While monitoring the energy performance of a process plant is important, it may be useless without comparison to a benchmarking reference. Many plants will compare its performance to an international reference or similar sister plant in the same company. It may also be compared to an average of the plant historical performance which may be misleading indication. The plant energy target should consider:
– Plant Capacity
– Feed Specification
– Seasonal Impact on Operation
– Plant Design and Configuration
Therefore, plant energy target should be specific for the plant while comparison to other plants should be used only for ranking purposes.