Step 1 - Planning and Organization

Task 1c: Pre-assessment to collect general information

TK Chemical Complex Ltd (Chemicals, Bangladesh)

• When the plant layout and equipment specifications were reviewed, it was found that the plant had purchased almost the entire production equipment from Germany (as it was no longer meeting German environmental standards). However:

  • Equipment was designed for pulp and paper production, whereas the TK Chemical Complex Ltd is operating as a paper plant using imported waste paper and virgin pulp although it was intended as an integrated pulp and paper plant.
  • All drawings and written materials have been provided in German, which is often not understood by the plant’s staff. In some instances this has resulted in inappropriate installation of equipment. In addition, in some instances there is a mismatch in the requirements and the equipment installed, for example the boiler.
  • Some equipment was supplied although this is not needed (e.g. second water tube boiler)

  Lesson learnt: A review of the plant layout and equipment specifications will allow the Team to anticipate some of the areas where energy losses occur

Anhui Linquan Chemical Industrial Co. Ltd (Chemicals, China)

Jangxi Yadong Cement Corporation (Cement, China)

• The company initiated a Cleaner Production audit of the plant that lasted from September 2003 until April 2004 and overlapped with the GERIAP project. This audit generated 21 no/low cost projects and 10 medium/high cost options, and all options except one medium/high cost option were implemented. As a result the specific coal consumption was reduced by 1kg / ton clinker and the specific power consumption was reduced by 1kWh / ton cement. The GERIAP project “piggy-backed” on this project by using the plant’s CP team formed for this audit as the Team for the GERIAP project.
  Lesson learnt: During the pre-assessment find out what other projects are being carried out at the company to avoid duplicating work and to make maximum use of the strengths of other projects for the energy assessment.

Yuanping Municipal Chemical Industrial Co. Ltd (Chemicals, China)

• A review of 2001, 2002 and 2003 data of the consumption of resources (see table below) found that electricity and coal consumption have reduced significantly. But the specific consumption per kWh is still very high and therefore there is further scope for improvement.
  Lesson learnt: If energy consumption has reduced over the past years, then this does not necessarily mean that there is no further scope for improvement. To determine this the Team should also calculate specific consumption and where possible compare these with benchmark figures or equipment design parameters.

Vishakapatnam Steel Ltd (Iron and steel, India)

• This integrated steel plant has 22 departments and it would take too much time to carry out a pre-assessment to collect general information and prepare production flow charts for the entire plant. For this reason the focus area was selected first and a pre-assessment was only carried out for the focus area.
  Lesson learnt: For large plants it may be necessary to select a focus area before carrying out the pre-assessment.

Coromandel Cements Ltd (Cement, India)

• As part of the pre-assessment, a schematic overview of the information flow within the company was prepared to give the Team a better understanding of what information was collected, where and by whom, and to whom this information was reported. This overview was very helpful during the collection of baseline data during the detailed assessment (task 2d). The overview is given below.
  Lesson learnt: An overview of information collected and reporting within the company is helpful to prepare for the assessment (step 2), especially establishing a baseline (task 2d).

Erel Cement Ltd (Cement, Mongolia)

• As part of the in plant assessment, an overview of what is currently measured at each section was prepared, that is provided in the table below. Based on the review it was recommended to
  • Increase the measurement of energy-related indicators (column “Additional data required” in the table)
  • Purchase monitoring equipment (column “Instruments required” in the table)
  • Include energy-related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in daily and monthly reports to management
  Lesson learnt: Making an overview of what is already measured at the plant can help identify gaps in measurement and what monitoring equipment is needed to measure key performance parameters in the future. This in turn will help with continuously identifying new options for resource efficiency improvements

Erel Cement Ltd (Cement, Mongolia)

