QUANTUM CONSULTING, INC. » Energy

Energy Management

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:44:30 +0000

QUANTUM CONSULTING, INC. has developed a facility performance “toolkit” targeted directly at the needs of the small to medium segment. This “toolkit,” developed over the course of time and substantial investment, will be applied to this Project. The “toolkit” uses stateof- the-art, real-time process modeling, optimization and control technologies, overlaid with a deep understanding of wastewater microbiology. In addition to the toolkit, we provide energy management education for operators that would otherwise not receive it. To be clear similar toolkits are generally out of reach to small and medium
size facilities, primarily due to budgeting constraints.

- Data from the facility sampling is then used for DNA analysis (genetic analysis) and profiling. Our technologies specifically focus on enhancing each facility’s microbiological treatment environment, and the optimization of mechanical aeration energy use. By closely monitoring and controlling system parameters such as dissolved oxygen, pH, oxidation reduction potential and turbidity, We optimize the overall system performance and encourages the activity of bacterial species that require less aeration and are more “efficient” than the biology typically found in a highly aerated
treatment environment.

Energy Saving

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Facilities that are designed for flow rates of 4 million gallons per day, will operate at such rates even if current flow rates are half that. Without accurate monitoring and controls, facilities will consume energy at rate based upon their capacity, not current flow rates. While many facilities have the necessary monitoring and control capabilities to manage their energy consumption, these are generally urban or suburban facilities. These control and monitoring systems are rare in small to medium rural communities – communities that need to operate their facilities for today’s needs, not those in 20 years. To restate, the foundation of this project rests on two primary facts in the wastewater industry, particularly true for small to medium facilities;

•= Facilities are typically designed for a 20 year-life, under “worst case” conditions,
without risk of failure, and
•= These same facilities, particularly small to medium, are designed without significant
process control technologies and therefore are required to pay tomorrow’s O&M costs
today.
These over-engineered facilities lead to excessive energy expenditures in communities that are struggling to balance their budgets. It is our view that the 25 to 75 percent savings achieved by facilities, through our program that modifies facility operation using state-of-the-art monitoring and controls, would be welcomed relief to rural California communities.
The MWRP, quite simply, turns down the use of aeration equipment. Through sophisticated modeling of facility biology, installation of real-time biological data collection equipment, proprietary software modeling, and system controls, the MWRP will cause significant reduction in energy and demand in the rural municipal wastewater sector.

Energy Saving is very important for us.

Quantum Consulting

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:03:56 +0000

Quantum Consulting is focused on providing the highest quality information to the energy industry, assisting them in designing, implementing and evaluating energy efficiency programs. We provide our clients with valuable direct feedback on how well they’re doing in designing programs and products that customers need and want, in delivering programs efficiently and effectively, and in increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
QC’s core competency is market assessment and evaluation. Since our inception, we have been providing the nation’s major utilities with defensible studies, helping them to achieve maximum shareholder earnings. QC’s approach to market assessments and evaluations reflects our belief that the key to enhancing program performance relies on in-depth understanding of the environments in which energy related decisions are made.
QC’s engineering staff brings critical knowledge of the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of energy efficient technologies to support our clients’ program goals. Whether through metering, program design, evaluation or load profiling our engineering simulation models and data analysis yield information that we incorporate into our recommendations for enhancing program activity.

QC’s expertise in load research and load profiling developed over many years enables us to provide effective solutions to shave peak load or shift load demand, meeting your needs.

QC’s wastewater retro-commissioning project is a perfect example of the melding of our service areas. This original project grew out of a process evaluation and technological assessment to become an innovative program in demand reduction.

Quantum’s knowledge of the program environment allows us to make powerful recommendations that create successful, cost-effective programs withstanding regulatory scrutiny.

