Britta Frank, market sector manager for KSB, insists the need for saving energy in terms of cost and resources is as important now as it ever was – more so in fact – and use of life cycle costing (LCC) as one method to evaluate the true costs and hence savings, is coming more and more to the fore
IT is too easy to take the false economy route with initial cost being the only factor considered when making a decision on purchase of capital equipment such as pumps.

But while life cycle costing has become a familiar term what is it exactly and what does it involve?

LCC is the total cost of investment, installation, energy, operation, maintenance, downtimes, environment and decommissioning and disposal.

By breaking down and examining each element, it is possible to obtain a clearer picture of how LCC applies to purchase and day- to-day operation of pumps.

Initial capital cost of equipment does not only cover the purchase price of a pump. Other costs include any required design drawings and meeting specific regulatory issues along with any costs incurred by participating in the bid process. Testing and inspection, plus auxiliary and monitoring equipment cost, also need to be included.

Use of LCC can also have a significant impact on installation and commissioning or start-up costs. Careful selection of items including close coupled pumps, integrated solutions (such as frequency inverters), elimination of cooling circuits, seal-less or gland-less pumps as well as the service agreement also have an effect.

However, the subject specifiers and operational personnel will be most concerned with is energy cost and there are many aspects here which require careful consideration. It is a key issue, particularly within the EU, because of the effect on three main objectives of energy policy - safeguarding energy supplies, improving competitiveness and protecting the environment.

System design and verification of existing operations will provide the platform from which to develop reduction in energy costs. Speed control through use of variable speed drive (VSD) pumps has been around for a number of years and the technology has been tried and tested in many kinds of applications but further improvements continue to provide benefits for the end user. These include electronic controls which ensure performance is continuously matched to variations in operational conditions. Reductions in energy consumption by up to 50% can be achieved which, in turn,provides very fast pay back on the capital cost.

An additional tool is that of effective supervision and monitoring of the equipment within the overall system. Rather than simply being an individual piece of equipment operating independently, a recent improvement in VSD pump technology is the ability to interface with other building management equipment such as remote interrogation and diagnostic devices.

Regularly checking energy consumption of auxiliary equipment and changing the size of a pump or even the diameter of an impeller will have an effect on energy levels as can upgrading or retrofitting equipment.

Along with energy, maintenance and repair costs will inevitably be high on the LCC list and includes meantime between failure and meantime between maintenance which relates to time lost. Whether or not the equipment can be fixed on site, time involved in dismantling and reassembly, transport and cleaning should also be considered.

Measurement and control systems which can co-ordinate several pumps can also increase reliability and keep operating costs down. Along with labour and supervision costs, it is possible to control operational spend by monitoring how a system is functioning and regularly measuring items such as shock-pulse signature, temperature, noise, energy input, flow rate and pressure.

Downtime and loss of production time in manufacturing situations can often outweigh other cost elements.

Long periods of downtime can have a significant impact or can even result in hazardous situations in a business.



The final element for consideration is the environmental cost where waste disposal and any possible contamination of the fluid pumped needs to be calculated and considered as part of the overall picture.

Rather than simply treating LCC as an exact mathematical equation, by carefully evaluating each individual element it is possible to enable the estimation of all relevant costs.

By agreeing a base format for the measurement of LCC direct comparisons can be made providing the assumptions on various costs, running times and frequency of maintenance are applied equally.

Of course these elements will vary depending on the individual requirements and it is important to get the right product for the particular need. For example, a pump with a longer frequency between service intervals but with lower efficiency may provide greater savings overall to the customer who has high downtime costs.

It is no wonder when considering that depending on the type of pump and the application, the energy cost can account for up to 80% of the life cycle cost, which is why more and more energy managers are embracing LCC as a valuable tool.