Energy Conservation in Palm Oil Mill by Installing Inverters for Motors

Thailand is the third largest palm oil producer, accounting for 3.9% of global palm oil production, approximately 84.6%. Energy Efficiency Plan 2018 (EEP2018) aims to reduce energy consumption (Energy intensity) by 30% in 2037. This study investigates the conversational energy of palm oil mills (POM) by installing motor inverters to save energy and reduce the cost of electricity. The experiment was an energy consumption estimate pre- and post-installation of a motor inverter for Thongmongkol Palm Oil Industry Co., Ltd. That analysis used energy consumption and a payback period. The result was that Thongmongkol Palm Oil Industry Co., Ltd. used energy consumption of 4,923.09-6,364.54 MWh. The factory can generate energy for approximately 99% of the factory and purchases from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) approximately 1%. These are several motors of 229 units, a Power of 2,785.44 kW, and a horsepower of 3,742.97 HP. Station 4 is the primary process of the oil palm mill. Installing the motor inverter decreases the electricity power consumption by 10.43%. It can save energy costs of 51,091.35 Baht/year. Specific energy consumption (SEC) of 0.013 MWh/ton from 0.015-0.20 MWh/ton. It reduced SEC by 13.33-35.00%. The payback period for installing the motor inverter is 3.16 years.