Save Energy Now Assessments Reveal Opportunities for Steel Industry to Reduce Energy Consumption and Save Money
September 23, 2008
Steel manufacturers across the United States are participating in energy assessments offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP). Part of Save Energy Now, a national effort to reduce energy use 25% in 10 years, these no-cost assessments help U.S. industrial facilities identify ways to reduce energy use in key process systems. Two new case studies are available that provide examples of how steel manufacturers have improved the efficiency of their process heating and steam systems.
Steel Industry Case Study
More than $105 million in potential energy cost savings has been identified for 23 U.S. steel manufacturing facilities that have participated in Save Energy Now. This represents an average reduction of 10.2% in overall energy costs. In addition, the companies reported identifying:
- 10.4 trillion Btu of natural gas savings—the total amount of annual energy used by nearly 144,000 U.S. single family homes
- More than 736,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions reductions—the equivalent of taking more than 134,000 cars off the road
- Average process heating energy savings of 12% and steam energy savings of 3% per plant.
Time spent participating in an assessment can result not only in potential energy and cost savings, but also long-term improvements that can benefit a company’s bottom line, such as decreased energy use per product, improved energy efficiency, and reduced maintenance. Download the steel industry case study to learn more, including the top identified savings opportunities based on payback period (PDF 351 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
U. S. Steel Minntac Plant Case Study
The Save Energy Now assessment conducted at U. S. Steel, the largest producer of steel products in the country, validated existing energy efficiency projects at their Minntac plant in Mt. Iron, Minnesota. The company realized annual energy cost savings of $760,000, as well as $30,000 in maintenance labor cost savings. In addition, U. S. Steel reduced its annual natural gas energy consumption by 95,000 MMBtu and achieved a simple payback of 1.5 years.
The assessment was conducted by a DOE Energy Expert who used DOE’s Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool (PHAST) to quantify existing energy savings measures at the Minntac plant, as well as identify nine additional opportunities. Learn about PHAST and other DOE system assessment software tools.
“We use a significant amount of energy at our operations, and we welcomed the recommendations of an unbiased energy professional relative to energy savings opportunities," said Raymond Potts, Process Engineer for U. S. Steel. "The assessment confirmed that we were headed in the right direction with several projects we were working on and helped identify other areas that we needed to take a closer look at."
For more details, download the U. S. Steel case study (PDF 599 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
To see recommendations that can help your company become more energy efficient, see additional Save Energy Now case studies on industries such as aluminum, automotive, chemical, forest products, and textiles. You can also apply for a Save Energy Now assessment to be conducted at your facility. Learn more.
