Business: Industrial
Getting Ideas for Energy Management Opportunities
2.1.8 Managing energy as raw material
is not approved until the proponent has exhausted all avenues to prove
that, within the project’s specifications, a better solution – including
energy consumption – is not available.
The overall management system of a foundry should have an energy component.
That is, energy should be managed systematically and consistently. A disciplined
and structured approach ensures that energy resources are provided and used
as efficiently as possible. This is the principle of the U.K.-developed monitoring
and targeting (M&T) technology
of energy management. It is equally applicable
to any other resource, such as water or product-in-process. Computerization
made it possible.
M&T states that energy and other utilities are direct
and controllable costs that should be monitored and controlled as any other
segment of the operations,
such as labour, raw materials and product distribution. M&T does not purport
to attach a greater significance to energy costs than is warranted by its proportion
of controllable costs. In foundries, though, energy is a significant cost component.
An energy-monitoring system enables
the foundry’s energy-saving program to target overall
energy cost reductions on a year-to-year basis.
The
application of the technology requires a change in thinking: to control energy
implies responsibility and accountability by those in charge of the
operations. The M&T process begins with dividing the plant into energy-accountable
centres. The cost centres should correspond to the existing management accounting
centres (e.g., melting, finishing, etc.) Within each centre, energy consumption
is monitored; even individual key energy-using equipment can be monitored.
This is dependent on the installation of adequate monitoring and measuring
equipment, with input into a central controlling computer.
monitoring, costing and optimization of foundry energy usage.
Data is continuously
collected and analysed. Supervisors, maintenance personnel and operators have
access to the information, which allows them to fine-tune
foundry operations. Aberrations, such as excessive consumption peaks, can be
investigated and addressed quickly.
Initially, the system will build a historical
database – establishing
a base to which the future improvements will be related. It will be necessary
for each item monitored (e.g., furnace efficiency) to develop a suitable index
against which to assess performance. For each index, a performance standard
needs to be derived from historical data. However, it needs to reflect factors
that can significantly affect efficiency.
it, start small: start gathering essential information manually, e.g.,
monthly, and acting on it. Based on the strength of your results,
you’ll soon be able to justify a better system.
Typically, there may be absence of historical data because of the previous lack of instrumentation. In such cases,
several months of data gathering will help to establish the standard. Managers
involved must agree upon the derived standards. From the standards, progressive
individual future energy consumption targets can be agreed upon by managers
involved and be perceived as realistic and achievable. The targets represent
improvements in energy use efficiency.
More on target setting can be found in Section 3.4, “Developing energy
management programs further” (page 99) and Section 3.5, “Implementing
monitoring performance and continually improving” (page 101).
Using the
system can give you the ability to:
To get good buy-in, target setting
should be also consensual.
- Monitor electrical, natural gas/oil,
water and compressed air usage rates under all plant operating conditions; - Get
energy costs per unit of production (e.g., a tonne of good castings) for
each operating department; -
M&T technology is a proven energy
and money saver.Process change simulation capability – the impact
of process changes can be cost-calculated;
- Obtain information to determine effective electrical
peak load control strategies; - Obtain information to fine-tune the foundry’s natural gas
contract; - Analyse the process to reduce fresh water consumption;
- Interlink the M&T
system with a foundry-wide energy management computerized system, which
includes process control condition monitoring and automation; and - Monitor and troubleshoot
the energy usage from a supervisor’s home.
The cost of installation will
depend on the extent of installed metering, the coverage desired, and the methods
for recording and analysing energy use. The installation can pay for itself
in increased efficiencies and savings
in a
matter of months.
M&T software and hardware packages are marketed by
several firms. Also, NRCan’s Office of Energy Efficiency provides workshops
on M&T and
other aspects of energy management. You will find information on those workshops
at www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/workshops
Other EMOs
Housekeeping
- Make employees aware of the energy and utilities costs; post information
that shows trends; demonstrate how it impacts on the foundry’s profitability.
Low
cost
- Review the extent of monitoring and measuring equipment. Add to it the
most important components now missing. Improve gradually in preparation
for a full-fledged implementation of M&T.
Retrofit; high cost
- Install monitoring and measuring equipment on energy and
utility streams in the foundry; purchase the M&T system. - Integrate the M&T
system within the total energy management system
of the entire foundry.