregation of thermal systems investments. nual output of $121 billion, which steadily increased throughout
NAICS Description Allocated cost the period of this study (National Association of Manufacturers,
221330 Steam heat distribution; steam heating $12,200 0000). With a 100% implementation rate of the assessment rec-
systems
ommendations, an expected $407,149,026 in energy costs and
238220 Central cooling equipment and piping $709,856 3,104,233 tonnes of carbon emissions could be avoided across the
installation; ductwork installation; heating
entire state.
boiler installation; steam fitting contractors
238290 Boiler and pipe insulation installation; pipe, $137,540
duct, and boiler insulation
6. Conclusions
326140 Thermal insulation, polystyrene foam, $7535
manufacturing The drastic increase in greenhouse gas emissions creates an
absolute imperative for manufacturers to become more energy ef-
327993 Mineral wool insulation materials $132,564
manufacturing ficient. In addition to the environmental benefits of this reduction,
332322 Ducts, sheet metal manufacturing $14,950
making their facilities more energy efficient offers manufacturers
an opportunity to save money on utility bills. Despite these clear
333415 Air-conditioning and warm air heating $678,750
equipment and commercial and industrial
incentives, many facilities are still operating sub-optimally. This
refrigeration equipment manufacturing examination of energy audits conducted in a number of facilities
333914 Pumps, industrial and commercial-type, $12,000 in the selected region during this ten-year period reveals several
general-purpose, manufacturing patterns that can guide energy-efficient recommendations on a
334512 Heating and cooling system controls, $1425 larger scale.
residential and commercial, manufacturing To maximize the feasibility of implementation, all the analyses
331110 Wrought iron or steel pipe and tubing $41,552 detailed in this study were conducted using concrete princi-
made in iron and steel mills ples and conservative estimates and based on a single day of
332410 Heat exchangers manufacturing; $75,000 data collection, yet their recommendations consistently identified
economizers (i.e., power boiler accessory) ways that facilities could decrease emissions and create value for
manufacturing their companies. By emphasizing the economic returns of energy-
332911 Steam traps, industrial-type, manufacturing $17,826 efficient investments and following the inside-out framework,
332919 Steam fittings, metal, manufacturing $2300 such recommendations can make the benefits of implementation
even more apparent to companies and factor heavily into their
eventual adoption. The unimplemented recommendations consis-
tently had longer simple payback periods and lower internal rates
of return. This suggests that those parameters particularly heavily
affect facilities’ decisions about implementing recommendations.
As demonstrated by the economic input–output analysis,
energy-efficiency investments also have far-reaching impacts on
other parts of the economy. Even just the implemented thermal
systems recommendations from the single IAC depicted in this
analysis could create millions of dollars of impact, and expanding
those to all the thermal systems recommendations made during
that period could quadruple that impact. Future research in this
area might involve other energy-using systems beyond thermal
specifically, or scrutiny of a particular thermal system in detail.
This data was collected within a specific geographical area, so
replicating this analysis or introducing data from other regions
may have a novel impact on the results. Such an analysis would
require a broadening of the economic data as well. A larger
Fig. 10. Cascading economic outputs and employment for varying implementa- complement of data has the potential to introduce more powerful
tion rates.
data analytics and machine learning tools to characterize energy
systems better and tie certain characteristics to opportunities for
economic benefit.
unimplemented recommendations have the potential to add 39 Because the implementation rate was closely linked to larger
more, and if all 343 thermal systems recommendations were benefits, these results suggest that programs designed to incen-
implemented, could expect to see 78 more jobs added in the tivize such implementation, such as rebate programs, could help
region. minimize major obstacles that currently prevent many compa-
The facilities used for this study are all based in Ohio, and nies from investing in more expensive recommendations. Fur-
accordingly, all of the benefits and impacts are calculated as ther research into what specific types of programs are likely to
benefits to the region. More than 12,000 manufacturing firms bring about the most effective policies and changes could assist
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S. Kapp, J.-K. Choi and K. Kissock Energy Reports 8 (2022) 1377–1387

such decision-making by companies and policymakers. As this Choi, J.-k., Kissock, K., Hallinan, K., 2013. Beyond Industrial Energy Assessments:
study shows, efforts to analyze and decrease the energy usage The Life Cycle Design Perspective. In: Proceedings of the ACEEE Summer
Study 2013 on Energy Efficiency in Industry, pp. 4-1.
of industrial facilities are beneficial not only to those facilities
Choi, J.-K., Morrison, D., Hallinan, K.P., Brecha, R.J., 2014. Economic and environ-
themselves but to the economic and environmental well-being mental impacts of community-based residential building energy efficiency
of the population at large. investment. Energy 78, 877–886.
Choi, J.-K., Schuessler, R., Ising, M., Kelley, D., Kissock, K., 2018b. A pathway
CRediT authorship contribution statement towards sustainable manufacturing for mid-size manufacturers. Procedia
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Choi, J.-K., Thangamani, D., Kissock, K., 2019. A systematic methodology for im-
Sean Kapp: Data collection, Data analysis, Writing, Visual- proving resource efficiency in small and medium-sized enterprises. Resour.
ization, Software. Jun-Ki Choi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Conserv. Recy. 147, 19–27.
Validation, Writing – review & editing, Resources, Software, Su- Crowley, T.J., Berner, R.A., 2001. CO2 and climate change. Science 292 (5518),
pervision. Kelly Kissock: Software, Formal analysis, Methodology, 870–872.
Delpech, B., Milani, M., Montorsi, L., Boscardin, D., Chauhan, A., Almahmoud, S.,
Resources.
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Declaration of competing interest of the ceramic industry. Energy 158, 656–665.
DOE, 2021. U.S. U.S. depatment of energy’s industrial assessment centers (IACs).
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- EIA, 2021. U.S. energy facts explained. U.S. Energy Information Adminstration,
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/.
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
Errigo, A., Choi, J.-K., Kissock, K., 2022. Techno-economic-environmental impacts
to influence the work reported in this paper. of industrial energy assessment: Sustainable industrial motor systems of
small and medium-sized enterprises. Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess. 49,
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We would like to express our gratitude to the US Department
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of Energy for supporting this work through their funding of Evron, Y., Gommed, K., Grossman, G., 2020. Non-absorbable gasses motor-less
the Industrial Assessment Center program (DE-EE0007710). We purge system for absorption heat transformers. Int. J. Refrig. 120, 81–89.
thank previous and current University of Dayton IAC students for Fleiter, T., Worrell, E., Eichhammer, W., 2011. Barriers to energy efficiency in
their contributions to this continuing effort and our industrial industrial bottom-up energy demand models—A review. Renew. Sustain.
Energy Rev. 15 (6), 3099–3111.
partners for their significant contributions. Giampieri, A., Ling-Chin, J., Ma, Z., Smallbone, A., Roskilly, A.P., 2020. A review of
the current automotive manufacturing practice from an energy perspective.
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