Why look at pump efficiency? The greatest cost of owning a pump is the energy to run it. In today’s world of reducing ‘carbon footprints,’ facility designers and operators should be proactive in reducing energy consumption, not just for the economic impact to the operator, but to reduce energy consumption overall and the accompanying release of greenhouse gases in electrical generation.
If the pump operator can reduce the energy consumption of moving liquid through the production system, over the life of the process, significant savings can be achieved. For example, in a facility with 40 pumps with an average kW rating of 56 kW (75 HP), the average cost of electricity ($/Eur 0.15/kWhr) to run those pumps with a 90% on-stream time is about USD $2.65 Million per year. A relatively achievable efficiency increases of 2% would yield savings of about USD $53,000 per year. The cost of an ANSI pump, motor, and base of 56 kW installed is approximately USD $100,000. The capital pay-off of a pump every two years would make a significant profit. The reduction in CO2 emissions (U.S. average of 0.857 lbs. or 0.389 kgs CO2e per kWh) would be approximately 302,000 lbs (137,000 kgs) per year.