ENERGY ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL BOILER USING ECONOMIZERS

A.E. ATABANI1, R. SAIDUR1, A.S. SILITONGA1,2, T.M.I. MAHLIA1, A.H. SEBAYANG2 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E-mail: a_atabani2@msn.com 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic Negeri Medan, 20155 Medan, Indonesia E-mail: ardinsu@yahoo.co.id

ABSTRACT As a result of the successful implementation of the industrialization plan in 1985; Malaysia has changed from an agricultural economy into industrial based economy. The industrial sector represents the highest consuming sector across all other sectors and accounts for about 48% of all total energy demand. This study is concerned with an energy saving, economic and environmental analysis of industrial boilers in Malaysia when using economizers. The results after installation of economizer have proven its viability and show that 2,529,779 kWh of energy, RM 238,573 bill saving and 2,150 ton of CO2 can be saved annually. Keywords: Energy saving, economic benefits, environmental analysis, boilers, economizer

benefits are valued at about US$86 million per year, including the avoidance of about 700 premature deaths annually [2]. Engin Ozdemir, [3] in his study shows that in order to improve the boiler efficiency, a fan motor speed is decreased to 400 rpm from 1450 rpm by using variable speed drive (VSD). After implementation of the VSD, the results obtained were a reduction in stack temperature from 195 to 145 C, increasing of the boiler efficiency 2.5% and 8000 kWh electrical energy saving in a month. This study represents remarkable and useful results when applying energy efficiency methods in the boilers. Using economizers in boilers is also an effective way to save energy and improve boilers efficiency. For instance, it has been found that for every 220 C reduction in the flue gas temperature by passing it through an economizer or a preheater, there is 1% saving of fuel in the boiler depending on the type of heat transfer surfaces and the allowable pressure drop [4].

1.

INTRODUCTION

Industrial boilers are used for generating hot water or steam for many purposes in industrial process application. In the United States There are approximately 43,000 industrial boilers. (71%) of these boilers are used in the food, paper, chemicals, refining, and primary metals industries. Achieving energy efficiency improvements in these boilers can be done in the steam/hot water distribution system, electrical motors, boiler auxiliaries, flue gas or in process efficiency improvements. For instance, improving the thermal efficiency of boiler from 80% to 94% will result in carbon dioxide emission reduction from 66.3 to 56.4 kg/MMBtu when using natural gas a fuel and from 91.4 5 to 77.8 kg/MMBtu when using Distillate Fuel Oil [1]. In China an industrial boiler-efficiency improvement program (IBEI) has been carried out, The results show that, if the average efficiency of industrial boilers were improved from 60 to 70%, 3 million tons of coal could be saved, and CO2 emissions be reduced by 5 million tons annually at a cost of less than US$2 per ton of CO2. The health

1.1 Waste heat recovery from flue gas by economizer Waste heat is heat, which is generated in a process by way of fuel combustion or chemical reaction, and then dumped into the environment even though it could still be reused for some useful and economic purpose. The strategy of how to recover this heat depends in part on the temperature of the waste heat gases and the economics involved [4]. Economizer is a device used to recover the waste heat from the flue gas and consists of a series of horizontal tubular elements and can be characterized as bare tube and extended surface types. The bare tube usually includes varying sizes which can be arranged to form hairpin or multiloop elements. Tubing forming the heating surface is generally made from low-carbon steel [5]. Benefits of waste heat recovery can be broadly classified in two categories:

