Energy Saving in a Process Plant using a Steam Accumulator

This work was done in a process plant, where the steam demand was mostly steady but sometimes it peaks-up to the double of the average demand for a short period of time. The plant, in addition to a 5000kg/hr boiler, was continuously operating a huge capacity boiler to encounter this brief situation. This was resulting in unnecessary energy loss. As a solution, a steam accumulator was added on and only a lower capacity boiler was run. The short time peak demand of the plant was satisfied by supplying extra steam from the accumulator for a short period of time. By doing so a saving of about RM 300,000/year was achieved.