Research program works to better efficiency, cost of electric equipment

Nation's Restaurant News, May 1, 1989 by Patt Patterson

Research program works to better efficiency, cost of electric equipment

The electric industry has a newly established research and development program for commercial kitchen equipment. Although equipment manufacturers have long had their own programs, the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., is now at the focus of the industry's R & D effort.

We talked to Karl F. Johnson, who bears the umbrella EPRI title of project manager for commercial building systems. As part of his responsibilities, he is manager of the R & D projects that directly affect the design of commercial food-service equipment.

"We're working on a number of different approaches to improving the efficiency and cost performance of electric equipment," Johnson told us. "We go far beyond just the cooking equipment, however. We are exploring the commercial kitchen and overall building environment: cooking, water heating, ventilation, lighting.

"They all have a direct effect on energy performance."

One of the projects now under way, in cooperation with the National Restaurant Association, involves alternative sizing for restaurant electric power panels. "This involves obtaining changes in the National Electric Code," Johnson pointed out, "but it could significantly cut costs for new operations."

Another project is a multi-phased analysis of commercial kitchen operations. This study, which charts energy performance, was funded by the federal Department of Energy and conducted in conjunction with the NRA.

"We started off by doing research in the data base established from the seven restaurants in the early study," Johnson explained. "This research enabled us to develop a computer analysis program and construct a preliminary model for the next step, which was the collection of data from a far larger sample of actual operations.

"We developed a computer analysis program by doing our own study of 16 different restaurants, a full-service restaurant, a cafeteria, a pizza operation, and a fast-food unit in each of four markets: Los Angeles; Phoenix, Ariz.; Cleveland; and Atlanta," Johnson said. "We made a detailed analysis of over 100 high-efficiency options for restaurants operations to determine the most performance efficient. We discovered our `preliminary' model was quite accurate; however, the additional data collected have enabled us to develop an even more useful program."

Johnson said the next step would be to develop a model restaurant in conjunction with a restaurant partner.

"We want to be able to set up an all-electric cooking line, using the latest technology," he explained. "Adding to the latest developments in more efficient lighting and heat recovery and cooling, we believe we can obtain a 25 percent to 40 percent reduction in peak demand and substantially reduce energy use and cost. This should make the all-electric kitchen highly competitive with a mixed-fuel kitchen in most rate areas."

Such a model restaurant would be operated for a year under intensive study. "What we learn will then be available for consultants and other food-service operators to design restaurants taking advantage of those performance efficiencies," Johnson emphasized.

In another approach EPRI is applying what it refers to as "enhancements" to create advanced building types. "These buildings will utilize all of the recently discovered efficiencies and economies of electricity," Johnson said. "We envision using electric technology to reduce labor and costs through advanced controls and management of electrical equipment.

"We are also working with the industry to improve the efficiency of ventilation systems and in developing testing protocols. Our objective will be eventual changes in ventilation requirements in all types of food-service operations. These can have the potential of developing significant savings in electrical use.

"You must remember that an all-electric cooking line requires far less heat dispersal than a gas-fired line does. We're working on high-efficiency heat pumps for cooling and heating. And we're looking at practical methods of recovering the heat from the kitchen environment in order to heat water and to reduce cooling costs through a high-efficiency heat pump approach.

"In cooking equipment, we're looking at a whole range of projects. We're joining with Pacific Gas & Electric Co., in its ongoing program to develop uniform testing protocols for cooking equipment. That's been one of the biggest hurdles for this industry.

"Everyone develops their own testing procedures and standards, so you don't really know whether the data from one manufacturer are compatible with those from another. We'll be developing standardized test procedures for griddles first, then fryers and ovens. We'll be taking the results to the American Society for Testing Materials to obtain a national approval consensus, which we hope will result in the adoption of the protocols by the entire food-service equipment industry.

"We've conducted a study of the energy performance and characteristics of deep-fat fryers. We studied the relationship of energy use, ventilation, controllability, reliability, reduced standby losses, and conservation of shortening. The electric fryer is over three times more efficient than a gas fryer under typical loads, and we plan to build upon these advantages in developing the advanced electric fryer. This isn't pie-in-the-sky.