Shah Cement Industries Ltd (Cement, Bangladesh)

• This cement plant is very modern and highly automated. In addition, the plant does not produce clinker but purchases clinker to produce cement, and therefore, the production process is much simpler than other cement plants. As a result there was limited scope for improving energy efficiency.
  Lesson learnt: The energy efficiency improvement potential differs between companies. For very modern plants with automated and simple production processes, the potential is likely to be lower.

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

• Following the energy assessment and determination of causes of losses, a meeting was organized to brainstorm about possible energy efficiency options. In order to get a wide range of possible options two groups of people were invited: (1) the members of the plant’s Team who are familiar with the plant’s production processes and equipment and (2) Domestic and international industry and Cleaner Production experts who can bring in experiences from similar production processes and equipment at other plants. The group as a whole discussed the identified options to decide which options to select for feasibility analysis.
  Lesson learnt: Involving plant staff as well as external industry and Cleaner Production experts will improve the quality of possible options identified as each group will have a different input.

 Jangxi Yadong Cement Corporation (Cement, China)

• Power generation using waste heat was a main area for energy savings and to identify options for this, the Team, assisted by Tianjin Cement Industry Design and Research Institute, used the experiences of some national pilot projects on power generation with low temperature waste heat in cement companies as a reference.
  Lesson learnt: It is worthwhile to find out about the experiences from other Cleaner Production and energy efficiency projects that have been carried out at other companies when identifying possible options.

Siflon Drugs Ltd (Chemicals, India)

• Normally, a brainstorming session is held to identify a long list of possible options based on trials and monitoring data collected during the assessment (step 2), and only then the list is screened to decide the options to investigate for technical, economical and environmental feasibility (task 3c). However, at this company the options were so obvious that no brainstorming session was held. One of the obvious options identified was the replacement of a wood fired boiler with a new and more efficiency oil fired boiler. The inefficient wood fired boiler was identified as the “root cause” (task 3a) to many of the losses of energy observed during the assessment. Therefore, its replacement would eliminate many of the losses found.
  Lesson learnt: It is important to adjust the process of identification of options to the real life situation. If an option is very obvious, it does not need a brainstorm session to identify it!

PT Semen Cibinong (Cement, Indonesia)

• In addition to options that would improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs directly, the Team also recommended the installation of flow meters. Measured data with the flow meter would allow the Team to identify losses and additional options to improve energy efficiency in the future.
  Lesson learnt: Remember that the lack of monitoring and measuring equipment can also be an option to recommend to management

Asian Chemicals Ltd (Chemicals, Thailand)

• Top management is very supportive for staff to take their own initiative to improve energy efficiency and environmental performance. This greatly contributed to staff identifying a range of energy efficiency options without the need for much encouragement by the external facilitators, such as the installation of a new boiler and an insulated condensate tank for collecting condensate for reuse as pre-heated feed water. In addition, all the options proposed by the Team were approved by the management for implementation.
  Lesson learnt: Trust of the top management in staff contributes to staff taking ownership for the identification and implementation of energy efficiency options, which is beneficial to the company.
  

Siam White Cement Company Ltd, SWCC (Cement, Thailand)

• Several other cement companies participating in the project mentioned that they consider SWCC as a best-practice company in their sector. This became obvious when energy losses and options to further improve energy efficiency had to be identified, because opportunities were a lot less than for most other companies. To confirm this, an international industry expert was sent to the plant to evaluate the energy saving potential. This expert concluded that the plant is very modern, highly automated, well managed, and has already implemented most of the standard and low cost energy efficiency measures. For this reason, major improvements in energy efficiency could only be achieved through highly technical options that require large investments. As a result, the Team focused on relatively simple options, e.g. installation of capacity banks for improving the power factor, installation of high efficiency fan in Cement Mill, installation of V-Separator in Raw Mill and installation of inverters for controlling air flow instead of dampers, that would still save the company money although they would not significantly reduce the company’s total energy costs and GHG emissions
  Lesson learnt: For modern and well managed plants that already have exploited the obvious and low cost options to improve energy efficiency, major improvements can often only be achieved through technically complex and high cost options.

  Thai Kraft Paper Industry Co. Ltd. (Pulp and paper, Thailand)

• The assessment was coordinated by the Energy Department of the company. Despite brainstorming discussions for identifying energy efficiency options with staff from different production departments, only a few options were identified. This is because options relevant to equipment/issues beyond the focus of the Energy Department are not brought into account, due to the lack of communication about the GERIAP project to the other departments.
  Lesson learnt: It is important for the facilitator to ensure that the top management of the company has informed the entire staff about the participation of the GERIAP project, otherwise such a participation could be undermined.

Other lessons learnt:

• People tend to think of the obvious options only. A good way to trigger everyone to think creatively is to reward each idea with a small reward (e.g. a candy, or a point and the person with the highest score wins a prize) during a brainstorm session
• Company staff should be actively involved in the identification of possible options because they are the ones who will need to implement the options later
• Company management should not place restrictions upfront on the type of options they are looking for because this will prevent the identification of a wide range of possible options
• Staff are sometimes worried that when consultants find ways to improve energy efficiency that management will punish them for not doing anything about the energy losses earlier. This is especially the case with simple good housekeeping options and in companies with a hierarchical management structure. External facilitators and consultants should therefore involve staff in the identification of energy losses and options so that staff get credit, not blame, for improvements
• On the other hand, some companies tend to take options suggested by external facilitators or experts more seriously than those offered by their own staff
• Generation of possible low cost options will create enthusiasm for further option generation.
• Consultants, suppliers and representatives from other plants can add value to the brain storm session because they are able to compare the situation with other companies
• To generate more technical options the Team may need input from external consultants, especially in small companies in developing countries that do not have access to information about the latest technologies
• A Cleaner Production specialist can assist the Team to think beyond the obvious options
• Consultants sometimes too focus on obvious and “end of pipe” options (e.g. recovering heat from a waste energy stream rather than looking for ways to stop the energy loss from happening)
• Knowledge and experience of the Team members and external facilitator play a vital role in identifying options

Back to step 3 task 3b