Steam System Optimization Program (SSOP
®) is a sustainable asset management program that continuously optimizes the performance of the entire steam system through visualization. SSOP
® consists of optimizing all condensate discharge locations (Best Practice of Steam Trap Management, BPSTM
®) and optimizing all steam applications and the entire steam system (CES
® Survey).
CES
® Survey identifies the potential from reducing the overall plant energy consumption, analyzes the balance between steam and electricity using Steam System Balance Simulator which is developed by TLV, proposes the potential improvement for each opportunity, and identifies risks in the steam system. Optimization through the CES
® Survey progresses in the following four steps. 1st:consultation and on-site survey, 2nd:identifying and tailoring the potential solutions, 3rd:engineering and design, 4th:confirmation of the improvement effect. This survey puts importance on the investment profitability of each opportunity. On average, 69% of the opportunities proposed have a payback period of less than two years.
5 example proposals made for paper industry plants are shown in this paper. The first example is the reduction of vented steam from the deaerator. The vent valve is sometimes not adjusted according to the steam production rate. If the vented steam flow is larger than the appropriate amount, adjusting the valve can reduce energy loss without requiring any investment costs.
The second example is for flash steam recovery from a boiler blow-down. Boilers in the paper industry generate a lot of high pressure steam. This means that there is a huge heat loss if blow-down water is not utilized. In this example, the solution was a flash vessel to recover flash steam from blow-down water as low pressure steam.
The third example is for flash steam recovery from a digester which uses a lot of high pressure steam. The steam condensate is usually recovered to the boiler, however flash steam is not utilized. In this example, flash steam is recovered to heat water using a heat exchanger that is open to the atmosphere. Using this specific heat exchanger, no additional back pressure is exerted on the digester. This is an important point when designing heat recovery systems.
The fourth example optimizes heat recovery in the drainage system of a paper machine. There are significant heat losses in the condenser due to the flash steam amount exceeding the demand. This example proposes using an ejector to recover additional flash steam and reduce heat loss to the cooling water.
The last example is the self-circulating system for a Yankee dryer. A Yankee dryer is one of the steam applications where condensate can be difficult to be discharged. The user had opened the bypass valve of the steam trap to discharge condensate, resulting in steam losses. In this example, the introduction of the self-circulating system has allowed the user to keep the bypass valve closed during production.
View full abstract