Alfa Laval’s Energy Hunter aims to spotlight potential efficiency improvements
Alfa Laval has launched its latest energy-saving initiative, Energy Hunter, to highlight potential efficiency gains from optimising existing heat exchanger technologies.
With plant, process and production managers under increasing pressure to demonstrate progress against decarbonisation goals, the heat transfer specialists are highlighting how optimising operations can reduce emissions following a late 2023 report that claimed doubling energy efficiency by 2030 could cut greenhouse gas emissions by almost a third.
Alfa Laval is pointing out improvements that can be achieved through updating inefficient heat exchanger equipment, plate configurations and changing cleaning and maintenance programmes, as well as reusing waste energy in other applications.
According to Dmitry Emelianov, energy process manager at Alfa Laval UK&I, these simple steps could have a lasting impact on plant operations without the need for major upheaval.
“As recent green policy revisions show, it cannot be denied that achieving net zero by 2050 will be difficult,” he said. “In order to do so, industry must approach this challenge from every possible angle, including heat transfer processes. As Alfa Laval Sustainability Reports have shown, up to 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions can be prevented simply by operating existing heat exchangers at optimal efficiency, so there are clear opportunities to realise efficiency gains and reduce carbon footprints.
“Yet what sets this area further apart is the head start it has on most other fields. Technologies and solutions already exist to allow a smoother decarbonisation journey, whether through increased efficiency or opportunities to recirculate otherwise wasted heat into existing plant systems. Simply put, we don’t have to re-invent the wheel – we just need to make it run smoother, and this is where our Energy Hunter initiative comes in.”
The new Alfa Laval programme involves the introduction of simplified calculator tools to demonstrate energy savings available from optimal servicing strategies or reusing waste heat. As part of this, processing professionals are also encouraged to talk to Alfa Laval’s own team of Energy Hunters to help realise further opportunities to optimise existing operations.
“In order to maintain good progress against net zero commitments, it is vital to address plant areas and processes where money and energy are being wasted,” Emelianov concludes. “For this to be as effective as possible, organisations should be prepared to leverage expertise within the supply chain – including our own Energy Hunters – for their own benefit and gain.
“By doing so, facility stakeholders can better identify applications where wasted heat can be recovered and redeployed in site temperature control systems, and overhaul servicing strategies. These simple steps will be vital to not only improving overall operational sustainability, but also protecting business bottom lines and ensuring competitiveness. I would therefore advise processing professionals to reach out to Alfa Laval today and see what can be achieved.”
