Plantwide Energy Assessment of a Sugarcane Farming and Processing Facility

A plantwide energy assessment was performed at Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., an integrated sugarcane farming and processing facility on the island of Maui in the State of Hawaii. There were four main tasks performed for the plantwide energy assessment: 1) pump energy assessment in both field and factory operations, 2) steam generation assessment in the power production operations, 3) steam distribution assessment in the sugar manufacturing operation, and 4) electric power distribution assessment of the company system grid. The energy savings identified in each of these tasks were summarized in terms of fuel savings, electricity savings, or opportunity revenue that potentially exists mostly from increased electric power sales to the local electric utility. The results of this investigation revealed eight energy saving projects that can be implemented at HC&S. These eight projects were determined to have potential for $1.5 million in annual fuel savings or 22,337 MWh equivalent annual electricity savings. Most of the savings were derived from pump efficiency improvements and steam efficiency improvements both in generation and distribution. If all the energy saving projects were implemented and the energy savings were realized as less fuel consumed, there would be corresponding reductions in regulated air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions from supplemental coal fuel. As HC&S is already a significant user of renewable biomass fuel for its operations, the projected reductions in air pollutants and emissions will not be as great compared to using only coal fuel for example. A classification of implementation priority into operations was performed for the identified energy saving projects based on payback period and ease of implementation