3E Plus Program Overview

• Determines economic thickness of insulations based on return on investment for chosen fuel cost, installed cost, tax rates, maintenance, etc.
• Calculates the amount of insulation needed for personnel protection for various design conditions.
• Calculates the thickness of insulation needed for condensation control.
• Calculates greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.
• Determines surface temperature and heat loss/gain calculations of individual insulation thickness up to 10 inches (250 mm).
• Solves for outside insulated surface temperatures for all types of insulation applications at different process temperatures and various configurations.
• Calculates bare vs. insulated heat loss efficiency percentages for horizontal and vertical piping, ducts and flat surfaces.
• Performs calculations for various flat surfaces, selected pipe sizes and all standard iron pipe sizes from 1/2" to 48" (15 - 1200 mm).
• Calculates heat loss/gain and outside insulated surface temperatures for any insulation material provided the thermal conductivity, associated mean temperatures, and temperature limit are entered by the user.

3E Plus^® Program Details

• 3E Plus version 4.1 operates in Windows^® XP, Vista and Windows 7 environments.
• Provides simple payback calculations
• Customized program details such as insulation materials, jacketing, fuel types and base metals can now be saved and easily imported when updating the program (4.1)
• Can easily export insulation audit data to an Excel spreadsheet
• Performs calculations for most types of insulation materials and accepts performance data provided by the user for other materials.
• Provides calculations for many fuel types and five different surface orientations. User can add own fuel combinations.
• Uses calculations and default values from independent sources. Contains updated methodology from the most recent version of ASTM C 680 Standard Practices for Determination of Heat Gain or Loss and the Surface Temperature of Insulation Piping on Equipment Systems by the Use of a Computer System.
• Allows user to customize program by adding and saving individual company's insulation installed cost estimates.
• Has all the latest thermal curves contained in the ASTM material standards.
• Automatically calculates thickness tables.
• Calculates in both metric and inch-pound units.
• Updated thermal curves and new insulation materials

Calculation Features

3E Plus^® can perform a wide range of calculations including:

Energy

• The thermal performance of both insulated and uninsulated piping and equipment.
• The energy (Btu) currently being saved with existing insulation systems and the actual dollar value of those savings.
• The potential Btu savings with an insulation upgrade.

Economics

• Note in 3E Plus version 4.1, all calculations involving money or economics are in the Economics section of the program.
• Cost of energy
• Simple payback
• Economic thickness
• The cost of operating systems with existing insulation in terms of Btu and dollars.
• The potential cost reduction of operating those same systems with an insulation upgrade.

Environmental

• The number of pounds (or metric tonnes) of greenhouse gases [CO2, NOx] currently being prevented from release into the atmosphere due to reduced fuel consumption resulting from greater insulation thickness.
• The potential number of pounds of greenhouse gases that could be prevented from release into the atmosphere through an insulation upgrade, resulting from greater reductions in fuel consumption.