The initial approach adopted at this biomedical factory site was to upgrade the heat pump. This project had a great payback which came in under one and a half years. Energy saving opportunities were first addressed with cooperation of the company management. Management then recognised that to make further inroads in energy savings, investment was needed and this included HVAC and boiler upgrades as well as chiller upgrades, air compressor set point changes and laid sharing.
Lighting upgrade from halogen to LED was previously implemented in some of the factory zones and energy credits were claimed with the assistance of Celtic Dynamics. For the CHP upgrade, a range of options were assessed including CHP with natural gas, LNG, hydrogen and bio LNG with final decision to upgrade the oil boilers to natural gas to match the heat demand. The oil boilers which were old models with thermal efficiency (65-70%) were well below that of modern condensing boilers (90 %+). The lifespan of the existing boilers is typically 20 years so it was opportune to review their operation and invest in the condensing energy efficient type.
