Improvement of energy efficiency in industries by facility based energy management

Abstract

Energy is abundantly present in nature but the usable form is scarce and limited. In the present energy scenario energy conservation (EC) is imminent. Industries consume about 50% of energy produced and EC in this sector is more significant. Use of energy management systems (EMS) is one of the feasible approaches. There are many energy consuming components in industries and EC effort should be user friendly, cost effective and less time consuming. In this paper, commonly used machineries in industries are considered and the opportunities in saving energy are discussed. Techniques are suggested in which the cost incurred for implementation is nil or less. Some of the suggested techniques are implemented in an industry. Results show that although there is variation in the savings in individual components but overall 9102 units of energy is saved in the plant (22.4%). The payback period is 8 months. Production is not affected.