Cutting Energy Waste and Optimising Process Plant Performance Training Course
1Summary
Every inefficient pump, leaking steam trap, and poorly tuned boiler in a process plant is quietly draining money and energy — most of it unnoticed until costs spike or regulators tighten the rules. This training course gives plant professionals a structured way to find that waste and eliminate it, starting with how to read process performance data and spot the real sources of energy loss across a facility.
From there, attendees work equipment by equipment — pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, boilers, cooling and HVAC systems — before building the management layer that makes savings permanent: an ISO 50001-aligned energy management system, benchmarking against KPIs, and digital tools such as real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. The course closes on what most efficiency programmes miss: how to keep the gains once the project team moves on.
2Objectives and target group
- Identify inefficiencies and underperformance in industrial process systems and prioritise practical improvement actions.
- Analyse energy flow and losses across major plant utility systems, including steam, compressed air, and electrical systems.
- Apply equipment-level optimisation to pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, boilers, and HVAC/cooling systems.
- Build and operate an energy management system aligned with the ISO 50001 framework.
- Use benchmarking, KPIs, and digital tools such as real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance to sustain gains.
- Integrate optimisation into daily operations through training, scheduling, and continuous feedback.
Target Audience
- Process engineers and plant operations personnel involved in system performance.
- Energy managers and facility supervisors focused on efficiency and sustainability.
- Maintenance and reliability professionals, technical consultants, and engineering staff involved in process analysis.
3Course Content
Module 1: Where Plants Lose Energy and Efficiency
- Principles of process control and operational balance, key indicators of underperformance, and common causes of process inefficiencies.
- Energy balance across major plant systems, identifying sources of energy loss, and understanding conversion efficiencies.
Module 2: Finding and Prioritising the Gaps
- Root cause analysis, performance baselining, and Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma approaches.
- Process flow diagrams, heat and mass balance, instrumentation and data accuracy requirements, and establishing performance benchmarks.
Module 3: Utility Systems and Performance Measurement
- Steam systems and condensate recovery, compressed air generation and distribution, and electrical systems and motor efficiency.
- Energy audits and walkthrough techniques, metering and real-time monitoring systems, and interpreting performance data for decision-making.
Module 4: Optimising Core Equipment
- Pumps and compressors: matching load to demand profiles, variable speed drive (VSD) applications, and minimising leakage and throttling losses.
- Heat exchangers and boilers: maximising heat recovery, boiler tuning and excess air control, and the impact of fouling on performance.
- Cooling and HVAC systems: load reduction strategies, chiller and cooling tower optimisation, and smart demand-based control.
Module 5: Building a Structured Energy Management System
- Introduction to the ISO 50001 framework, and establishing policies, goals, and action plans.
- Energy review and baseline definition, shift practices and operator awareness programmes, scheduling for load optimisation, and maintenance routines that support efficiency.
Module 6: Integration, Benchmarking, and Digital Tools
- Pinch analysis and integration opportunities, reusing waste heat in process streams, and reducing energy intensity per production unit.
- Setting internal performance targets, comparing with industry standards, and using KPIs to drive accountability.
- Real-time monitoring and advanced analytics, automation and control system integration, and predictive maintenance and AI applications.
Module 7: Making the Gains Stick
- Embedding optimisation into daily operations and training and team involvement.
- Monitoring savings and building continuous feedback loops.