New Tools Help Reduce Energy Consumption
The benefits can be significant when meters, software and other equipment are employed to trim power consumption – both on and off the plant floor.
The potential for steadily rising energy prices, coupled with a desire to go green by trimming usage and emissions, is shining the spotlight on energy management. Industrial users are finding they can gain significant benefits by closely monitoring equipment usage and performing simple tasks such as powering down machines when they’re not needed.
At a societal level, facilities that consume less energy take pressure off utility companies so they can meet peak demand without building new power plants. That’s important as more companies and legislators call for smaller carbon footprints. At the same time, facilities that trim power consumption can also help their bottom line when they reduce their utility bills.
In some cases, there’s even the opportunity to make money. Brown University recently employed Siemens WinPM.Net software to employ its backup generators to do peak demand saving.
The utility company for Providence, RI, recently sent out a demand response request, offering to pay large users if they trimmed their power consumption. Brown’s automated system responded immediately, turning on the backup generators so the school could reduce its demand on the grid.
“The software works in conjunction with smart meters that don’t just monitor kilowatt hours, they also do things like waveform capture and harmonic measurement,” says Stamatis Levantis, BTLVE PDS Business Manager, Siemens Industry . “A lot of people think this sort of power management, with cooperation between energy suppliers and corporations, is going to become much more common in coming years.”
Even without payments from utility suppliers, the benefits can be significant when meters, software and other equipment are employed to trim power consumption. Levantis cites an automaker that trimmed 30% from its power costs. “They looked at their energy usage and found it didn’t decline as much as they expected. They weren’t shutting off air compressors and they also found several loads that could be powered down during the week during what they call quiet times,” Levantis says.
Many pieces of equipment are now automatically powered down during lunch breaks, during shift changes and at other times when the control software finds that it’s beneficial to trim power usage. As utility companies do more monitoring and improve their ability to send requests out to large consumers, it’s likely that some facilities will be able to adjust production runs and reduce demand on the power grid when utility companies request assistance.
While these concepts are new for most industrial facilities, as well as for many utility companies, they have been around for a while. “We’ve done a lot of work for data centers, where they have focused on power consumption for quite a while,” Levantis says.
He notes that when today’s powerful tools are brought into play, it’s possible to trim power consumption not just during idle times but even when equipment is in use. For example, sophisticated software and sensors can determine when to turn off the large arc furnaces used to produce steel. When temperatures hit certain levels, enormous heating elements can be powered down for short periods, saving substantial sums over the course of a year.
Determining what equipment is needed to cut energy usage and reduce emissions is not a simple task. It will depend on the type of industry and local utility rates. However, companies with broad portfolios can provide the equipment needed for specific companies.
“At Siemens, we’ve got a good complement of meters, ranging from low-end analog meters to sophisticated power quality meters,” Levantis says. Software is also important. WinPM.Net monitors electric and gas consumption, as well as non-energy consumption such as water. When these pieces are put in place, companies can make ongoing measurements, then adjust their practices and equipment accordingly. Monitoring then begins anew so corporations, universities and other facilities can make continuous improvement.
When energy usage is trimmed, companies can save money. Equally important, they can be good citizens in their communities. Reducing demand has an immediate impact on emissions, especially in the many states that generate most of their electricity by burning coal. At the same time, reducing energy consumption can have an aggregate impact, delaying or even eliminating the need for utility companies to build new plants.
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