Energy and Carbon Saving Potentials in a Bakery Plant

Abstract

This study investigated the energy consumption and CO2 emission through the production process of a bakery plant. The study is conducted for Turkish pide oval bread products. The production process from the raw materials input to the final bread output is considered for the data collection. The existing energy consumption and CO2 emission scenarios have been evaluated for the production process. Based on the existing scenarios the energy-intensive process has been identified and further analyzed to discover alternative strategies for potential savings. The analysis showed that natural gas is the dominant source of energy in the plant. The proofer and the stone-baked oven are energy-intensive processes that mostly consume steam and direct natural gas. The specific energy consumption and CO2 emission found are 0.73 kWh/kg bread and 275 gm/kg bread respectively. Two alternative strategies such as “solar water heater” and “heat recovery system” have been proposed to reduce the energy consumption within the process. It is found that around 16% and 48% of energy savings are possible using solar water heaters and heat recovery strategies respectively whereas 8% and 25% CO2 emission savings are possible for those strategies respectively. The comparative study showed that the specific energy consumption is a close agreement with the studies conducted in the available literature.

Conclusion

The assessment of energy consumption and CO2 emission throughout the production process of a bakery plant has been conducted in this study. The existing evaluation and alternative strategies for the potential savings are investigated. The result shows that the proofer and stone-baked ovens are energy-intensive processes within the production chain. Natural gas is the dominant energy source found in the bakery plant mostly used for steam generation. Solar water heaters and heat recovery strategies are proposed to reduce energy consumption within the production process. The specific energy consumption and CO2 emission found are 0.73 kWh/kg bread and 275 gm/kg bread respectively. The alternative strategies showed that around 16% and 48% of energy savings are possible using solar water heaters and heat recovery systems respectively whereas 8% and 25% CO2 emission savings are possible for those strategies respectively. The results of this paper will be useful for the production manager, policy maker, designer, and environmental regulatory team to optimize the production chain and to create an environmental benchmark in national and international contexts. Hence, the energy efficiency of the bakery plant can improve through the proposed strategies and contribute to the national and global energy crisis challenge as well.

References