Alcoa – Plant City Operations Plant-Wide Energy Assessment

Alcoa conducted an energy assessment of its Engineered Products aluminum extrusion facility in Plant City, Florida, to identify energy conservation opportunities throughout the plant and to prepare a report as an example for performing energy assessments at similar Alcoa facilities. Opportunities for saving electricity were identified in an energy awareness program; lighting; compressed air systems; pumping systems; electrical systems; drives; and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Corresponding opportunities for saving natural gas involved making changes to the combustion system and modifying the way the system is
operated. The assessment team found that replacing the burners on the melting furnaces with more efficient burners would decrease annual natural gas consumption of these furnaces by 30% to 40%. Other suggested changes to the combustion system would save an additional 100,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu) of natural gas per year.

If implemented, the cost of energy for the plant would be reduced by more than $800,000 per year by conserving 3 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 150,000 MMBtu of natural gas. Achieving this level of savings will require process improvements, modifications to operating
procedures, changes in maintenance practices, and capital expenditures. Conserving energy will also increase capacity, improve product quality, increase profitability, reduce environmental emissions, and enhance corporate competitiveness.

Read the complete assessment online.