Assessment Overview-

Pharmaceuticals

Manufacturer


A team of students & faculty from the

IAC at the University of Delaware performed an industrial assessment at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals’ Newark, DE Supply Site. The assessment was sponsored by the Department of Energy and was led by Center Director Dr. Keith Goossen, a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. On March 26th, 2010 the IAC team employed a comprehensive assessment methodology that considered energy, waste, & process-related improvements. The team examined all large energy-consuming equipment &systems for potential savings. They compiled a waste inventory & investigated the potential for waste reduction or improved disposal/recycling methods. The team also examined manufacturing processes for potential improvements, & emerging technologies were assessed for potential contributions to efficiency improvements.


Summary

Through the Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) located at University of Delaware, a pharmaceutical manufacturer was able to realize a 12.8% reduction in electricity and 26.9% in natural gas, resulting in a 17.4% overall utility cost reduction.

Company Background

AstraZeneca’s plant in Newark, DE, is a 612,200 ft2 facility that produces large volumes of pharmaceutical products each year. At the time of the assessment, the plant consumed about 35,762,484 kWh and 187,861 MMBTU of natural gas per year. Existing plant Best Energy Practices included updated lighting, VFDs installation for most motors, insulated structures and input from a sustainability team.


Recommendations Implemented

The table below summarizes specific

recommendations that were made

during the assessment and were

implemented or will be implemented

in the near future. These projections of savings & capital costs identified during the assessment have been established through engineering analyses and research. As a result, eleven recommendations were implemented by the company and are listed below.

Not Implemented

It was recommended to adjust the speed of the desiccant wheel (that dehumidifies the plant) to minimize steam consumption, and in principle save 14,300 MMBTU/year natural gas, but the wheel speed as not able to be varied.

Points of Interest

Relaxing HVAC set points during the weekends, and implementing lighting controls, saved the company ~ $0.5 MM/year. Furthermore, this plant also saw significant gains in optimizing boiler efficiency and operation. Installing O2 trim, eliminating low-load operation, and returning condensate saved the plant 32,572 MMBtu and $328,000 per year.

Implemented Recommendations