4 smart tips for better energy management in industrial facilities

How can energy management in industrial facilities be improved? Energy consumption per unit of production can help manufacturers understand energy intensity (Intensity = kW/unit of production) and the extent to which energy contributes to the cost of specific assets, units or processes.

Operations and maintenance managers can use this information to establish baselines for measuring improvements and identifying scenarios where further information is needed.

Operational energy performance can help manufacturers understand energy efficiency (efficiency = productive energy/total energy) by comparing the energy consumed during manufacturing against the total energy consumed over a set period of time.

Better energy management or administration in industrial facilities could be seen as a future priority, given that the smart grid is still taking shape and only a fraction of manufacturers have connected their OT and IT systems to a simple, unified network architecture that serves as the basis for smart manufacturing. However, manufacturers are taking steps to prepare their operations:

• Understanding the machine's energy usage
  Better management of energy costs begins with a better understanding of how much energy machines and devices consume. Manufacturers should install energy meters on their electrical network to track energy usage in real time, identifying peak levels, monitoring local electricity prices, and analysing the operating costs of each piece of equipment.
• Understanding energy usage throughout the plant
  Improving data collection for a better understanding of energy performance and consumption in terms of machinery can help manufacturers better analyse energy consumption patterns across their plants. This will enable better decision-making with more information compared to relying solely on energy measurement data.
• Focus on efficiency
  Even without extensive energy data at their fingertips, manufacturers can make small changes to their processes to improve energy efficiency. For example, you can achieve significant savings by shaft alignment on rotating machines.To calculate the savings you can achieve with alignment, we recommend:
  • Measure the amperage of the machine before and after alignment.,
  • Identify the difference, and
  • Check the energy tariff cost applied to your company.

   

  Calculate the kW savings using the following formula:

  kW = ((I x E x F.P. x 1.73) / 1000)

  Where:

  • kW = kilowatts
  • I = Nominal Current
  • E = Nominal Voltage
  • P.F. = Power Factor (Usually considered to be 0.92, as there are already many efficient devices available)

  Machines that are correctly aligned and regularly serviced save a lot of operating and maintenance costs. Conventional methods for shaft alignment such as the bevelled rule, probe gauge or dial gauge, are very time-consuming. The quality of the results obtained using these methods depends on the operator's experience.

• Focus on agility
  The fourth tip for improving energy management in industrial facilities is based on ensuring that equipment and systems can communicate efficiently, not only internally within a plant, but also across multiple plants and externally with outsourcing companies providing external services.This will help manufacturers ensure that their operations are more agile in order to achieve a smart network and the flow of new smart manufacturing technologies.

If you are interested in learning more about how to improve your predictive maintenance programme and learn about best practices for improving energy management in industrial facilities, we invite you to subscribe to our Newsletter.