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18. Energy Smart Program exceeds target at EKATI Diamond Mine
Our EKATI Diamond Mine is located at Lac de Gras, 300 kilometres north-east of Yellowknife and 200 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, in Canada's Northwest Territories. In April 2002, a team of highly motivated volunteers from a variety of departments at the mine formed an Operating Excellence Team on Energy Conservation. They set about tackling the inefficient use of energy at the site. Aiming at saving the equivalent of 500 000 litres of diesel fuel per year, they had reached their goal by October. Not content with their success, the team raised their target to 1 000 000 litres - and achieved it. They call their initiative the Energy Smart Program.
The Operating Excellence Team established that, for every kilowatt hour of power used, 0.25 litres of fuel were consumed in the power house. The goal of 1 000 000 litres of fuel is equivalent to about 12 per cent of the mine's annual power generation consumption.
Taking a strategic approach to their Energy Smart Program, the team tackles the problem on a variety of fronts, including:
- easy wins - such as installing motion sensors on lights and thermostats on heaters
- big savings/more work - modifying power house radiator fans and reusing waste oil
- staff education - conducting Energy Smart presentations to crews
- tax incentives - gaining potential tax savings by reducing use of fossil fuels
- promotion - producing posters and stickers and awarding prizes for ideas
- new projects - incorporating Energy Smart ideas into building designs.
As part of the plan to build an energy-saving culture at the mine, the team invites fellow employees, who number around 700, to contribute ideas. The response has been overwhelming (more than 260 suggestions were received in the first six months). A key factor in the success of the suggestion scheme has been that employees who participate are recognised and rewarded with prizes, such as caps and golf shirts.
The suggestions are reviewed and categorised according to a ‘pay-off’ matrix - the ideas that can provide the biggest return for the least amount of work are implemented first.
Since the Energy Smart Program commenced, initiatives have included:
- installing motion sensors on lights in offices, laundries, lunchrooms and washrooms
- installing thermostat controls to regulate individual room temperatures during unoccupied times
- interlocking heat trace systems so they only become active when water flow stops
- installing dual-flush toilets in washrooms to reduce water consumption
- changing controls to slow down or shut off ventilation systems in areas that are unoccupied at nights
- shutting off fan motors, welders and pumps when they are not required
- installing timers on the electric heaters used on light vehicle engine blocks in the cold months.
The team is also working on a range of other energy-saving projects. For example, there is a surplus of waste oil, which is collected after oil changes on the large mobile fleet. The mine has had to truck the waste oil off-site and pay for its disposal. The conventional diesel-driven furnaces are now being replaced with waste oil furnaces. This will save fuel and do away with the need to transport the waste oil off-site.
Fuel is also consumed to burn garbage on site in six incinerators. The incinerator design is being re-engineered to also use waste oil as a combustion source. This innovative idea has the potential to save over 400 000 litres of fuel per year.
Another idea being investigated is putting controls on the air compressors that feed the underground operations. The controls will shut off the compressors between shifts when they are not required.
The team is also extending the Energy Smart Program to new projects. Energy-saving ideas from the program are forwarded to the engineering groups for consideration, so buildings can be designed to be energy efficient from the start. For example, a new underground office complex is totally heated with waste oil; and an extension to the site camp includes water-saving ideas, such as dual-flush toilets and low-flow showerheads.
With enthusiasm for the program still very much alive and a ‘think Energy Smart’ culture increasingly evident, the Operating Excellence Team at EKATI is confident the achievement of saving 1 000 000 litres of fuel per annum can be maintained.