1. Direct Benefits: Recovery of waste heat has a direct effect on the efficiency of the process. This is reflected by reduction in the utility consumption & costs, and process cost. 2. Indirect Benefits: Reduction in pollution: A number of toxic combustible wastes such as carbon monoxide gas, sour gas, carbon black off gases, oil sludge, Acrylonitrile and other plastic chemicals etc, releasing to atmosphere when burnt in the incinerators serves dual purpose i.e. recovers heat and reduces the environmental pollution levels. Reduction in equipment sizes: Waste heat recovery reduces the fuel consumption, which leads to reduction in the flue gas produced. This results in reduction in equipment sizes of all flue gas handling equipments such as fans, stacks, ducts, burners, etc. Reduction in auxiliary energy consumption: Reduction in equipment sizes gives additional benefits in the form of reduction in auxiliary energy consumption like electricity for fans, pumps etc [4]. 1.2 Criteria of using economizers It is necessary to assess the benefits of using economizer on the basis of financial analysis such as investment, depreciation, payback period, rate of return etc. In addition to, how much the stack temperature can be reduced the inlet temperature of the fluid to be heated, and the operating hours of the boiler. Generally, the possible reduction in flue gas temperature should be at least 25 to 30c to make it economically viable to install a heat recovery system. Also the advice of experienced consultants and suppliers must be obtained for rational decision [4]. 1.3 Potential of heat recovery in boilers The efficiency of a boiler itself is commonly measured using the input/output (fuel-to-steam) calculation where the fuel input and steam output are measured over a period of time and the work done in the form of steam generated is divided by the heat added in the form of fuel. These efficiencies are typically in the area of 75-85% depending on the type of fuel burned, operating pressure, inherent boiler design, and control system capability [6]. However losses from steam piping, surface blow down, bottom blow down, deaerator venting, poor combustion repeatability, changes in stack O2 levels, fan losses, etc. must be determined. A significant amount of heat energy is lost through flue gases as all the heat produced by the burning fuel cannot be transferred to the water or stream in the boiler. As the temperature of the flue gas

leaving a boiler typically ranges from 150 to 250C, about 10 to 20 percent of the heat energy is lost through it [7].

Figure 1 Typical heat losses [6] Figure 1 shows typical heat losses from an industrial boiler. As indicated, the average boiler efficiency of industrial boilers in 75-77% and 2325% of the energy input is lost in the form of blowdown, radiation, convection and hot flue gas [6]. Therefore, recovering part of the heat from flue gas can help to improve the efficiency of the boiler. Heat can be recovered from the flue gas by passing it through a heat exchanger (commonly called an economizer) installed after the boiler, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 the recovered heat can be used to preheat boiler feedwater, combustion air, or for other applications. The amount of heat recovered depends on the flue gas temperature and the temperature of the fluid to be heated [7]. Flue gas

Feed water

Economizer

Pre- heated water

Boiler

Figure 2 Arrangement of a typical economizer [7]

economizer will allow the flue gas to be cooled to 120c. For an average price of RM 0.01 per MJ, approximately 5.1% of energy can be reduced through the use of this technology. This represents saving of RM 25,800 [10]. Since economizer induce extra pressure losses on the flue gas and the liquid being heated, care should be taken to ensure that the combustion fan and the pump for the liquid being heated have adequate capacity to overcome these losses 2. METHODOLOGY

Figure 3 Economizer [4] Typically, the flue gases leaving a modern 3-pass
o

2.1 Targeted manufacturing factories and Audit data collection The targeted pulp and paper industries in this paper have been taken from PTM (Pusat Tenaga Malaysia) [11] throughout a personal communication as shown in Table 1. Table 1 Results of the industrial Malaysian energy audit [11]
Factory name Location Diesel consumption (Liter/year) 359,100 1,363,000 102,000 1, 972,000 127,000 486,100 4,409,200

shell boiler are at temperatures of 200 to 300 C. Thus, there is a potential to recover heat from these gases. The flue gas exit temperature from a boiler
o

is usually maintained at a minimum of 200 C, so that the sulphur oxides in the flue gas do not condense and cause corrosion in heat transfer surfaces. When a clean fuel such as natural gas, LPG or gas oil is used, the economy of heat recovery must be worked out, as the flue gas
o

Tritex container Cenpak holdings Orna paper Genting sanyen Malaysian newsprint Kym industries

