Emerson Exchange 365

Despite steady growth over a span of 140 years, a North American beverage manufacturer realized that its operating margins were being drained by high utility costs. With multiple, large buildings spread across more than 5 square miles, and a hodgepodge of utility systems, it wasn’t clear where electrical power or water were being wasted. But it was evident that the plant needed easier access to real time data, full system integration, accountability and control.

Today at Emerson Exchange, Dave Moss, senior instrument technician at CH2M HILL and Emerson’s Brent Pankonien explained how they implemented a facility-wide metering and energy management solution, resulting in a $6 million return on a $1.7 million investment for the company.

Moss and Pankonien’s team faced a number of challenges. Because a variety of utility systems had expanded and mutated over so many years, redundant piping loops made it impractical to gauge how much water and electricity were being used by each department. As a result, the plant couldn’t monitor electrical and water consumption effectively.

“Measuring flow in redundant loops is difficult because the flow can be in either direction,” said Pankonien. “The fact that several different control platforms were in use throughout the plant only added to the complexity.”

As one of many logistical barriers, a pump house with a water turbine meter was located 528 feet from the data gathering point. Further complicating matters, a set of railroad tracks and paved roadway lay between them. “A hardwired I/O was impractical and cost prohibitive,” said Moss. “Running a cable or conduit underneath them simply wasn’t an option.”

After a site survey showed that WirelessHART® signals would work, the team determined that a wireless solution was the best strategy. It would provide the flexibility needed for greater visibility and control of utility usage across the entire plant—at an affordable cost. The customer agreed.

Moss and Parkonien set about to design, install and configure a network of flow transmitters to monitor the customer’s utility systems in real time. “A wide array of measurement points were involved,” Pankonien explained. “Everything from steam, condensate, water, wastewater, liquid ammonia and plant air lines to electrical power spanning four separate business units.”

The first step was to investigate multiple utility systems from source to end user, identifying metering points for mass balance calculations. Mass balances and accountability through metering expose utility costs that can be investigated and optimized.

Once those points were identified, the metering challenges of the brownfield facility became apparent. Upstream and downstream requirements were dictated by the existing pipe. The team also developed solutions for a number of remote area measurements.

The team installed more than 100 metering devices, such as magnetic, annubar, vortex and differential pressure meters, tying them to existing PLC and DeltaV® platforms. Traditional analog and FOUNDATION™ fieldbus communications were used for data gathering and transfer to a PI Process Book, which functioned as the local data historian. A Smart Wireless Gateway was implemented to access data from several remote areas.

As for electrical usage, the plant was illuminated by tens of thousands of lights day and night, requiring large quantities of power. “We added motion detectors to automate lighting in production areas,” said Moss. “Then we converted all exterior lighting from mercury vapor and high pressure sodium to LED lights.” These changes alone yielded an immediate electrical energy reduction of 50 percent.

With a complete solution in place, the customer achieved a 38 percent reduction in total energy usage and 13 percent reduction in water consumption in the first year. These improvements added up to approximately $6 million in savings from a $1.7 million investment in flow technology.

By gaining comprehensive knowledge of utility usage across the plant, the beverage manufacturer now holds each department accountable for reducing its own utility costs. At the same time, the company can allocate utility usage across the plant more efficiently and economically.