NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Frito-Lay North America/NREL 

CRADA

Cooperative Research and Development 

Final Report

CRADA Number: CRD-06-176

NREL Technical Contact: Andy Walker

CRADA Report

NREL/TP-7A10-58095

June 2013
NOTICE

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. 

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Cover Photos: (left to right) photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16416, photo from SunEdison, NREL 17423, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 

16560, photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL 17613, photo by Dean Armstrong, NREL 17436, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 17721.

 Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste. 
1 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

In accordance with Requirements set forth in Article XI.A(3) of the CRADA document, this 

document is the final CRADA report, including a list of Subject Inventions, to be forwarded to 

the Office of Science and Technical Information as part of the commitment to the public to 

demonstrate results of federally funded research.

CRADA Number: CRD-06-176 

CRADA Title: Frito-Lay North America/NREL CRADA

Parties to the Agreement: PepsiCo (aka Frito-Lay)

Joint Work Statement Funding Table showing DOE commitment: 

Estimated Costs NREL Shared Resources

Year 1 $ 00.00 

Year 2 $ 00.00 

Year 3 $ 00.00 

TOTALS $ 00.00 

Abstract of CRADA work: 

Frito Lay North America (FLNA) requires technical assistance for the evaluation and 

implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in production facilities and 

distribution centers across North America. Services provided by NREL do not compete with 

those available in the private sector, but rather provide FLNA with expertise to create 

opportunities for the private sector renewable/efficiency industries and to inform FLNA decision 

making regarding cost-effective projects. Services include: identifying the most cost-effective 

project locations based on renewable energy resource data, utility data, incentives and other 

parameters affecting projects; assistance with feasibility studies; procurement specifications; 

design reviews; and other services to support FNLA in improving resource efficiency at 

facilities. This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) establishes the 

terms and conditions under which FLNA may access capabilities unique to the laboratory and 

required by FLNA. Each subsequent task issued under this umbrella agreement would include a 

scope-of-work, budget, schedule, and provisions for intellectual property specific to that task.
2 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Summary of Research Results: 

1) Renewable Energy Optimization (REO) Screening of seven Frito Lay plants 

This report describes the results of an analysis to determine the combination of renewable energy 

technologies that minimizes the life cycle cost at seven Frito Lay North America (FLNA) 

manufacturing plants. The technologies considered include photovoltaics, wind, solar thermal, 

solar ventilation air preheating, biomass thermal, biomass electric, and daylighting. The FLNA 

plants considered in the study include: Casa Grande Plant, AZ; Frankfort Core Plant, IN; 

Jonesboro Plant, AR; Kern Plant, CA; Modesto Plant, CA; Perry Plant, GA; and Topeka Plant, 

KS. Results indicate that biomass energy could provide steam cost-effectively at many of the 

plants and solar thermal (concentrating solar) is indicated at the plants in California. Wind 

power is indicated in Kansas and PV is indicated in California and Arizona due to local 

incentives. The figure below illustrates how the use of electricity, gas, and coal would be 

replaced by renewable energy sources at each of the plants.

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

Plant #1 Basecase

Plant #1 RE Case

Plant #2 Basecase

Plant #2 RE Case

Plant #3 Basecase

Plant #3 RE Case

Plant #4 BaseCase

Plant #4 RE Case

Plant $5 Basecase

Plant #5 RE Case

Plant #6 Basecase

Plant #6 RE Case

Plant #7 Basecase

Plant #7 RE Case

Annual Energy (Mbtu)

Electric (Mbtu) Natural Gas (Mbtu) Other Fuel (Mbtu)

Photovoltaics (Mbtu) Wind (Mbtu) Solar Vent Preheat (Mbtu)

Solar Themal (Mbtu) Biomass (Mbtu) Daylighting (Mbtu)
3 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

2) Feasibility and Procurement Specs for Modesto Solar Thermal

Frito Lay decided to pursue one of the projects identified in the Renewable Energy Optimization 

task. A solar industrial process heat plant for Frito Lay Modesto, CA, would include: 5,387 m2 

(57,969 sf) of parabolic trough solar collectors; pipe from solar array to unfired steam generator; 

unfired steam generator (USG); hot water heat exchanger (HWHX); pipe from hot water heat 

exchanger back to array field; and associated pumps, bypass piping, and controls. NREL 

prepared a custom computer simulation of the system to predict performance. Results indicate 

that the system would deliver between 3,898 MWh and 4,308 MWh per year (13.3 and 14.7 

billion Btu/year) with an average of 13.8 billion Btu/year. This aligns with previous methods 

described in the Industrial Process Heat Handbook published by NREL. The simulation is able 

to model more detail and inform design recommendations, such as bypassing the steam generator 

and only making hot water on winter days. The following table shows the results of the 

simulation to calculate one-year’s savings. 

