Energy Efficiency Evaluation in a Pulp and Paper Industry in South Africa - A Case Study

Power consumption is becoming more expensive by the day. This is not far from the fact that power generation is facing a lot of challenges coupled with increasing demand. Industrial sector power demand shares a significant proportion of this generated power. It is therefore a necessary task to manage well industrial energy use through appropriate energy efficiency methods practice so as to minimise energy losses. In this study energy efficiency opportunities in pulp and paper (P&P) mill are identified and the saving potential is then quantified. An energy flow model with the help of an energy audit are used to quantify energy supply, generation, conversion and end use thereby exposing areas of energy losses of the mill. This analysis will serve as an eye opener to future and current P&P making operations in South Africa, and as a base case for stimulating changes toward more efficient energy utilization in the pulp and paper industry. Quite a reasonable energy losses avenues were identified, audited and options of improvements suggested. The results proved that quite a sensible amount of energy is lost in the P&P case study and a near future look into the opportunities and barriers have been noted.