ENERGY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Furnaces and boilers can be designed for maximum efficiency but it takes a tremendous
effort to operate and sustain efficiency over a long period of time. The following are some
of the sound strategies followed by best-in-class plants:
• management commitment,
• key performance metrics monitoring,
• cross functional discipline commitment, and
• audits against baseline.
Operation is very dynamic, and especially in furnaces there are multiple thermal cycles.
It takes people from various disciplines—operations, maintenance, instrumentation,controls, and inspection, to work as a team, to continuously maintain and operate furnaces
and boilers at the greatest possible efficiency. The American Boiler Manufacturers
Association (ABMA), a nonprofit trade association of manufacturing and design companies
of boilers, provides ample guidance to maintain and operate boilers efficiently.