Selangor (Centre) Johor (South) Melaka (centre) Selangor (Centre) Pahang (North) Selangor (Centre)

temperature may be well below 200 C. The potential for energy saving depends on the type of boiler installed and the fuel used. For a typically older model shell boiler, with a flue gas
o

exit temperature of 260 C, an economizer could be

o

used to reduce it to 200 C, increasing the feed

o

water temperature by 15 C. Increase in overall thermal efficiency would be in the order of 3%. For a modern 3-pass shell boiler firing natural gas with
o

TOTAL

a flue gas exit temperature of 140 C a condensing economizer would reduce the exit temperature to
o

2.2 Energy saving when using heat recovery systems (Economizer) Total annual energy saving when installing heat recovery systems in the factories that have already been already shown in Table 1 equals to total annual diesel energy consumption in kWh multiplied by the heat losses in the flue gas and the efficiency of the heat recovery system (economizer). Table 2 shows prices, density and energy content of diesel. Table 3 shows average percentage of heat losses in flue gas and the efficiency of economizer. Table 2 Prices, density and energy content of diesel [11]
Fuel type Unit fuel price (RM/Liter) 1.002 Density (kg/m3) 0.85 Energy content (KJ/Kg) 45,000

65 C increasing thermal efficiency by 5% [4]. For every 22oC reduction in flue gas temperature by passing through an economizer or a pre-heater, there is 1% saving of fuel in the boiler depending on the type of heat transfer surfaces and the allowable pressure drop. In other words, for every 6o C rises in feed water temperature through an economizer, or 200C rise in combustion air temperature through an air pre-heater, there is 1% saving of fuel in the boiler [4]. Economizers typically increase boiler efficiency by 5% to 30% adding an economizer can result in saving of $13,000 $21,000 per year [8, 9]. Another example of heat recovery potential in boilers is for an average flue gas temperature of 205c, the use of heat exchanger between flue gas and the boiler feedwater in a finned tube

Diesel

Table 3 shows average percentage of heat losses in flue gas and efficiency of heat recovery system. Table 3 Average percentage of heat losses in flue gas and efficiency of heat recovery system [6, 8] Percentage of heat losses in flue gas (%) 18 Efficiency of heat recovery systems (%) 30 (1) (2) (3) Total annual energy saving can be calculated from the following equation: (4) Percentage of increasing in thermal efficiency of boiler due to installation of economizer can be calculated from the following equation: (5)

(9) 2.4 Cost benefit analysis when using heat recovery systems (Economizer) Total annual bill savings associated with the above energy savings equals to total annual energy saving multiplied by diesel fuel price. It can be calculated from the following equation: (10) Knowing that installation cost of economizer is RM 30,000 [9], payback period equals to the installation cost of heat recovery divided by total annual bill saving when using heat recovery systems. Payback period of this application can be calculated from the following equation: = 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (11)

3.1 Energy saving when using economizer Based on the input data in Tables 1-3 and equations (1-4) respectively, the results of annual energy saving in different factories in Malaysia when using economizer are illustrated in Figure 4.
1200000 1,13,1435

Energy saving ( kWh/year)

1000000 782,021 800000

2.3

Emission reduction when using heat recovery systems (Economizer) The environmental impact of the heat recovery systems is a potential reduction of greenhouse gasses or other element that give negative impact to the environment. The common potential reductions in this study include carbon dioxide CO2, sulfur dioxide SO2, nitrogen oxide NOx and carbon monoxide CO. The emission factors of all these gases are shown in the Table 4. The annual emissions reduction is a function of total annual energy saving and the emission factor of the particular fuel. Emissions reduction when using heat recovery systems can be calculated as follow:
Table 4 Emission factors of fossil fuels for electricity generation [12]
Fuels Coal Diesel Gas Hydro Others Emission factor (kg/kWh) SO2 NOx 0.0139 0.0052 0.0164 0.0025 0.0005 0.0009 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000

