# What does an efficient cooler water pump save in an Odisha sponge iron plant?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/sponge-iron-cooler-water-pump-saving-check

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](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)
- [Raw material preheating in an Odisha sponge iron kiln](https://senseible.earth/answers/odisha-sponge-iron-raw-material-preheating-coal)
- [Sponge iron kiln fuel economizer](https://senseible.earth/answers/sponge-iron-kiln-fuel-economizer-coal-saving)
- [Odisha sponge iron cluster: coal and carbon](https://senseible.earth/answers/odisha-sponge-iron-cluster-coal-kiln-carbon)

Sources: [BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient water pump for cooler main drive (20 HP), Orissa sponge iron cluster (SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/dpr/Orissa_sponge_iron_cluster/EE_water_pump_for_cooler_main_drive20HP.pdf), [CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

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.