"Four New ASME Draft Standards Get a Trial Run," M.E. Online Exclusive, October 2008

October 2008

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ME Online Exclusives,
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Four New ASME Draft Standards Get a Trial Run

ASME is developing four new standards involving the assessment of energy efficiency in various process systems and is making the drafts available for trial testing.

The Draft Standards for Trial Use, as they are called, are available from Ryan Crane of ASME at craner@asme.org. The comment period ends on January 19, 2009.

The four draft standards are:

ASME EA-1-2008 – Energy Assessment for Process Heating Systems

ASME EA-2-2008 – Energy Assessment for Pumping Systems

ASME EA-3-2008 – Energy Assessment for Steam Systems

ASME EA-4-2008 – Assessment for Compressed Air

The Draft Standards for Trial Use have been approved by the ASME Codes & Standards’ Industrial System Energy Assessment Standards Committee and Board on Standardization and Testing for use during the comment period.

They are not approved consensus standards of ASME nor are they accepted by the American National Standards Institute as national standards. After the trial period, the appropriate Project Teams will review and revise the draft standards based, in part, upon experience obtained from this trial term and resulting comments. It is intended that these draft standards will be processed for approval as American National Standards subsequent to the consideration of comments from the Draft Standard for Trial Use period.

The standards set the requirements for conducting and reporting the results of a process energy assessment that considers the entire system, from energy inputs to the work performed as the result of these inputs. An assessment meeting each standard need not address every individual system component or specific system within an industrial facility with equal weight; however, it is to be sufficiently comprehensive to identify the major opportunities for improving the overall energy efficiency of the system. The standards are designed to be applied primarily at industrial facilities, but many of the concepts can be used at other facilities, such as those in the institutional and commercial sectors.

The standards set requirements for: 1) organizing and conducting an assessment, 2) analyzing the data from the assessment, and 3) reporting and documenting the findings of the assessment. When contracting for assessment services, plant personnel may use the standard to define and communicate their desired scope of assessment activity to third-party contractors or consultants.

ASME EA-1-2008 – Energy Assessment for Process Heating Systems covers process heating systems that are defined as a group (or a set, or combination) of heating equipment used for heating materials in the production of goods in an industrial plant. These systems, which include furnaces, melters, ovens, and heaters, use fuels, electricity, steam, or other fluids to supply required heat.

ASME EA-2-2008 – Energy Assessment for Pumping Systems covers systems that are defined as one or more pumps and those interacting or interrelating elements that together accomplish the desired work of moving a fluid. A pumping system thus generally includes a pump, driver, drives, distribution piping, valves, controls, instrumentation, and end-use equipment such as heat exchangers, for example. This standard addresses open and closed loop pumping systems typically used in industry, and is also applicable to other installations.

ASME EA-3-2008 – Energy Assessment for Steam Systems covers steam systems that are defined as a system containing steam generator(s) or other steam source(s), a steam distribution network and end-use equipment. Cogeneration and power generation components may also be elements of the system (gas turbines, backpressure steam turbines, condensing steam turbines). If steam condensate is collected and returned, the condensate return subsystem is a part of the steam system.

ASME EA-4-2008 – Assessment for Compressed Air covers compressed air systems which are defined as a group of sub-systems comprised of integrated sets of components, including air compressors, treatment equipment, controls, piping, pneumatic tools, pneumatically powered machinery, and process applications utilizing compressed air. The objective is consistent, reliable, and efficient delivery of energy to manufacturing equipment and processes.

According to Crane, the program to develop the standards began in August 2007 at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program, which had initiated the concept of Superior Energy Performance as a means to encourage improved industrial energy efficiency and environmental performance. The DOE/ITP mission is intended to provide a mechanism to help corporations assign greater value to energy efficiency improvements, independently verify resulting energy savings, receive public recognition for achievements, and “raise the bar” for industrial energy efficiency overall.

As currently envisioned, the program has three ways to participate:

— Save Energy Now Corporate Partners: Voluntary agreements with corporations to reduce their energy intensity by at least 25 percent over 10 years. Corporations would be required to report energy intensity improvements and would receive targeted assistance,

— Save Energy Now Partner Plants: Designed to introduce energy management principles into as many U.S. plants as possible through widespread access to basic educational resources, and

— Certified Plant: Requires compliance with the American National Standard for energy management (developed by Georgia Institute of Technology), which includes development and implementation of an energy management plan to support continuous improvement of energy intensity and independent verification of energy savings. Use of system assessment standards to identify system energy efficiency improvement opportunities will assist plants in meeting their continuous improvement goals. Consultants and engineers seeking to apply these standards will be encouraged to become Certified Practitioners and to have their skills recognized.

ASME has been asked to facilitate this activity and develop the initial system assessment standards as Draft Standards for Trial Use.