Flow regulation at constant head in feedwater pumps in a sugar industry

In this paper the feasibility of energy saving by implementing flow regulation at constant load in feedwater pumps in a sugar industry is studied. As regulation strategy, the use of a variable speed drive in the hydraulic system is proposed. For the project evaluation, the Net Present Value and Payb...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gómez, Julio R., Sousa Santos, Vladimir, S. Quintana, Mario, Viego Felipe, Percy R., Hernández, Hernán, Quispe, Enrique Ciro
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2019
Country:Colombia
Institution:Corporación Universidad de la Costa
Repository:Repositorio REDICUC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.cuc.edu.co:11323/1987
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11323/1987
https://repositorio.cuc.edu.co/
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Energy saving
Feedwater pumps
Flow regulation
Sugar cane industry
Variable speed drives
Description
Summary:In this paper the feasibility of energy saving by implementing flow regulation at constant load in feedwater pumps in a sugar industry is studied. As regulation strategy, the use of a variable speed drive in the hydraulic system is proposed. For the project evaluation, the Net Present Value and Payback Period techniques are used. Among the variables considered are the price of energy, the equipment useful life, financial data and those related to environmental impact. As a result, it was found that if only a commercial approach is considered, the energy saving strategy is profitable but not attractive, because investment is recovered in a period close to the useful life of technology. However, if a government focus that encourages the implementation of these energies saving strategies is considered, the investment of the project recovers in a short time.