The optimization of industrial facilities consists in the identification of the most effective design parameters capable of minimizing the cost of the plant, in terms of Capex, Opex, or both, while ensuring, at the same time, adequate capacity, reliability, rangeability, operability, and, mostly importantly, safety.
The design parameters to be optimized include energy recovery, power generation options, air versus water cooling breakpoint, ways of reusing treated waste streams, and the like. Energeco's experience in a variety of industrial plants, and state-of-the-art expertise, enables us to promptly identify the most suitable technological options and most effective utility generation schemes.
The optimization process requires the preliminary evaluation and comparison of a large set of options, and can become increasingly complex when dealing with the expansion of existing industrial facilities, where targets such as the maximum reutilization of the existing systems and the possibly outdated design of the existing equipment and circuits pose additional constrains and limitations. The need to carry out alterations, while not affecting the plant operations and productivity – or to minimize the shut-down period - increases the difficulty of the task.
At Energeco we tackle these problems in strict partnership with our Customers, providing additional field services, as required, in order to assess the status and performance of existing units, carrying out site surveys to complete the acquisition of all essential information, and conducting energy audits, where required, to better identify the opportunities for energy recovery and efficiency improvement.
The integration of new and existing units is also planned, to achieve a smooth, seamless start of operations, with minimal interference with the current processes, and striving to avoid or limit any temporary reduction in production rates.