MONTH DIRECT 

NORMAL 

RADIAION 

(MBTU)

USG 

ENERGY 

DELIVERY 

(MBTU)

HW HX 

ENERGY 

DELIVERY 

(MBTU)

1 984 1 97

2 1469 11 264

3 2735 295 691

4 3268 554 793

5 4031 987 945

6 4514 1327 961

7 4663 1404 992

8 4388 1178 901

9 3667 841 785

10 3033 426 678

11 1703 32 344

12 1333 0 182

ANNUAL 35788 7056 7633

TOTAL 

ENERGY 

DELIVERY

14689
4 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

3) REO Net Zero Planning for seven plants

This report describes the results of an analysis to determine the combination of renewable energy 

technologies that minimizes the life cycle cost of providing 100% of Frito Lay North America 

(FLNA) manufacturing plants’ energy on an annual basis. The technologies considered include 

photovoltaics, wind, solar thermal, solar ventilation air preheating, biomass thermal, biomass 

electric, and daylighting. The FLNA plants considered in the study include: Casa Grande Plant, 

AZ; Frankfort Core Plant, IN; Jonesboro Plant, AR; Kern Plant, CA; Modesto Plant, CA; Perry 

Plant, GA; and Topeka Plant, KS. Results indicate that biomass, solar ventilation air preheating, 

and daylighting are part of the least-cost mix at all plants, while photovoltaics, wind, and solar 

thermal depend on local resources and incentives. The basecase of continuing to purchase 

electricity, gas, and coal has zero initial cost but high annual cost, while the Net Zero case has 

high initial cost but low annual cost. Over a 25-year analysis period, the life cycle cost of the 

two alternatives is very similar, but the Net Zero case has a slightly higher life cycle cost in all 

seven plants considered, ranging from 3% higher for Jonesboro, AR, to 19% higher for 

Frankfort, IN. The figure below illustrates how the use of electricity, gas, and coal would be 

replaced by renewable energy sources in a Net Zero Plant.

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

Casa Grande Basecase

Casa Grande Net Zero

Frankfort Core Basecase

Frankfort Net Zero

Jonesboro Basecase

Jonesboro Net Zero

Kern BaseCase

Kern Net Zero

Modesto Basecase

Modesto Net Zero

Perry (GA) Basecase

Perry Net Zero

Topeka Basecase

Topeka Net Zero

Annual Energy (Mbtu)

Electric (Mbtu) Natural Gas (Mbtu) Other Fuel (Mbtu)

Photovoltaics (Mbtu) Wind (Mbtu) Solar Vent Preheat (Mbtu)

Solar Themal (Mbtu) Biomass (Mbtu) Daylighting (Mbtu)
5 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

4) Detailed biomass assessment and Net Zero Charrette for Casa Grande, AZ Plant

In further support of the net zero plant project in Casa Grande, Arizona, NREL provided 

consultation on biomass resources and conversion technologies for converting local agricultural 

residue (pecan hulls) into energy for steam and electricity. The following figure shows NREL 

GIS information regarding the locations of pecan hulls in the area of the plant. 
6 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

5) Performance Evaluation of Installed Modesto Solar Thermal Project.

This report describes results of field monitoring and simulation provided by the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory in support of a 54,000 sf solar thermal plant at Frito Lay facility 

Modesto, CA, under Cooperative Research and Development Agreement 06-176. The following 

table presents the results of simulation and field measurements of peak solar field performance. 

While less than the peak delivery of the Design Case (9.6 million Btu/hour), the measured 

(extrapolated from measurement) peak delivery after cleaning and alignment of 8.1 million 

Btu/hour is within the range of performance promised by the supplier (8 million Btu/hour). 

Peak Performance of Solar Collector Field 

Fit 

Label 

Reference Conditions:

Ib = 1000 W/m2

i = 0 deg 

T = 200

o

C 

Peak Modesto 

Conditions: 

Ib = 872 W/m2

i = 13 deg 

T = 200

o

C

Measured Conditions:

Ib = 575 W/m2

i = 45 deg 

T = 90 oC 

(kW) (MBtu/hr) (kW) (MBtu/hr) (kW) (MBtu/hr)

Design 

Case 

(Sandia) 3310

11.3

2810

9.6

1880

6.4

Before 

Cleaning 

and 

Align2 1930

6.6

1610

5.5

1080

3.7

After 

Cleaning 

and 

Align 2810

9.6

2370

8.1

1440

4.9

Annual Energy Delivery is expected to be less than the design case value of 13.7 billion Btu/year 

because of several items listed in the table below. A thermodynamic model of the system 

(hourly simulation) was used to model the effects of each of these differences from the design 

case. Based on the current configuration, annual energy delivery may be estimated at 9.85 

billion Btu/year after cleaning and alignment. 
7 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Annual Performance of Solar Collector Field 

 

Annual Energy Delivery 

(billion Btu/year)

Design Case 13.70

No Hot Water Heat Exchanger (HWHX) 11.79 

Add 90 lb Steam Header 12.76

3840 ft of pipe instead of 2400 ft 11.80

Tracking 67 deg instead of 79 deg. 9.85

Dirt 9% loss instead of 3% loss 8.92

7% loss correctable by alignment 7.61

Subject Inventions Listing: No inventions reported.

Report Date: 3/20/2013 Responsible Technical Contact at Alliance/NREL: Andy Walker

This document contains NO confidential, protectable, or proprietary information.