Assessing and upgrading infrastructure at Malta Dairy to achieve higher efficiency and lower carbon footprint

Abstract

The EU Directive on energy efficiency 2012/27/EU aims at creating a low carbon economy and binds all member states to actuate a National Energy Efficiency Plan, aiming at increasing energy efficiency throughout all stages in the supply chain; from the generation to the final consumption. This dissertation delves into the current practices in the Malta Dairy and identifies areas of immediate savings in fuel or electricity. In practice, the initiatives described here are applicable to the main industries in Malta and the savings achieved in the dairy can be translated to other sectors in the industry that operate similar equipment, thus contributing towards the goals of the energy efficiency directive. The reader shall find a number of renovations that have been carried out in the plant facilities and the potential savings obtained. The areas that have been analysed are categorised into a number of chapters. Chapter 2 provides a breakdown of the energy consumption in the dairy. Chapter 3 provides detailed analysis in reducing energy consumed by the refrigeration equipment, which accounts for 40% of the total energy demand at the dairy. In Chapter 4 savings were achieved upon overhauling or upgrading the existing boilers and pneumatic systems, while Chapter 5 describes a number of initiatives adopted to further reduce electrical energy consumption, such as power factor correction, lighting and solar photovoltaics. Chapter 6 delves into potential technologies that are being pursued by the dairy to increase energy efficiency. It describes methods to produce methane from whey and the ability to recover heat from the refrigeration condenser units. All in all, the savings achieved were 1,480,625 kVA or 31% of the actual energy consumed in 2016. Fuel consumption decreased by an equivalent of 693,985 kVA or 14% of the fuel used in the previous year. The corresponding CO2 savings from the projects is 939 tonnes.