Use Meters to Put Teeth into Your Conservation Programs

Abstract

The confluence of two trends is exerting ever greater pressure for sophisticated energy conservation programs. On the one hand, the cost of energy continues to rise at a rapid rate; on the other, the easy energy savings resulting from an era of energy affluence have been harvested. Overlaying these trends is the sobering realization that new energy sources will make little or no difference for decades, thus conservation has become the most available source of "new" energy. These trends are well established and the 1980's will be the decade of energy accountability and control in most industries.

As energy costs gallop out of sight, in-house conservation programs will be directed to determining how efficiently energy is used by various departments. What makes this a difficult task is the fact that most energy is provided to users in forms that make it very difficult to measure - red hot steam, high pressure air and nitrogen, and high velocity natural gas. Furthermore, the cost of shutting down a facility to install energy measuring devices is so exorbitant that it precludes their wide-spread use.

This paper addresses the problems associated with assigning energy cost directly to in-plant users, either by department or by product. The solution is effective flow metering, but that is a difficult job even in more traditional applications. The problem is compounded by the fact that traditional metering concepts are inadequate for the unique problems presented by retro-metering for in-plant accountability. This paper brings the problem into a sharp, analytical focus and further offers some unique, new solutions. Finally, the experiences of companies who have committed to metering programs is investigated.