Capturing energy waste

In addition to understanding energy consumption and identifying overconsumptions, another way you can identify energy savings opportunities is by examining energy waste. When you reduce energy waste, you can reduce the overall Kwh per unit and improve the overall energy efficiency of the plant.

There are two main causes of energy waste:

• Energy usage during Downtime events

• Energy variability

Reduce energy waste through Downtime

One way that you can identify energy waste is to track the amount of energy being used during downtime events. A lot of energy use may occur even though production is interrupted, and no product is coming through.

For example, while an upstream piece of equipment is down, the downstream equipment is still running idle with no product coming through.

You can track KWh consumed while down to track energy being used during downtime events.

For an example on how to configure this Studio, see Example: Capturing energy use during Downtime events.

Downtime isn't only unscheduled. There may be energy waste occurring during planned downtime events, as well as unplanned downtime events.

After this data is collected and the causes are analyzed, plant and energy managers can gain an understanding of energy consumption while processes are in downtime. This information enables companies to reduce energy consumption by making changes to plant processes and operating procedures, such as:

• Turn off or idle equipment.

  • By means of changes in standard operating procedures.

  • By means of changes in automation systems.

• Better decision making in cost-benefit points.

  • If the process does not start for another 2 hours, then idle equipment.

  • If the process does not start for another 3 hours, then turn equipment off. With Downtime, you can focus on reducing downtime and also gain insight into the energy profile.

Reduce energy waste through Energy variability

Another way that you can identify energy waste is to examine the way power supply is being drawn and used within the production facility. While some equipment may draw power in an on/off capacity, some equipment draws varying levels of power, depending on the process that is running. A lot of fluctuation or variability in power usage can indicate that energy is being wasted.

Related topics

• Example: Capturing energy use during Downtime events

• Capture energy events