Wastewater Retrocommissioning

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:59:02 +0000

Quantum Consulting and its technology partner, BacGen Technologies, are currently implementing two optimization or ‘retro-commissioning’ programs for municipal wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) in California. The goal of these programs is to achieve significant energy savings and demand reduction at these facilities. In general, WWTF ‘retro-commissioning’ is fairly simple and is predicated on two points:

Municipal WWTFs are generally over-engineered (i.e. use too much aeration, and therefore too much energy).
With proper monitoring equipment, aeration equipment can be cycled to achieve significant demand reduction and energy savings without compromising system integrity or jeopardizing permit compliance.

The Cross-Cutting Demand Reduction Program, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and funded through Public Purpose Funds, serves municipal WWTFs in PG&E service territory. In Phase I of this program, the Quantum Consulting and BacGen Technologies (QC/BGT) Team will save a total of 3,423 MWh (and 540 kW) annually in four municipal facilities. Phase II of this program will add an additional ten facilities, for a total of fourteen (14) municipal WWTFs. On average, the QC/BGT Team expects to save 855,750 kWh and 135 kW per Phase I facility. Implementation of Phase I should be complete by December 31, 2001. Phase II of this program will follow, and should be fully implemented by March 31, 2002. The QC/BGT Team is also currently conducting the Innovative Peak Load Reduction Program, sponsored by the California Energy Commission (CEC). As part of this program, twenty (20) municipal WWTFs throughout California will receive fully-funded retro-commissioning services, and an additional one hundred (100) facilities will receive technical training and assistance. The QC/BGT Team expects to achieve a total of 6 MW of peak demand reduction through this program.

These programs take advantage of new technologies to better manage WWTF aeration delivery systems. The BacGen Technologies “tool kit” reduces the amount of aeration required through state-of-the-art, real-time process modeling and optimization. By closely monitoring and controlling key system parameters, BacGen Technologies optimizes the overall system performance. Proprietary instrumentation is installed in each wastewater system to collect real-time, cross-parameter performance data. This data is then transmitted to BacGen Technologies for analysis using internally developed modeling and optimization software. Using results from this analysis, BacGen Technologies may directly or remotely control the facility’s treatment processes to maintain permit compliance while minimizing aeration energy use. BacGen consults with a “peer review team” of world-class industry experts to continually validate its technical approaches and methodologies.

The QC/BGT Team looks forward to discussing our energy and demand reduction services with other facilities in California and beyond.

Program Design

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:19:10 +0000

Our experts have assisted numerous utilities and program administrators in designing and planning energy-efficiency and demand-response programs throughout North America. Our best practice program designs have resulted in design enhancements that substantially increased the productivity and cost effectiveness of programs. We have, for example, performed multi-year, multi-million dollar market and technology assessment activities that have led to the design and planning of successful residential and commercial sector programs and assisted in the design of industrial customer programs. You can see at our site energy-efficiency best practices, to see how we established a comprehensive structure for assessing and communicating best practices to help meets todays complex program design challenges.

Impact and Market Effects Evaluation

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:59:07 +0000

QC’s comprehensive impact evaluations provide our clients with accurate, timely estimates of energy (kWh and therms) and demand (kW) savings associated with their energy-efficiency and demand response programs. Our staff has evaluated hundreds of energy-efficiency and demand-response programs within California, the Northwest, New England, Florida, Hawaii, and beyond. Our measurements are widely recognized as being valid and valuable. Many of QC’s impact evaluations for our California clients were required as part of their Annual Earnings Assessment Proceedings (AEAP), and their earning mechanism was based entirely on the results of these studies. QC’s findings were closely scrutinized by contractors that were hired by the California Public Utility Commissions Office of Ratepayer Advocates and found to be of the highest quality in California.

Process Evaluation

Our process evaluations help refine program delivery procedures and make them more effective and efficient. Clients use our process evaluation results to reduce the cost of fielding new and existing products and services; to redesign internal processes, increasing staff productivity and job satisfaction; and most importantly, to increase customer satisfaction and market penetration.