Energy submetering by itself is useless and how to make it work
Automatic data collection, purposeful analysis and alert on deviations to appropriate people is a key to sustained energy cost savings.
Why Global Adjustment avoidance assets may turn into stranded assets and how to avoid this
Companies that buy new equipment to avoid Global Adjustment charges face risk of having stranded assets. Business case for investments in GA avoidance equipment - generators and batteries - relies on current GA model, which resulted from a political decision. GA regime is based on politics, which are reliably unreliable As we all know, [...]
How much energy your freezer wastes?
I can't say how much energy your freezer wastes. I do not have a crystal ball, but we saw a few freezers at other companies and I have condensed our observations in a short mock Q&A with a plant manager: Q. Might our freezers work at their best efficiency? A. Yes, it is possible. [...]
5 golden rules of energy data analysis
1. In metering we trust :) Data is only reliable if it has been collected through routine automatic metering, which has been validated. All claims like 'we always keep this operational schedule', 'compressor/boiler/light is off on weekend' or 'current never exceeds X Amp', all of them have exactly zero value to energy [...]
Are energy meters like birdhouses or like screws?
It occurred to me that meters relate to energy monitoring in the same way as screws relate to birdhouses. How is that? Some manufacturing plants start energy management from installation of meters. Too often the process ends with meters too. However costly, this result is predictable. I will explain why on an example of [...]
#11. How to estimate possible energy savings in 25 minutes and at no cost?
Energy audit takes time and costs money, is it worth the effort? How do I know if it will uncover enough saving opportunities? To quickly estimate how much money can be saved on utilities, we have devised an express tool - Energy Management Score assessment™. EMS is based on a premise that the way [...]
3 lessons and 5 mistakes of IIoT projects
Sam Hoff, president of Patti Engineering. suggests to start collecting data only after one has identified the problem. See IIoT project success: First identify the problem, then begin collecting data. I think he meant to say "problem area", because if you know what the problem is - you do not need more data, you need [...]
Use slow time to implement small improvements
Slow production time is an opportunity to do that myriad of small projects that maintenance kept suggesting for years, but could never implement because 'production comes first'. Now is the time to do them. How to find micro maintenance/efficiency projects during slow time? When external resources are limited, what do we do? We turn [...]
Simple energy management procedure cuts energy costs during uncertain times
During quarantine time many plants face uncertain work load and even less certain revenue. The simplest way to save energy and cost to turn unnecessary machines off. This simple recommendation is rarely easy to implement, it's even more difficult to monitor. How to find if unneeded machines are turned off without breaking a bank? [...]
#9. Energy audit finds $20,000 in energy savings at a cost of a 30 ft pipe.
A perfectly efficient machines can still waste lots of primary or secondary utilities. A complex utility audit routinely uncovers how water, heat or 'cooling' can be reused. Hot water reuse at poultry slaughter house Two industrial poultry processing procedures were set in adjacent production space - vacuum pump and scalding. [...]