A common way to determine energy intensity in manufacturing is to divide energy cost by production volume, resulting in kWh per car or m3 per pound of bread. This simplistic approach may hit energy manager where it hurts the most - at evaluation of completed projects. A good well-implemented project may show dismal savings [...]
Performance of every piece of machinery degraded with time. This may cost your plant thousands of dollars in lost production, rejects, and energy. Recommissioning can solve this problem, but it costs time and money. When is recommissioning worth the effort? Energy costs of performance degradation Degradation may be caused by a wide range of [...]
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 [...]
Reduction of air exhaust from refrigerated room reduced cooling load and eliminated need for refrigeration plant upgrade
Situation Doing nothing is an investment decision too. Investment with a guaranteed return of nothing. Here is a common conversation at a manufacturing plant: Me: … Implementation will cost you $5K and save $15K within 12 months. Maintenance manager: So we save $10K? Not much for our plant. Besides, I do not make investment [...]
A common objection to doing an energy audit is that 'Everything is fine'. This is rarely the case. Here are two examples when audit uncovered saving opportunities that clients did not know existed because they believed everything was in perfect state already. Efficient equipment does not equate to efficient operation. Sanitation staff turned [...]
A common belief is that if plant is equipped with efficient machines it runs efficiently. Unfortunately, this is not always true. Efficiency of components does not equate to efficiency of the whole plant. Common reason for utility waste by efficient machines: Misuse: compressed air used instead of blowers or for cooling, oversized motors, excessive [...]
We often hear: "Our plant runs at top energy efficiency because we use these procedures and settings and our efficient equipment is fully operational." Just how often is this true? With all due respect to maintenance and operational staff, recommendations of a proper energy audit are based on direct observation of operations and lots [...]
A lot of energy costs can be saved at manufacturing plant without CAPEX.
Complex energy audit does not look at energy alone. It considers how energy use affects core business - production, quality, scrap, employee productivity.
