Low Hanging Fruit of Energy Savings- 13 Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Energy Bills

We have numerous ways for you reduce your energy consumption without breaking the bank. Check out this 'bakers dozen' of easy, low cost ways to cut your energy consumption:

Steam Trap Survey A common 1” stainless steel disc type steam trap that has failed open can easily waste 100 lbs/hr of steam. If your steam costs $10.00 per thousand pounds, this trap is wasting over $8,000.00 per year. A steam trap survey using the TLV TrapMan System provides the most accurate analysis of trap performance and allows maintenance to be prioritized based on economic payback. Estimated Payback 3-6 Weeks

Heat Exchanger Drainage Most heat exchangers are oversized for their application, and improper drainage causes a back-up of condensate, resulting in lost production and damage to equipment. Protect your heat exchangers by making sure they are properly drained. Marspec and TLV can provide a predicted stall point for your system to allow you to properly size traps and pumps for heat exchangers. Estimated Payback 3-6 Months

Small Piping Insulation Insulation of heating and cooling piping is an easy way to reduce energy costs. However, many people ignore smaller lines or compact systems where tight piping arrangements prevent proper insulation. A single foot of 1” uninsulated, 100 psi steam line will cost over $80.00 per year in lost energy (based on $10.00 per thousand pound steam). SpeedWrap is a highly efficient, water-resistant and re-usable insulation for valve stations, steam trap stations, molding presses, and other difficult applications.
Estimated Payback 3-6 Months

Blowdown Heat Recovery Surface, or continuous boiler blowdown systems protect boilers by removing dissolved solids at or near the surface of the water level. In those cases where the blowdown goes directly to a drain or a blowdown separator, valuable energy and cooling water is wasted. Installing a blowdown heat recovery system can recover these costs and provide "free heat" for feed water and other heating systems. For example, a 300HP boiler with a blowdown rate of approximately 5% will waste nearly $15,000.00 per year in fuel costs. Contact your Marspec at 1-800-233-1394 to find out how much you can save with a custom built blowdown heat recovery system.
Estimated Payback 3-6 Months

Heat Transfer Compound Use Zeemax heat transfer compound on process tracers. According to research done by testing laboratories, Zeemax improves the flow of heat by up to 7 times. Experiments have shown that the heat transfer coefficients for bare steam tracers have ranges from 1 to 5 BTU/HR-sq. ft.°F. “U” factors for steam tracers with heat transfer compound are in the range of 45 (BTU/HR-sq FT-°F).This means that less heat is lost due to air gaps and poor contact with the pipe surface. Zeemax trowel grade can be easily applied to existing tracer lines. Traced lines come up to temperature more quickly and require less steam to maintain the target temperature.
Estimated Payback 6-12 Months

Compressed Air and Gas Surveys Compressed air and gas system leaks will cost thousands of dollars per year. Undetected, these leaks will waste energy, reduce productivity and threaten plant safety. One of Marspec’s industrial customers found ‘silent’ compressed air and gas leaks totaling over $72,000.00 in wasted energy – most of which were in threaded fittings or tube fittings. Marspec can provide compressed air and gas leak detection surveys tailored to meet any compressed air user’s needs.
Estimated Payback 6-12 Months

Energy Recovery Ventilators The latest ASHRAE indoor air quality (IAQ) standards require that large volumes of fresh, outdoor air are brought into the HVAC system. Most building managers have never imagined how much cooling and heating costs go into handling fresh outdoor air, and bringing it into the system's set temperature. Meanwhile, the energy used to heat or cool the exhausted air is completely wasted. Marspec provides BPE energy recovery ventilator systems that use exhausted air to pre-heat or pre-cool fresh air, without mixing the two air streams. The BPE system can provide both sensible and latent heat recovery, recover up to 90% of the energy that would normally be lost in most systems, and has an energy efficiency ratio (EER) three times that of comparable heat recovery systems using heat wheels and desiccant wheels. Contact Marspec to find out how you can significantly reduce your energy costs with BPE energy recovery ventilators.
Estimated Payback 6-12 Months

Custom Insulation Blankets Large valve bodies, feed water tanks and other equipment are often left without proper insulation because of their special shapes or maintenance considerations. Marspec can provide special configurations of removable/reusable insulating jackets to reduce energy costs and to prevent burns to operating personnel. Contact Marspec to see how we can improve your system efficiency through insulation of special equipment and piping configurations.
Estimated Payback 3-6 Months

Automate Steam Tracers Automate steam tracers on outdoor process tracing lines with Therm-Omega-Tech US/A valves from Marspec Technical Products. Commonly used caustic soda concentrations need to be traced when the outdoor temperature drops to below 70°F. There are many nights in the spring and fall when caustic lines need supplemental heat but then do not need it during the daytime. Most facilities will turn on the tracing on the first cool night but then leave it on until late spring. The US/A valve will energize steam tracers only when the ambient temperature triggers the valve to open. As the ambient temperature increases during the day, the valve shuts off the steam supply. A single US/A valve can control up to 10 process tracers.
Estimated Payback 6-12 Months

Insulation Effectiveness Surveys Insulation effectiveness surveys can help find poorly-insulated lines that add cost to your energy bills. Marspec can inspect a small section of a process area to determine the effectiveness of the current insulation. Since Marspec is not a supplier of traditional insulation, we can inspect your insulation as an unbiased auditor. The payback can be significant depending on the particulars of your facility.
Estimated Payback 12-18 Months

Automatic Freeze Protection Valves Use Thermotech freeze protection valves on safety showers instead of electrical tracing to prevent freezing. Freeze protection valves are self powered and open to drain only enough water that is in danger of freezing. The drained water is replaced by warmer resupply water from insulated or underground piping. These automatic valves reduce your power demand and are fail safe.
Estimated Payback 12-18 Months

Energy Assessments Facilities can begin the process of reducing energy use and meeting energy reduction goals by applying for an energy assessment performed by Marspec's DOE Certified Energy Expert. Our "energy savings team" will conduct energy assessments and recommend ways to conserve energy and reduce your carbon footprint. the study will identify key opportunities for savings by focusing on energy-intensive systems such as process heating and cooling, steam, pumps, fans, and compressed air.
Estimated Payback 3-6 Months

Water Heating Marspec can provide a custom-made hot water heater for your plant or facility. Facility steam is used to heat the water and flows through a system that includes a correctly-sized heat exchanger, control valves, piping and free float steam traps. A Marspec system is custom built to meet specific needs – there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ offering for Marspec customers.
Estimated Payback 6-12 Months