Good energy management promotes climate protection, helps conserve resources and makes good economic sense. Longcliffe has set targets for the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions and we aim to reduce our use of fossil fuels in our operations, primarily production and transport, through energy efficiency and seeking alternative, renewable energy sources.
Energy Efficiency
The energy we use in the processing of our limestone and dolomite products is the largest contributor to our overall carbon footprint making it a key priority in our environmental agenda. We are constantly upgrading plant and machinery and energy efficiency is a key consideration in our planning and investment programme. Our ISO 50001 certificate for energy management forms part of our Integrated Management System (IMS) and recognises that we have a robust system to manage and reduce our energy consumption.
Energy Efficiency – Electricity
There are many established ways of making electrical plants as energy efficient as possible. We employ the following methods:
- Ordering the highest rating of energy efficient motors, (IE3 or IE4) and employing inverters to minimise energy by controlling motor speed.
- Installing power factor correction equipment to bring the power factor as close as practically possible to unity.
- Using sensors to turn of plant when not in use, using LED lighting wherever possible and PIR intelligent lighting controls.
- Employing appropriately sized and variable speed air compressors to avoid wasting power.
Energy Efficiency – Gas
Natural gas is the energy of choice to dry limestone powders as. its purity ensures that our products for animal feeds are not contaminated by the fumes from burning liquid fuels. In burning gas, the following energy efficiency measures are employed:
- Longcliffe uses fluid bed rather than rotary dryers, the efficiency is 10 – 20% better.
- All limestone for drying is stored in silos to minimise moisture content.
- Gas usage is minimised by automatically linking gas flow in to the temperature of the emission gas. The latter will rise and fall with the moisture content of the limestone being dried.
- PLC controlled burners are regularly maintained.