600000

400000 278,900 206,034 200000 58,523 0 Tritex container Cenpak Ornapapaer Genting holdings sanyen malaysisn newsprint Kym industies 72,866

Factory

Figure 4 Energy saving (kWh/year) at different factories when installing economizer The results in Figure 4 show that the total annual energy savings when installing economizer in all factories is 2,529,779 kWh. These results represent a huge amount energy saving that can be achieved when installing economizer in boilers. Based on equation (5) the Percentage of increasing in thermal efficiency of boiler due to installation of economizer has been found to be 5.4%. This result is similar to what have already been found in the literature review as the economizer can increase thermal efficiency of boiler by 5% [4].

CO2 1.18 0.85 0.53 0.0000 0.00

CO 0.0002 0.0002 0.0005 0.0000 0.0000

(6) (7) (8)

3.2 Emissions reduction when using economizer Based on the input data in Table 4, Figure 4 and equations 6, 7, 8, 9 respectively. The results of emissions reduction at different factories when installing economizer are tabulated in Table 5. Table 5 Emissions reduction (kg) at different factories when installing economizer
Factory name Tritex container Cenpak holdings Orna paper Genting sanyen Malaysian newsprint Kym Industries Total CO2 Reduction 175,129 664,718 SO2 Reduction 3,379 12,825 CO Reduction 41 156 NOx Reduction

Figure 5 Bill saving (RM) at different factories when using economizer The results from Figure 5 show that the total annual bill savings of economizer in the covered industrial boilers is about RM 238,573. These results show similar result to what have been found in the literature and represent a huge amount of bill saving that can be achieved when installing economizers in a small developing country like Malaysia.
6.0 5.4

515
5.0 4.4

1,955

Payback period (years)

4.0

49,744

960

12

146

3.0

961,720

18,556

226

2829

2.0

1.5 1.1

61,639

1,195

15

182

1.0 0.4 0.0 0.3

237.065 2,150,000

4,574 6,324

56 506

697 41,888

Tritex container

Cenpak Ornapapaer Genting holdings sanyen

Malaysisn newsprint

Kym industies

Factory

The results from Table 5 show that the total emissions reduction are about 2,150 ton of CO2, 6,324 Kg of SO2, 41,488 Kg of NOx and 506 Kg of CO when using economizer in the industrial boilers. These results show similar result to what have been found in the literature and represent a huge amount of emissions reduction that can be achieved when installing economizer in boilers. 3.3 Cost benefit analysis when using economizer Based on the installation cost of economizer of RM 30,000 [10], Figure 4 and equations 10 and 11 respectively, the results of total annual bill saving (RM/year) and payback periods (years) at different factories when using economizer are illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 respectively:
120000 100000 Bill saving (RM) 80000 60000 40000 19,430 20000 5,519 0 Tritex container Cenpak Ornapapaer Genting holdings sanyen Malaysisn Kym newsprint industies 6,872 73,749 106,701

Figure 6 Payback period (years) at different factories when using economizer The results from Figure 6 shows that payback period when installing economizer in the covered factories range from 0.3 year in Genting sanyen to 5.4 years in Orna paper factories. It can be observed that payback period is quite high in Orna paper and Malaysian news print factories. This is because annual energy consumption of these factories is low. However in other factories like Tritex, Cenpak, Genting and Kym industries payback period is very acceptable and boost installing this application. These results indicate that economizer can be a useful device for short term purposes in Malaysia when the annual energy consumption of boilers is very high and the payback period is 3 years.

4.

CONCLUSION

26,302

Factory

Installation of heat recovery systems (economizers) in these boilers has been proved to be an effective method. It has been found that a total amount of 2,529,779 kWh, 2,150 ton of CO2, 6,324 Kg of SO2, 41,488 Kg of NOx and 506 Kg of CO and RM 238,573 could be saved annually. These results indicate that economizer is an energy saving, economically viable and emissions reduction application and can be used in a small developing country like Malaysia.

