"Improved controls are helping us achieve our vision of becoming energy self-sufficient." Tata Steel's Andrew Rees explained how the company plans to reduce powerhouse energy consumption by 3% to 5% through better monitoring and optimization of combustion processes.The heart of Emerson's integrated technology platform is its "True BTU" technology, a patent-pending innovation for calculating the actual BTU values of fuel sources, which makes reliable energy production predictable and repeatable. "Our True BTU Combustion Control platform reinvents the current model of combustion management, which has been around since the 1920s and is still in practice today," said Chip Rennie, director of the Industrial Energy Group. "This brings about nothing short of a reinvention of combustion models, which will make the prevalent use of low-cost fuels like biomass achievable and sustainable."
In fact, Tata Steel's plant in Port Talbot, Wales, U.K., recently upgraded the controls on its largest steam boiler using Emerson's new energy-management principles, technologies and services. However, unlike most run-of-the-mill boiler upgrades, these new principles and controls are enabling Tata to increase its energy efficiency, maximize use of waste fuels, cut emissions and reduce its former reliance on purchased fuels.
"The boiler upgrades are helping us make better use of 'indigenous' waste fuels, such as blast furnace gas, BOS gas and coke oven gas, which are byproducts of our manufacturing process," said Andrew Rees, manager of Tata Steel's upgrade project. "The improved controls are part of a comprehensive energy management project that's expected to reduce powerhouse energy consumption by 3% to 5% and help us achieve our vision of becoming energy self-sufficient."