• It was found that there is very limited information on energy usage or factors that influence energy usage (e.g. dust), and this is mostly available at plant level only (and only partly at process or section level). Reasons are:
  • This plant level energy information (coal, electricity) is collected for billing purposes but not for managing/reducing the amount of energy used
  • Measurements are made for legal purposes only (e.g. an outside contractor monitors dust levels outside the plant. Erel Cement takes action if measurements are different from normal / legally allowed levels. Dust levels are only monitored visually inside the plant boundaries, for example at the kiln stack and cement silos)
  • Meters at individual processes / equipment do not exist (e.g. compressors) or meters are not used and/or accuracy of existing meters is not known (e.g. cement mills)
  • Measurements are made at section level but not recorded in the company’s information system (e.g. coal consumption for sub areas in the Kiln Section)
  Analytical and monitoring equipment is not available at the plant for energy-related measurements (e.g. to measure the temperature and composition of exhaust gas in the kiln and to measure power consumption). During the assessment monitoring instruments on loan to the Ministry of Nature and Environment were used.
  Lessons learnt: Plants in developing countries often do not have detailed information on energy consumption or other materials consumption and wastes

Information currently measured at Erel Cement
and suggested improvements related to energy (20KB - pdf)

Puyat Vinyl (Chemicals, Philippines)

• Management supports the environment work but there is no formal environmental policy or environmental management system in place. However, management considers environment to be implicitly covered under its quality management system that is certified to the ISO 9001:2000 standard.
  Lesson learnt: Some companies may cover environment and energy management as part of their quality management system

Holcim Bulacan (Cement, Philippines)

• Specific electricity consumption and heat rate data were readily available, but specific GHG emission data were more difficult to obtain. GHG emissions expressed as tons CO 2/ton clinker were found to be wrong and it was only possible to determine correct figures for tons CO 2/ton cement. In addition, reliable GHG emissions data were only available from November 2003 onwards, after the installation of the new continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS).
  Lesson learnt: Greenhouse gas emissions data is not as easily to obtain as energy data because GHG emissions are not as often measured or calculated by Asian companies

Associated Motor Ways, AMW (Iron and steel, Sri Lanka)

• As part of the pre-assessment an overview of existing meetings was made with energy and environment discussed which can be used at a later stage to communicate about the energy assessment and the results. See table below.
  Lesson learnt: An overview of existing meetings can be useful to communicate to management and staff about the energy assessment (task 2a) and results (task 5b and 6a)

CHICO (Iron and steel, Sri Lanka)

• Once the Team was formed, a meeting was held to plan the pre-assessment. It was decided to start with a walkthrough of the plant, in which the whole Team participated, to identify possible focus areas. After the walkthrough the Team met again to decide which focus areas to select for the detailed energy assessment.
  Lesson learnt: It is useful if all the team members participate in the walkthrough of the plant. This shortens the time to select focus areas afterwards

Lanka Tiles Ltd ( Ceramics, Sri Lanka)

• The company has an ISO 9001:2000 certified quality management system. During the pre-assessment it was found that the information flow developed as part of this system (see figure below) could also be useful for future communication and reporting of energy information.

Other lessons learnt:

• Remember to look critically collected data, because just because data has been collected this does not mean that the data is correct!
• Technical data can often be obtained from Central Control Room of the plant
• General company information can often be obtained from the company website and communication materials such as flyers and brochures
• Be aware that data published externally for official purposes (tax, permits etc) may be different from the real data, such as production data
• To obtain basic data sometime has to be done several times (by phone, e-mail or visit)
• One of the Team members should be given the responsibility to coordinate the collection, processing and storage of information during the pre-assessment
• Because you are meeting with so many different staff members, it can be useful to use tape recorders to record conversations and write up meeting notes
• Make it clear at the start of the pre-assessment what information is needed and by when, so that it is more likely that you will get the information you need!
• A high level process flow chart can be supplemented with flow charts for individual process steps or units of operation
• Sometimes a walkthrough during the pre-assessment does not show the real practice, because staff will want to mask any inefficient practices and may therefore stage a different way of working. For this reason it is sometimes beneficial to walk through the plant unannounced
• This is one of the Methodology’s tasks where worksheets can be very useful to complete the task is as little time as possible
• By forming two or three groups to cover different areas of the plant and/or collecting different types of information, the pre-assessment can be completed in much less time