Is it worth replacing a 10 to 15 horsepower (hp) cooling tower pump in a seafood plant with a multistage pump?

The Veraval profile says old single-stage pumps can be replaced by horizontal multistage monoblock pumps, saving 30 to 50% of pump energy with immediate payback. The plants in the study use 10 to 15 hp monoblock pumps on cooling tower water. The new pump can have a lower motor rating for the same head and flow.

What the profile says

• Old single-stage pumps use more power because the motor is bigger than the flow and pressure need.
• Horizontal multistage monoblock pumps can give 30 to 50% energy savings, with immediate payback.
• All the fisheries plants in the Veraval study use monoblock pumps of 10 to 15 hp for cooling tower water, and these do not last long.
• The replacement can have a lower electric rating for the same head and flow requirement.

How to size your own saving

1. Measure the pump's running kilowatts (kW) with a power meter (or amps, volts and power factor from a clamp meter), or take rated kilowatts if you cannot measure (1 hp is 0.746 kW).
2. Note hours run a year from the plant log.
3. Multiply: kilowatts x hours x 30% and x 50% for the range.
4. Multiply by 0.675 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the financial year (FY) 2025-26 grid.

Where this page stops

The profile does not give the head, flow or hours behind the 30 to 50%, and it does not name a pump make. Treat the range as a screening figure and ask the supplier for the duty point and a guaranteed kilowatt figure. The Kochi reports cover speed drives on condenser water pumps; that is a different fix.

One 15 hp pump at 6,000 hours, FY 2025-26 grid factor (example)

• 15 hp x 0.746 = 11.19 kW; x 6,000 hours = 67,140 kWh at rated power
• 30%: 20,142 kWh, about 13,596 kg CO2. 50%: 33,570 kWh, about 22,660 kg CO2
• A 10 hp pump: 7.46 kW, 44,760 kWh; 30%: 13,428 kWh, about 9,064 kg. 50%: 22,380 kWh, about 15,107 kg

Rated power overstates what the pump draws when it runs below full load, so the real saving is lower. Hours are an example. Use measured readings.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the plant's yearly electricity is easy to follow. Senseible does not meter a single pump, so the pump-level figure needs your own power meter reading.

• Kochi seafood pumps and condensers
• Ice plant condenser water pump, 3 hp
• Veraval seafood cluster: energy and CO2
• Free calculators

Sources: Cluster profile of Veraval seafood processing industries, The Energy and Resources Institute (option vii), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (0.675 kg CO2 per kWh, FY 2025-26)

Last reviewed 2026-11-06. The 30 to 50% range is the profile's own, with no stated basis. Replace with the supplier's guaranteed kilowatts.