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Flir and sustainability in Las Vegas
October 16, 2007
1. Little things mean a lot: At a presentation at Flir’s annual InfraMation event in Las Vegas, there was an interesting presentation on what was called “fugitive emissions” from gas facilities. The infrared thermography can pick up unseen gas leaking from valves and seals. The small leaks weren’t necessarily hazardous (unless you count the unseen leak in a propane line under a wooden floor) but they added up for Conoco Phillips Canada, which made the presentation. They spent $350,000 annually in lost product from the leaks, and the CO2 emissions credits savings doubled their return on the investment to do repairs. Their study also found the leaks were economical to repair in 92% of cases.
2. So where’s the maintenance? The Plant Engineering study, “The Changing Role of the Plant Engineer” can be found in November’s 60th anniversary issue. In light of the item above, one of the most disturbing findings in our study is this: when asked what maintenance plan facilities have, 60% said they don’t have one. Break fix doesn’t work. Let’s try that in capital letters and boldface: BREAK-FIX DOESN’T WORK. Conoco Phillips spent $8,000 per facility to make repairs to stop leaks. Their savings were $16,000 per facility, and that doesn’t count the $9 million in CO2 credits. A maintenance plan saves money.
3. Down the road in Las Vegas… Pack Expo has drawn big crowds to the Las Vegas Convention Center. While packaging may be at the end of your manufacturing process, it’s one of the last places where your product gets touched before your customer gets it. Innovations in packaging mirror those in other industries – sustainable, recyclable packaging captured a lot of attention at the show. Sustainability, as you’ll see on this site and throughout Plant Engineering’s 2008 footprint, is not a buzz word any more. It’s the way business is done.
4. And on that topic: Dave Lunati of Monadnock Paper Mills gave a simple explanation for why his paper mill is 100% sustainable. “We live in a beautiful part of New Hampshire, and we want to keep it that way,” Lunati told an overflow crowd on the topic at Pack Expo. While noting “you cannot sacrifice quality in the name of sustainability,” Lunati quickly made the point that you don’t have to, thanks to changes in product and process in the paper industry. “We do it because it makes good business sense. It’s why our customers do business with us.” For more on Monadnock’s program, go to www.mpm.com. It's a great corporate philosophy.
5. A crazy football season: As a big college football fan, and a big opponent of the way the BCS has the college bowl games sewn up, I am thrilled teams like South Florida, Kentucky, Boston College and Oregon are knocking at the door while USC, LSU, Notre Dame, Michigan and all of the other Florida schools are on the outside. For now. People have been calling them upsets only because it upsets the nice cozy little club everyone’s enjoyed until now. Give the big schools credit for one thing, though. LSU turned in the single best play of the year so far. You gotta love it when teams get to have a little fun on a Saturday afternoon.
Posted by Wolseley on October 16, 2007 | Comments (0)
