Plants managers who want to reduce the consumption of energy in facilities can create a plan that addresses all areas of energy consumption.
National Instruments Corp. (NI), an Austin, Texas-based automation products vendor, suggests using these guidelines for determining energy consumption and addressing potential energy savings strategies: NI estimates that plants can achieve a 10 percent to 25 percent savings in energy consumption at facilities by implementing this plan. NI notes, however, that an engineer with a keen eye for energy savings is hard to find.
Find inefficient systems and faulty systems and repair them
Adjust clock-controlled systems for shorter operational time and ensure systems are not working on holidays
Lower general energy usage
Find the rate tariff best suited for the energy profile at your place of business. In order to implement energy facility management, several things are needed:
Data logging a few of the most important equipment parameters such as electrical usage, gas usage, and forward and return temperatures. While sampling may be every five seconds, a good periodic data storage is 15 minutes, giving 96 registrations per 24 hours.
Automatic collection of data, storage, displays and Web access to data
Automatic reports to provide overview
Automatic calculation of least-costly rate tariff
An energy engineer with a keen eye to figure out if energy is wasted or should be used differently. The engineer should be able to calculate savings based on change scenarios.
A contact within the facility who has the power to enforce changes.
NI estimates that plants can achieve a 10 to 25 percent savings in energy consumption at facilities by implementing this plan. NI notes, however, that an engineer with a keen eye for energy savings is hard to find.
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