However, we should not despair: the good news is that there exist a number of solutions to get out of the problem by burning fuel efficiently and implementing energy saving concepts whereby significant saving potentials exist. Plants are able to save up to 60% – 70% of their fuel bills by implementing these concepts. It should not be a surprise that this is already happening in Mauritius too but unfortunately only to a few.

These energy concepts are very simple and they do not involve re-inventing the wheel. The basic principle lies in the fact that any hot surface, any hot liquid or hot gas possesses energy potential, which can be tapped and re-utilised. We are crossing these waste scenes almost daily on our way to work, to school or wherever. These are the hot gases that are coming out from chimneys – we don’t see them but we can imagine their existence by looking at the chimneys from textile or food processing plants. These gases are going into the atmosphere at temperatures varying from 150°C to 250°C. Being waste products, these gases unfortunately have to be dumped into the atmosphere, however, their high energy content can be used to heat water or air, which plants are consuming in their processes.

Similarly, textile and food processing plants are dumping their hot effluents at temperatures of 60°C to 70°C into the sewer without realising their energy value. Although they are waste products, their heat contents are very valuable sources of energy which we should not allow to go to waste.

By applying the appropriate engineering principles and selecting the right equipment, this energy from waste can be recovered by cooling the hot effluent down to 40°C while it is heating up fresh water at the same time. This is called the application of heat exchangers.

<B>Investment for tagible benefits</B>

By implementing this principle, manufacturing plants will burn less fuel for the same amount of production output. The minimum possible saving is 10% of the fuel bill by the use of very simple measures and, with some elaborate application, it is possible to save up to 60% of the fuel bill.

Let us consider a plant that is burning 10,000 litres of fuel per day at the cost of Rs 13.40/l. It is spending Rs 134,000 per day on fuel, which means some Rs 40 M per year. Now, if the same plant implements energy cutting concepts of, say, 25% of its fuel consumption, it is saving Rs 10 M per year. This sum means a lot for that plant. It can used for further expansion or even for employee welfare.

Obviously some investment is involved in these applications but payback periods are usually just a few months or at the most a year and a half for more elaborate options.

It is extremely important that chief executives realise and accept that these concepts are real and do bring in benefits that are tangible. In turn, they are the ones to initiate and drive their engineers to implement these projects. Then only success is expected.

Our small island is a very vulnerable and we all know its present economic state. The effect of fuel price hikes can only be fatal in many cases. Another direct implication of burning less fuel is less pollution. If a plant is burning 60% less fuel, it means it is releasing 60% less pollutants into the atmosphere. Here is one more contribution to a greener world. We need to wake up and think out of the box…

<B>Soorianan NARSIAH [email protected]</B>