• Maintain condensers for proper heat exchange. A 5^oC decrease in evaporator temperature increases the specific power consumption by 15%.

• Utilise waste heat of excess steam or flue gases to change over from gas compression systems to absorption chilling systems and save energy costs in the range of 50-70%.

• The compressor of the central air conditioner should be located in a cool, shaded place outside.

• The air conditioning unit must be inspected, cleaned and tuned by a professional every two or three years to keep it going longer and to using less electricity. If the refrigerant needs to be recharged, make sure it is done correctly. If it is overcharged, it would reduce operating efficiency and could damage the unit. If it is undercharged it would also use energy less efficiently.

• The duct system should be properly sealed. This could save 10 percent to 15 percent of the electricity into air conditioner. 

 Thermal Energy - General :

• Undertake regular energy audits.

• Plug all oil leakage as leakage of one drop of oil per second amounts to a loss of over 2000 litres / year.

• Filter oil in stages. Impurities in oil affect combustion.

• Pre-heat oil. For proper combustion, oil should be at right viscosity t the burner tip. Provide adequate Pre-heat capacity.

• Incomplete combustion leads to wastage of fuel. Observe the colour of smoke emitted from chimney. Black smoke indicates improper combustion and fuel wastage. White smoke indicates excess air and hence loss of heat. Hazy brown smoke indicates proper combustion.

• Use of low air pressure "film burner" helps save oil upto 15% in furnaces.

• The maintenance in plant should follow the "zero leak" philosophy, particularly in the areas of steam and utilities so that loss of energy could be totally eliminated.

Boilers :

• All possible attention should be paid to control excess air by monitoring oxygen level in the flue gas and also by visual inspection of flame colour.

• Remove soot deposits when flue gas temperature rises 40^oC. A coating of 3mm thick soot on the heat transfer surface can cause an increase in fuel consumption of as such as 2.5%.

• Soot blowers can always be maintained in perfect working condition so that their regular and periodic use does not suffer.

• Recover heat from steam condensate. For every 6^oC rise in boiler feed water temperature through condensate return, there is 1% saving in fuel.

• Improve boiler efficiency. Boilers should be monitored for flue gas losses, radiation losses, incomplete combustion, blow down losses, excess air etc. Proper control can decrease the consumption upto 20%.

• Use only treated water in boilers. A scale formation of 1mm thickness on the waterside increases fuel consumption by 5-8%.

• Stop steam leakage. Steam leakage from a 3mm diameter hole on a pipeline carrying steam at 7kg/cm2 would waste 32 kl of fuel oil per year amounting to a loss of Rs. 3 lakh.

• Maintain steam pipe insulation. It has been estimated that a bare steam pipe, 150mm in diameter and 100m in length, carrying saturated steam at 8 kg/cm2 would waste 25 kl of furnace oil in a year amounting to an annual loss of  Rs. 2.5 lakh.

Furnace :

• Recover and utilize waste heat from furnace flue gases for preheating of combustion air. Every 21^oC rise in combustion air temperature results in 1% fuel oil savings.

• Control excess air in furnaces. A 10% drop in excess air amounts to 1% saving of fuel in furnaces. For an annual consumption of 3000kl of furnace oil means a saving of Rs. 3 lakhs. (cost of furnace oil Rs. 10 per liter)

• Reduce heat losses through furnace openings. Observations show that a furnace operating at a temperature of 100^oC having an open door (1500mm x 750mm) results in a fuel loss of 10 lit/hr. For a 4000 hrs furnace operation, this translates into a loss of approx. Rs. 4 lakhs per year.

• Improve insulation if the surface temperature exceeds 20^oC above ambient. Studies have revealed that heat loss from a furnace wall 115mm thick at 650^oC amounting to 2650 kcal/m2/hr can be out down to 850 kcal/m2/hr by using 65mm thick insulation on the 115 mm wall.