What does an efficient cooler water pump save in an Odisha sponge iron plant?
In the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Orissa report, swapping a 20 horsepower cooler water pump at 41% efficiency for one at 68.5% saves 7,603 kilowatt hours a year, Rs 0.27 lakh, for Rs 0.70 lakh, payback 2.57 years. The 2.11 kilowatt saving sets a measured old draw against a calculated new one.
The pump in the report
- Two pumps serve each cooler and one runs about 12 hours a day. A pump draws 15 kilowatts (kW) and measured 35 to 45% efficient on hot, dirty water.
- Three typical 100 tonnes a day units used 51,769 to 54,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) a year on this pump. The report works on 12 hours a day for 300 days, 54,000 kWh.
- The new pump: 60 metres head, rated 68.5% efficient. Cost Rs 0.70 lakh; the report allows seven days to fit it.
How the 2.11 kilowatts is reached
The old pump's 15.00 kW is a measured draw. The new pump's 12.89 kW is calculated: water power of 8.83 kW (54 cubic metres an hour, which is 15 litres a second, at 60 metres head) divided by 0.685. The saving is 15.00 less 12.89 = 2.11 kW, or 7,603 kWh over 3,600 hours.
That sets a measured figure against a calculated one. A measured 15 kW against 8.83 kW of water power implies the old pump is about 59% efficient, not the 41% the report quotes. The report's own annexure puts the old pump's input at 21.44 kW (at 41.18%), so a like for like saving is 21.44 less 12.89 = 8.55 kW. Metering the pump would settle which is right.
Where this sits in the plant's carbon
The report puts electricity at 2 to 3% of the plant's energy, the rest being coal. A cooler pump saving is a bill item, not a carbon lever: 7,603 kWh at the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) factor of 0.675 for financial year 2025-26 is 5.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Three ways to read the saving (estimate)
- Water power: 9.81 x 0.015 x 60 = 8.83 kW
- Report: old draw 15.00 kW measured, new draw 8.83 / 0.685 = 12.89 kW calculated; 2.11 kW x 3,600 hours = 7,596 kWh (it states 7,603); x Rs 3.60 = Rs 27,371
- Measured 15 kW against 8.83 kW of water power: about 59% efficient
- Like for like at 41%: 8.83 / 0.41 = 21.53 kW; less 12.89 = 8.64 kW, about 31,100 kWh a year
Report figures from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Orissa sponge iron cluster project report. The alternative lines are arithmetic on the report's own numbers, not measurements.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads electricity bills into monthly kilowatt hours (kWh) and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), so a pump change shows against the same months before it. A pump is not metered on its own bill, so the saving is read from the whole plant bill. The green loan check shows what a lender asks for.
- Green loan readiness check
- Raw material preheating in an Odisha sponge iron kiln
- Sponge iron kiln fuel economizer
- Odisha sponge iron cluster: coal and carbon
Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient water pump for cooler main drive (20 HP), Orissa sponge iron cluster (SAMEEEKSHA), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector
Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Report figures are from a Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) programme project report; costs and paybacks are at the report year's prices. Check today's prices and a current quote before you rely on the payback.