(Photo Credit: Shannon Global Energy Solutions)(Note: Shannon Global Energy Solutions is a winner of an E+E Leader Top Product of the Year Award for the Shannon Thermal Reusable Blanket Insulation. Shannon Global Energy Solutions director of sales and marketing Joe Lauria presented during the Environment + Energy Leader Awards Summit on July 21. View it here.)
What the Judges Said…
“A disruptive solution for hot water and steam systems that improves equipment performance, reduces landfill waste, and improves environmental conditions for workers. Outstanding.”
Shannon Global Energy Solutions engineers and manufactures machinery insulation products. The Shannon Thermal Blanket Insulation is a specially designed, preengineered reusable insulation system that can capture radiant heat and save energy.
Energy managers install insulation on steam lines to help reduce energy consumption, but workers carrying out routine maintenance often remove and throw away this insulation because it can’t be reused. Most insulation goes on pipes, ignoring complex valves and fittings. The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office advises that maintenance engineers “use removable insulation on components requiring periodic inspections and repair,” Shannon noted. This approach saves millions of BTUh within less than a year while increasing safety and profitability, according to the company.
The EPA says 16% of methane emissions come from landfills, so reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills can help mitigate climate change. Hardcoated insulation gets removed from components during maintenance and then is thrown away. Fiberglass insulation is often tossed when removed or damaged. The Shannon Thermal Blanket, however, is easy to install, remove, and reinstall, the company said. Durable materials allow the insulation blankets to last 15 years or more.
Every blanket is manufactured by computer aided design (CAD) using a library of more than six million files to achieve an exact fit, according to the company. CAD files drive the computer numerical control (CNC) software, which minimizes production errors and increases geometric tolerances well beyond industry standards, Shannon said.
The company reported helping George Mason University save more than $1 million since 2009 with an insulation solution for the university’s heating and cooling system. The university’s campus in Fairfax, Virginia, installed more than 725 custom-engineered reusable blankets on boilers, valves, and pumps in the central heating and cooling plant (CHCP) as well as the valves, fittings, and expansion joints in tunnel vaults, plus the fittings and valves in mechanical rooms.
“By reducing heat loss and energy, we got a payback in under 15 months with each reusable blanket,” said Patrick Buchanan, George Mason University’s energy manager. The university’s CHCP equipment and high temperature hot water components provide a heating capacity of approximately 115,000 MMBtu to more than 145 buildings. Buchanan said that the George Mason facilities’ footprint grew from roughly 3.5 million square feet in 2006 to 9 million square feet in 2019, but the energy costs only rose 20% during that time.
The complete list of E+E Award Winners was announced during the live Awards Summit on July 21, 2020.