ABBREVIATIONS
Annual diesel energy consumption (kWh/year) Annual emissions reduction of CO2 (Kg/year) Annual emissions reduction of CO (Kg/year) Annual emissions reduction of NOX (Kg/year) Annual emissions reduction of SO2 (Kg/year) Diesel fuel energy content (KJ/Kg) Emission factor of CO2 (Kg/kWh) Emission factor of CO (Kg/kWh) Emission factor of SO2 (Kg/kWh) Emission factor of NOx (Kg/kWh) Incremental cost of heat recovery system (Economizer) (RM) Payback period of heat recovery (Years) Total annual bill saving (RM/year) Total annual energy saving of Heat recovery (kWh/year) Unit fuel price (RM/Liter or RM/Kg) Density of a particular fuel (Kg/m3) Conversion factor from kWh to KJ Percentage of heat losses in flue gas Percentage of increasing in thermal efficiency of boiler due to economizer Efficiency of heat recovery ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank the lecturers and staff of faculty of engineering, University of Malaya, for their valuable assistance. REFERENCES [1] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008. Industrial Boiler Efficiency. [Online] Available at: http://www.epa.gov/climateleaders/documen ts/resources/industrial_boiler_protocol.pdf, [Accessed: 1st September 2009]. [2] Fang, Jinghua., Li, Guanghai., Aunan, Kristin., Vennemo, Haakon., Seip, Hans M., Oye, Kenneth A., Beer, Janos M., 2002. A proposed industrial-boiler efficiency program in Shanxi: potential CO2mitigation, health benefits and associated costs. Applied Energy 71, 275-285.

[3] Ozdemir, E., 2004. Energy conservation opportunities with a variable speed controller in a boiler house. Applied Thermal Engineering 24, 981-993. [4] Bureau of Energy Efficiency, 2009. Waste heat recovery. [Online] Available at: http://www.emea.org/Guide%20Books/book2/2.8%20Waste%20Heat%20Recovery.pdf, [Accessed: 5th October 2009]. [5] Zeitz, R.A., 1997. CIBO ENERGY EFFICIENCY HANDBOOK. [Online] Available at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpr actices/pdfs/steamhandbook.pdf, [Accessed: 25th October 2009].

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[6] Willems, D., 2009. Advanced system control and energy savings for industrial boilers. [Online] Available at: http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:CfM OhmytbagJ:www.cbboilers.com/Energy/Tec hnical%2520Articles/Citrus%2520Engineeri ng%2520Conference%2520paper%2520rev %2520h.%2520doc.doc+ADVANCED+SY STEM+CONTROLS+AND+ENERGY+SA VINGS+FOR+INDUSTRIAL+BOILERS& cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=my&client=oper a, [Accessed: 5th October 2009]. [7] Jayamaha, L., 2006. Energy-Efficient Building Systems. McGraw-Hill, New York. [8] Willems, D., Pipkin, W., 2009. Does Your Boiler Need a Retrofit?. [Online] Available at: http://www.fmlink.com/ProfResources/Mag azines/article.cgi?AFE:afe012308a.html, [Accessed: 20th October 2009]. [9] U.S. Department of energy, 2005. Install Waste Heat Recovery Systems for Fuel-Fired Furnaces. [Online] Available at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpr actices/pdfs/install_waste_heat_process_htgt s8.pdf, [Accessed: 5th October 2009]. [10] Manan, Z., 2003. Identifying energy saving opportunities in a process plant through preliminary energy audit. Jurnal technology University Technology Malaysia 38(A), 3748. [11] PTM, 2009. CDM Potential in the Energy Sector. Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM), Malaysia. [12] Mahlia, T.M.I., 2002. Emissions from electricity generation in Malaysia. Renewable Energy 27, 293-300.

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