DOE Energy Assessment Helps Goodyear Tire Plant Save $875,000 in Less Than 3 Months

May 8, 2008

When the Goodyear tire plant in Union City, Tennessee, participated in a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Save Energy Now energy assessment, plant managers were aware of potential energy savings measures but were unsure of the costs of implementation. DOE Energy Expert Don Schmidt, of Geos LLC, identified two energy savings opportunities that cost the plant $180,000 to implement, and resulted in annual cost and energy savings of $875,000 and 93,000 MMBtu in natural gas, respectively¾a simple payback of 2.5 months.  

Schmidt used DOE’s Steam System Assessment Tool (SSAT) software to calculate the implementation costs for three recommendations that would yield the highest energy savings and still fit Goodyear’s corporate parameters for energy efficiency expenditures. Goodyear quickly implemented the first two recommendations by optimizing their boiler operation and load management strategies, and insulating tire presses. The plant intends to implement Schmidt’s third recommendation, the recovery of process waste heat, in the future.  

“The Goodyear Union City plant had an energy conservation program active at the time of the audit,” said Dennis Burden, Mechanical Engineer for Goodyear. “But the DOE audit helped to refocus our efforts and identify issues that would be better moved to the top of our task list.”  

To learn more about the Goodyear tire plant assessment, including energy savings recommendations that can be applied to your plant, read the full case study (PDF 711 KB). Download Adobe Reader.  

Start saving energy in your plant and apply today for a Save Energy Now energy assessment. If you already participated in an assessment, be sure to implement the recommendations and complete an assessment report with your DOE Energy Expert.