Tieep Spring Energy Forum highlights practical efficiency innovations

On May 8, the Texas Industrial Energy Efficiency Program (TIEP) organized its Spring Energy Forum in the oil building of the UH Tech Bridge and brought together energy professionals, engineers and innovators to explore fundamental tactics to improve energy efficiency in industrial environments.

The forum was held in cooperation with UH Energy and with the support of the State Energy Conservation Office (Seco), which reflects the ongoing mission of Tieep to support oil refinement and the chemical sector with scalable and sustainable energy solutions. In view of the energy costs of up to 30% of total operating costs in refineries and chemical systems, the forum focused on intelligent, practical strategies to reduce waste, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.

Grant Jacobson von Becht opened the forum with a detailed view of the company's practical energy rating kit (SUMMIT)An instrument with low capital for the identification of energy efficiency in refinery operations. From a recently carried out case study, it was explained how the maximum frequently occurring problems such as excess steam application and poor system surveillance revealed and how the location used this findings in order to improve the maturity of the energy program within two years.

“Effective energy supply can be carried out practical and on a process unit or technology,” said Jacobson. “Do not let the perfect AI, the platform or the perfect process with clear property and qualified engineers and operators at the plant level and operators can be significantly when improving the energy performance.”

Next, Chris Barnhill, marketing director at Skyven Technologies, presented as a groundbreaking technology that elects steam production with higher efficiency than conventional fossil centers or electrical boilers. Barnhill emphasized the Skyven Arcturus system, which contains and improves waste heat in high pressure, steam in boiler quality. This not only lowers energy consumption, but also offers flexibility for network flexibility for manufacturers.

In order to illustrate practical advantages, Barnhill Arcturus directly compared with conventional systems and shows how much more efficient this technology can be. “Arcturus consumes up to four times less energy than gas and three times less electricity than standard electrocetle to create the same amount of steam,” he said. “This efficiency not only plays the typical cost gap between electricity and natural gas, but also offers considerable operating savings and emission reductions for industrial companies.”

Building on the subject of practical, scalable solutions, the next presentation focused on how data and digital tools can increase energy efficiency in complex industrial systems.

Dr. Angel Lanza, sustainability engineer at Exxonmobil, presented “Enterprise-Wide Energy Efficiency Fleet surveillance tool”, which highlights a digital system that pursues and optimizes energy consumption over refinery units. With over 20 years of industry experience, Lanza, such as real-time monitoring and data integration, emphasized to identify savings options, reduce benchmark performance and reduce emissions. Case studies illustrate how the visibility at the company level promotes inexpensive and sustainable operations.

The final presentation of the day increased the importance of automated system monitoring. Yve Hunt, founder of Terra Viva Energy, in her presentation with the title ” “What you don't see, it costs”emphasized the critical role of real -time monitoring in reducing energy waste and to prevent costly failures of devices. Through AI-powered tools and data-controlled strategies, Hunt showed facilities how to reduce operating costs and emissions and at the same time improve the reliability of the devices.

For plant managers who are not yet sure to take over AI solutions, Hunt offered this perspective: “Most plants already use automated systems to keep things smoothly, e.g. When, why and what would be when: If a pump was to be eliminated, why started running unexpectedly and what could happen if a problem is ignored. ”

She also explained that AI can learn the unique behavior of every machine and send warnings before problems such as overheating or vibrations lead to shutdown. “Use of AI shifts from the workshop to strategy space,” said Hunt. “It transforms raw data into clear actions and helps the teams to reduce waste, avoid downtimes and solve problems before they occur on the pension calculation or delay production.”

The 2025 Tieep Spring Energy Forum underlined the critical role of the basic energy efficiency practices and shows how innovations can expand their effects. Through a dynamic mix of practical energy ratings, advances in steam systems and the integration of digital surveillance technologies, the event provided the participants a practical roadmap for energy-intensive industries that wanted to advance real, sustainable performance improvements.