Energy efficiency improvement potentials of pulp and paper sector through energy benchmarking and cogeneration

The aim of this study is to benchmark the specific energy consumption (SEC) of similar processes within different paper mills and feasibility studies of different cogeneration options in order to identify the energy improvement potentials of Pakistan’s paper sector. The data collected and discussed here details the variation of 70% of the total energy (electrical and thermal) consumption of the paper industry in Pakistan when compared with the UK and Canada having previously guided the industry down a route of best practice with regard to energy efficiency. It is concluded that Pakistan’s paper sector consumes 1.46 MWh of additional energy on average per each tonne of paper produced compared to the UK and Canada. Considering an annual paper production of 414,365 tonnes, this translates to an additional total average annual energy consumption of 605 GWh. This paper also presents a feasibility study of the implementation of different cogeneration options in existing Pakistan’s paper mills to evaluate their energy saving and economic benefits. The investigated systems in this paper are gas turbine, steam turbine and combined cycle cogeneration options. All options are evaluated and compared based on energy utilisation factor and Annualised Life Cycle Cost (ALCC) analysis to recommend the most suitable CHP systems for each paper mill.