5 marzo / Sustainability

ENERGY CONTROL PROJECT FOR EFFICIENT AND RATIONAL USE

In Pesquera Centinela for the fishmeal and fish oil processing process it is necessary to use heat energy which is delivered by the steam produced by the boilers. The boilers are the most used combustion equipment in industrial plants, generating a cost for operation and maintenance, based on this, it is necessary the optimal management for the efficient use of thermal energy in the production process. The efficient use of energy is a topic of great importance at present from the political, economic and environmental points of view. The benefits that can be obtained with the optimization of the use of energy are part of the reduction of processing costs and the preservation of non-renewable energy resources, in addition to the protection of the environment.

Energy management is important from the point of view of optimizing resources, but how to optimize resources to be more efficient? The answer is, measuring and controlling our resources, in this case, energy.

Currently, there are technologies that can be used in the plant; such as flow meters that would allow us to measure and control the flow of steam that is being delivered to an area or equipment, in case this flow increases it would mean that energy losses are occurring and corrective actions must be taken. Also, another technology is the measurement of steam quality, this would indicate the quality or percentage of humidity with which we are delivering and producing steam, if a wet steam is observed, it would mean dragging problems in our cauldron or purging of lines what the consumer team would require more steam, additional steam produced by the cauldron and therefore more fuel burned. The importance of measuring is decisive when it comes to controlling and optimizing a resource.