Eficiencia energética en la industria de lácteos San Antonio de la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

This work was conducted in “Lacteos San Antonio”, located in Cuenca, Azuay. High energy consumption and lack of programs of energy efficiency have been identified that increase the production costs of this company. Therefore, the objective of the study was twofold:a) to analyze the performance of thermal and electrical equipment and to promote abetter use of the energy resources, and b) to adopttechnical and organizational strategies as a path to save energy intending to reduce production costs in the company. The work has been based on methods and computations specified by the “TextoUnificado de LegislaciónAmbientalSecundaria”, in the case of the analysis of gases, and the Regulation CONELEC004/01, in the case of the analysis of electricity consumption analysis. Suggestions and opinions of technicians working in the company, as well as researchers involved in the topic of energy efficiency and management have also been considered as an input to conduct the study. The results of the study showed low efficiency on the refrigerating and the steam generation systems. The boilers work with air in excess, which is one of the factors that affect the efficiency of the boilers. Moreover, low power factor and penalties have been identified. These problems can be partially solved with a better adjustment of refrigeration and steam equipments, technology changes in the gas compressor and the operation of control systems (e.g. the condenser bank), identifying points where energy improvements are required to achieve tangible benefits such as reduced energy consumption up to 3%, with relatively low investment (e.g. in the order of US$5000). Some recommendations and suggestions that can be introduced in the short and medium term in the companyare presented at the end of the work. These intend to contribute with strategies to help LácteosSan Antonio to keep its position in the region and be a leader in energy management at a nationwide level.