Pumps

Pumps are estimated to consume 20 to 25 per cent of all industrial electrical energy. Most are designed to operate between 60 to 80 per cent efficiency yet the average actual operational efficiency is less than 45 per cent and some systems run even less than 10 per cent efficiency. Any energy that is not transferred to the fluid is absorbed through vibration and heat which contribute to reducing the performance and reliability of your pump. Manitoba Hydro provides assistance in the analysis of pumping system through Seminars and Scoping Studies:

• Seminars (included as part of basic customer service): Pump basics, efficiency, operating points, variable speed pumping, reliability, and the System Approach are some of the topics covered. A Manitoba Pump Users Conference is also held on a bi-annual basis bringing together all pump users to educate themselves on a variety of topics.
• Scoping studies (included as part of basic customer service): A study completed by Manitoba Hydro that measures the performance and power consumption of a pumping system. This provides an operational benchmark and identifies opportunities for energy savings and performance improvements. Instrumentation is placed on the customer's pumping system to monitor the operating characteristics. The resulting data forms the base-line energy consumption and operating parameters of the system, and identifies energy savings and performance improvement opportunities.

The Scoping Study usually leads to a Feasibility Study that more accurately details the project options, capital costs, energy savings, operational and reliability improvements, and also calculates the Performance Optimization Program incentive that reduces the capital cost of a project. The benefits of reviewing a pumping system may include:

• reduced energy cost;
• increased system performance, reliability and efficiency;
• reduced maintenance and downtime;
• incentives to reduce the capital cost of a project and accelerate payback.

For more information, contact your Energy Services Advisor at 1-204-360-4698.