Abstract
There are three barriers which keep the retrofit plant from
matching the energy efficiency of the new plant:
• Activation Energy. The retrofit engineer must justify
starting over rather than marginal economics.
• Uncertainty. The designer of a new facility operates in
a climate of certainty that the project will continue to run for
many years. He assigns energy conservation a low risk factor
and uses a corresponding "hurdle rate" essentially the same
as his company's cost of money. The operator, by contrast, is
rarely certain, particularly in periods of economic downturn.
• Ignorance. The operator of an older plant may be isolated
and out of phase with current technology.
None of these factors is quite as serious as they appear, but
all cause the efficiency of the retrofit plant to lag several years
behind that of the new optimum design.
• What is their impact?
• What are the natural short circuits past them?
• What can we do to aid natural processes?
Steinmeyer, D. (1985). Process Energy Retrofits. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /93103.