9 questions plant manager should ask while walking the production floor
An old engineering joke says that if it moves, but should not - use duct tape, if does not move, but should - WD-40. Though every joke contains a joke, this formula can be applied to a walk through energy audit: engineering knowledge and common sense will go a long way in identifying low hanging fruits of energy management. Here are [...]
Wrong energy metrics can damage quality
Simple energy metrics can be useless or worse Our client, an industrial bakery, monitored natural gas burned in the oven in m3 per kg of shipped bread. A fair metric, right? Just read the meter, take production report, divide consumption by production - done. They have got nowhere with this metric when it came to assessing if oven's efficiency was [...]
Not monitoring energy is not about energy management
If company does not want to look at energy use, it's a good moment to ask "Why is that?" What issues management chooses not to be aware of? This post was inspired by the shortest blog post I have read to date. It came from Seth Godin: The problem you can't talk about ... is now two problems. That's all of [...]
Energy use reduction at industrial refrigeration plant through adjustment of operating set points
How valuable would it be for your business to cut the energy use of an industrial refrigeration plant by 30%, while still supporting the same load? To do so with a short payback? What if incentives halved the payback? This is what we are doing. GreenQ Partners has completed a pilot project at a refrigeration plant of an industrial bakery [...]
Energy Engineer at Caribbean Vacation
An old adage goes that an engineer keeps working even standing in line to pay for beer. This certainly came true during my last vacation at a small resort by a warm sea. Several energy-related observations I made there illustrate what is commonly happening in industrial setting back home and provide actionable lessons. Following these lessons makes the difference between [...]
Energy course at U of Denver Colorado – free and online
A new online program has been launched by University of Denver Colorado. It's been reported that over 33,000 students from around the world have enrolled. The course is offered free of charge through Coursera. The Fundamentals of Global Energy Business course provides students with an introduction to the business of primary energy production. The class examines the nature of supply and demand [...]
How big is this steam leak?
Steam is one of the most expensive forms of energy at most manufacturing plants. Powerful boilers produce lots and lots of it. Surely a couple of small leaks cost next to nothing, right? Here is a simple way to assess what damage a leak makes to the bottom line. Idea of this post came from Vilnis Vesma, Director of Degree [...]