What does fabric temperature control on a stenter save in fuel and power?

17.21 t of pet coke and 18,150 kWh a year in BEE's Pali report, roughly 5% of each, but only if the stenter runs 5% faster and for fewer hours. Cost Rs 2.20 lakh, saving Rs 2.13 lakh, payback about a year at 2010 prices.

Where the saving comes from

None of the audited stenters controlled residual moisture, exhaust humidity, fabric temperature or dwell time; operators set them by estimate. A fabric temperature control lets the machine run as fast as the fabric allows. The supplier claims at least 5% more speed, 60 to 63 m a minute, over 22 hours a day for 300 days.

The arithmetic

• Output: 79,200 m a day becomes 83,160 m.
• Power: 55 kW x 22 hours = 1,210 kWh a day; 5% is 60.5 kWh, or 18,150 kWh a year x Rs 4.60 = Rs 0.83 lakh.
• Heat: 300,000 kcal an hour at 70% and 8,200 kcal a kg = 52.2 kg of coke an hour; 5% over 6,600 hours = 17.2 t x Rs 7,500 = Rs 1.29 lakh.
• Rs 2.12 lakh against Rs 2.20 lakh: 1.04 years. Six days of downtime.

Read the claim carefully

• The 5% speed gain is the supplier's claim, not a BEE measurement. Ask for a trial on your own quality.
• Running 5% faster cuts energy per metre by 4.8%, not 5%.
• If you fill the time with more orders, your total coke and power bills do not fall; your coke and power per metre do. That per-metre figure is what a buyer's carbon questionnaire asks for.

Per metre of fabric

• Coke: 52.2 kg / 3,600 m an hour = 14.5 g a metre; 13.8 g at 63 m a minute
• Power: 55 kWh / 3,600 m = 15.3 Wh a metre; 14.6 Wh at 63 m a minute
• Yearly, if hours fall: 17.21 t x 3.17 = 54.6 t CO2, plus 18,150 kWh x 0.675 = 12.3 t
• Total about 67 t a year; the report says 63 t

Pet coke at the IPCC 2006 default, 3.17 t CO2 a tonne; grid at CEA's FY 2025-26 factor. Estimates.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads pet coke invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, with CO2 for the power. It has no pet coke factor, so apply 3.17 to the tonnes, then divide by metres processed for the per-metre figure buyers ask for. For a loan on the controls, start with the green loan check.

• Green loan readiness check
• Stenter fuel and CO2 per metre
• Stenter fan speed: kWh saved
• Pet coke emission factor in India
• Stenter waste heat recovery

Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: fabric temperature control in stenter, Pali textile cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, Tables 1.2 and 2.3, CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (FY 2025-26 grid factor)

Last reviewed 2026-11-01. Report figures are from a BEE SME programme project report; costs and paybacks are at the report year's prices. Check today's fuel and power prices and a current quote before you rely on the payback.