Energy efficiency is an important issue facing the chemical industry. On the one hand, rising energy costs will significantly increase production costs; on the other hand, high energy consumption will also have a negative impact on the company's environmental performance balance. However, launching energy efficiency improvement projects often requires large amounts of capital. Klüber Energy Services (Klüber Energy Services) adopts a systematic approach to tap and realize the potential of energy efficiency optimization of enterprises. In a pilot project, a chemical company customer recovered the investment cost in only two years.

Energy efficiency projects often mean large expenditures, which makes the promised energy savings less attractive. A major advantage of Klüber's energy-saving service projects is the ability to obtain proven energy cost savings with relatively small inputs. In this regard, the pilot chemical company only needed a few hours to participate in the project discussion, assist in the measurement, and pay the cost of replacing the lubricant. In addition to providing lubrication recommendations, Klüber Lubrication also worked with pilot chemical companies to research solutions based on their specific circumstances. Admittedly, as long as the lubricant based on mineral oil is replaced with a synthetic lubricant, immediate results can be achieved, but to fully realize its full potential, it will undoubtedly require some effort.

Since October 2017, ISO 50003 began to implement stricter audit specifications

For many companies, passing the ISO 50001 energy management system certification is of great significance. The new version of ISO 50003 has been implemented since October 2017. Enterprises that have obtained the energy management system certification need to make some fundamental adjustments. The new standard stipulates that when the auditor recertifies the enterprise, unless the audited enterprise is implementing an energy efficiency improvement project and quantified the corresponding energy saving according to international standards, it must record a major non-compliance. To this end, Klüber Energy has launched a systematic solution.

The Kluber energy-saving projects include: professionally confirming the potential energy savings in the friction system involved, measuring the energy consumption before and after the implementation of the solution, professionally analyzing the data obtained, and converting the measurement results into a detailed description of the cost savings. Based on the analysis results of the friction system involved, we selected a high-efficiency lubricant. After completing the benchmark measurement, we applied this lubricant to achieve the best lubrication effect. Then take a second measurement. In addition, we also conducted a comprehensive analysis of related parts. Depending on the situation, sometimes a cleaning procedure may be added. To this end, Klüber Lubricants has developed a product that can remove the residue of mineral oil products deposited on the surface of parts for decades.

Pilot projects unlock huge potential

Klüber Lubricants was commissioned by an international chemical supplier to explore the energy-saving potential of its plants. After a joint discussion with the energy company and maintenance staff of the chemical company, Klüber Lubricant selected the agitator gearbox in the polymerization reactor for the pilot. First, use the above special products to clean the gear box, and then replace the mineral oil originally used to lubricate the gear box with a synthetic special lubricant.

The power consumption measurement shows that the special lubricant for the gear box has excellent performance, which greatly improves the operating efficiency of the equipment, and the investment cost can be recovered in about two years. In fact, according to the operation of the production line involved, it achieved a return on investment within one year and significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Another big advantage is the ability to significantly extend the gearbox oil change interval. This project only tested one gearbox, which can save up to about 24,000 yuan per year (mainly energy consumption and maintenance costs). For large-scale production lines, the number of gearboxes involved is very considerable. Changing to synthetic high-efficiency gear oil can undoubtedly save a lot of costs.