An energy audit shows that use of the Profienergy profile can produce energy savings of up to 30 percent, according reports in a recent newsletter from PI (Profibus & Profinet International, www.profibus.com), the trade group that oversees the Profibus and Profinet networking standards. Profienergy, introduced by PI in 2009, is an energy management application profile of the Profinet real-time industrial Ethernet protocol.
The March issue of the ProfiNews newsletter reported on an international conference held Feb 15-16 at PI’s headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany. During the conference, Markus Müller, of the Institute for Automation & Industrial IT (AIT) at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne, presented the results of an energy audit undertaken at automotive manufacturing sites.
The audit consisted of long-term monitoring of real energy consumption across a range of automation devices, followed by a detailed analysis of the measurements. This showed that high amounts of energy are used during a variety of non-planned production pauses, many as short as a few seconds, the newsletter reported. The AIT then showed how energy savings of up to 30 percent could be made available with Profienergy. However, said Mueller, best results require careful planning, preferably early in the design of a plant.
The importance of good planning was underlined by a second speaker, who pointed out that Profienergy was an “enabler” that, by itself, “cannot save a single kilowatt,” the newsletter reported. It is the responsibility of original equipment manufacturers, vendors and end-users to ensure that Profienergy is used effectively, this speaker said.
PI www.profibus.com 
