# Energy Efficiency Reference/Pumps & Fans

* Introduction
* Sectors
* Agriculture • Commercial • Industrial • Residential
* Subsystems
* Boilers & Steam • Fume Hoods • Compressed Air • HVAC • Refrigeration • Lighting • Motors • Pumps & Fans • Solar
* Incentives
* Additional Resources
* Glossary
* Contributors
* view .

## Pumps & Fans

Articles
* "Ask an Energy Expert: Optimizing Your Industrial Fan Systems", Summer 2008, Energy Matters
Reference
* Pump Reliability and Maintenance Cost - attached below
Example ARs/EEMs
* none yet uploaded

### Pumps
## Data Collection

Jest about every plant has pumps. Here are the basic things to look for and collect.
1. Pump nameplate information
2. Motor Nameplate information (if it is not a direct drive pump)
3. Fluid being pumped
4. What kind of system the pump is used in 5. Any Abnormal conditions such as a high/low temperature feed to the pump 6. Flow Rate (and how often the pump operates at this flow rate) 7. Gauge Pressure on both sides of the pump (This is often hard to accomplish since very few pumps will have pressure ports on both sides of the pump.) 8. If there are no gauges here is some more information you will need:
** Inside pipe diameters for the inlet and outlet of the pump
** If the pump is fed by a tank or a well open to atmosphere, get an estimate height of the water level above or below the center of the pump.
** If the pump is fed by another source:
*** Find a gauge somewhere along the line feeding the pump (if it is fed by a city water line you can get the pressure the water is delivered at from the utility company)
*** Measure (or estimate) the height of the gauge above or below the pump center
*** Identify and Count elbows, valves, tees, pipe diameter changes, or any other connections in the pipe (if this is not possible make your best estimate)
** A gauge pressure somewhere along the line leaving the pump or an outlet pressure
*** Measure (or estimate) the height of the gauge above or below the pump center
*** Identify and Count elbows, vales, tees, pipe diameter changes, or any other connections in the pipe (if this is not possible make your best estimate)
** An Amperage Reading
** If you want to find out more about pump operation set HOBOs to monitor the amperage
Questions to ask plant personnel
* At what flow rates does the pump operate and for how long?
* How are different flow rates achieved (for example throttling the inlet, VSD, Bypass control, On/off control)?
* Does the pump only run when needed?
* For what purpose was the pump originally designed, and is this the purpose it is now being used for?

## After the Audit

Now it is time to put all data together to start writing some ARs.

### Pump Efficiency AR

1. Start by inputting your data into PSAT (start, programs, IAC applications, PSAT 2008, PSAT 2008)
2. Now that your data is in PSAT you know how efficient the pump is and whether or not you should write a pump efficiency AR
3. here are some common recommendations for pump efficiency AR

## Install Controls/Turn off Pump AR

1. Identify any time when the pump(s) may be running that they may not be needed. This might be a pump running continuously when it is only needed for certain parts of batch processes. It also might be a pump running all the time when it is only needed during certain operating hours. 2. Determine if the pump can just be turned off by plant personnel of if some control system needs to be installed.
* Plants where the pump can be turned off overnight or on weekends can be turned off by personnel
* Plants were the pump only needs to run for a fraction of each batch process would benefit from a control system being installed to turn off the pump.
3. Calculate the electricity being used by the pump when it is not needed to operate. From this and the incremental cost of electricity you can find the cost of operating the pump when it is not needed. This is you cost savings. 4. If this is a pump that can just be turned off by plant personnel you are done. There is no cost to just having plant personnel turn off the pump when it is not needed. 5. For pumps where some control system needs to be installed you need to calculate the cost of installing the control system.
* First you need an estimate of how much the control system for this plant will cost. You will also probably need soft starts on the pumps so that they can be stopped and started without straining the motors.
* Next you need to estimate how much time it will take an electrician to wire in the new control system and how mush they will charge.
* Now you can add up all the costs and complete the AR.