Big Pipes, Small Pumps: Interface, Inc.

Interface, Inc. redesigned the piping system for a carpet-tile plant, moving away from conventional right-angle layouts to a system with shorter, wider pipes and smaller pumps. This 'Factor Ten Engineering' approach reduced pumping energy for heating oil by 86% and lowered both operating and capital costs. Although the original plant in Shanghai was decommissioned due to the 1998 Asian financial crisis, the design was later implemented in a UK plant.

• The application of 'Factor Ten Engineering' (10×E) to the piping system of a carpet-tile plant resulted in a reduction of energy needed for pumping heating oil by 86%.
• The redesigned system achieved significant annual monetary savings: electricity for 14 pumps dropped from 444,450 kWh to 77,505 kWh (saving $55,042), and electricity for heating thermal oil dropped from 878,736 kWh to 291,170 kWh (saving $88,135).
• The new design lowered capital costs despite the higher price of larger-diameter pipes and the increased cost of installing non-right-angle piping, because it allowed for the use of much smaller pumps.
• Conventional piping design is inefficient because it prioritizes neat, right-angled layouts and oversized pumps with control valves, which increase friction and waste energy.
• The 10×E approach achieved efficiency by prioritizing pipe layout over equipment placement, using larger pipe diameters to reduce friction, eliminating sharp bends, and utilizing variable-speed pumps.
• The design provided secondary benefits, including easier and cheaper insulation, which reduced heat loss and lowered the viscosity of the bitumen, further reducing the energy required for pumping.
• The plant originally designed for Shanghai, China, was decommissioned following the 1998 Asian financial crisis, but the equipment and design were later relocated to a plant in the United Kingdom (the Don Russell plant).

APA

Chan-Lizardo, K., Lindsey, D., Pradhan, A., Elliott, H., & Carey, J. (2011). Big Pipes, Small Pumps: Interface, Inc. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-04_BigPipesSmallPumps.pdf

Chicago

Chan-Lizardo, Kristine, Davis Lindsey, Alok Pradhan, Harry Elliott, and John Carey. Big Pipes, Small Pumps: Interface, Inc. RMI, 2011. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-04_BigPipesSmallPumps.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chan-Lizardo |first1=Kristine |last2=Lindsey |first2=Davis |last3=Pradhan |first3=Alok |last4=Elliott |first4=Harry |last5=Carey |first5=John |title=Big Pipes, Small Pumps: Interface, Inc. |publisher=RMI |date=February 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-04_BigPipesSmallPumps.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chanlizardo2011big, author = {Chan-Lizardo, Kristine and Lindsey, Davis and Pradhan, Alok and Elliott, Harry and Carey, John}, title = {{Big Pipes, Small Pumps: Interface, Inc.}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-04_BigPipesSmallPumps.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }