Pump systems account for 20% of the world’s electrical energy demand and between 25-50% of the electrical energy usage in certain applications.
Pumps are the single largest user of electricity within industry across the European Union, consuming over 300 TWhpa of electricity, which in turn accounts for over 65 Mton of CO₂ emissions.
It is also well documented that rotodynamic pumps, which account for 80% of the installed base are oversized by 20-30%. There is, therefore, major potential to save energy if rotodynamic pumps are properly sized and operated.
The vast majority of existing pump systems operating today were not originally designed with energy conservation as a major consideration.
If pump systems are initially designed on an energy efficient basis and pumps are correctly applied and sized, the energy savings will often be in excess of 50%.
To design an energy efficient pump system all the following criteria should be considered:
• Basic plant layout;
• Pipe size, configuration and restrictions to limited pipe work losses;
• Information on the liquid (viscosity, density, aggressiveness,...
Optimising pump systems to save electrical energy
