Energy consumption in a pharmaceutical factory and proposals for a reduction in Running costs.

Abstract

An Investigation was carried out on a pharmaceutical factory which is still in a construction stage to quantify all the sources of energy usage. The major energy consumers were investigated and comparisons carried out with international standards to see if improvements are required. the Performance Indicator of the building was determined ac l,6h6 GJ/a^ per operating year by simulating energy consumption. A correlation between ambient dry bulb and building cooling electrical demand were established. A monitoring and targeting instrumentation schedule was proposed after defining a targeting philosophy. The proposed building services were analysed and possible energy cost saving Investments were identified and analysed by different costing models to see the effect of the costing model on the type of proposal. The two proposals which showed financial viability are firstly, the removal of dehumidifier heat with evaporation which showed an electrical energy saving of 965.76 MJ p.a. and a payback period of 2,9 years and secondly, the installation of high efficiency lights which showed a electrical energy saving of 76 MJ p.a. and a payback period of 0,62 years*