Generic tool for screening energy saving potential in pulp and paper industry

Pulp and paper mills contain typically a large number of heating and cooling duties. Due to the complexity, a large number of man hours are needed in evaluating the process and its heat exchanger network to establish energy saving targets. A detailed process simulation model is often needed to provide data for the related analyses, requiring significant resources for data collection and model building. One possible outcome of the analysis is that the process is energy efficient, and the hard effort has been a waste of time and money. With the tool presented it is possible to estimate with reasonable effort and with sufficient data accuracy how well the mill in question operates from the energy targeting point of view. This estimation shows whether there is
a potential for improvement before going into detailed evaluations. The tool is evaluated against a detailed case paper mill model. The tool performed well and the accuracy level was found sufficient.