By using a combination of the latest measurement tools and a well-designed maintenance strategy, companies can identify where they are wasting energy and how to fix the problem, boosting efficiency and productivity while cutting costs and meeting sustainability targets.
By Oleksandr Bardakov, Application and Technology Expert – Industrial Imaging, Fluke Corporation
They say in business that time is money but in an industrial environment energy is money. Energy inefficiency or wastage can be identified by temperature pattern deviations but, even today, far too many enterprises are unaware of the extent of their energy wastage and how much it is costing them.
Optimising energy efficiency by having a comprehensive maintenance strategy in place to ensure everything runs the way it should – and there are no unusual temperature patterns – is one of the most important tasks that a company can undertake.
It might sound straightforward – keep energy usage down and save money – but achieving that goal is far from simple. Firstly, some problems that occur in an industrial environment can be virtually invisible. Secondly, it isn’t always easy to know which is the best measurement tool to use, or even what is the optimum combination of tools. The trick is to use one or more basic measurement tools that are capable of flagging up areas where there are issues and then go into more depth by using more advanced tools to evaluate those problems.
Getting ahead of any issues that relate to poor management of energy can enable companies to slash their operational costs significantly while also protecting valuable equipment from irreparable damage and boosting productivity. Of course, with sustainability a major factor in every industrial environment today, cutting costs and wastage by improving energy efficiency will automatically enable organisations to minimise their carbon footprint.
Taking that first step
Whether you work on the shopfloor or are the CEO, every minute of every day should be focused on increasing industrial efficiency and saving energy, and thereby cutting costs. Anyone involved in facilities management will understand the importance of electrical energy efficiency but many will not know how to take that first step towards turning this goal into reality. Many will also not be aware that the market offers them an affordable choice of devices that can deliver the solutions they need at whatever level they prefer, enabling them to manage outlay and achieving the best possible return on investment (ROI). There are entry-level measurement tools available for those without large budgets who are looking to carry out simple checks to establish what their problems are but most benefits are generated by the more sophisticated devices on the market.
A key part of managing energy efficiency is to establish maintenance practices that mean users are not wasting time, resources and money by always reacting to problems rather than preventing them from happening in the first place. When there is effective pro-active maintenance in a facility, safety is improved and energy consumption is reduced because the energy needed for production is used in a more efficient way.
Among the types of measurement tools that industrial engineers should be looking to use for carrying out regular maintenance and for boosting the company’s energy efficiency include clamp meters, power quality analysers, thermal cameras and acoustic imagers.
How energy flows
Electrical cabinets are the ideal place to understand how energy flows around a facility and the best way to check this is through the use of tools that can provide a snapshot of the situation. In many cases a simple clamp meter will suffice in terms of identifying a problem in an electrical cabinet (a flexible clamp is ideal where space is limited). If a customer doesn’t need an exact evaluation of losses but just wants to focus on which equipment is not working efficiently, a three-phase electrical energy logger is the ideal tool.
A thermal camera can identify thermal patterns that indicate imbalances in motors with direct online connection or connected via variable frequency drives. A thermal camera can also identify connection heating patterns which indicate poor wire connections. While intuitively an excessive heat pattern attracts more attention, if a particular component is not working it will show up as cold, while components working under excessive load will show up as excess heat. Again, thermal cameras are fine if a snapshot is needed and precise measurements are not required.
However, for more extended analysis, a three-phase power quality analyser would be the best tool to use, providing a true evaluation of the extent of power being lost by analysing the current flow on individual wires within an electrical cabinet. These power quality analysers can not only measure neutral current (essential in three-phase systems), but can also incorporate a special energy loss calculator mode that is able to provide a highly accurate estimation of energy efficiency.
Huge opportunity for energy saving
By far one of the biggest areas of energy wastage in an industrial environment is leaking compressed air systems, with the average plant losing around 30% of the compressed air it produces. Given that only 15% of energy produced through compressed air can be used anyway, the total amount of energy available can be as low as 10%. This is highly inefficient. While compressed air leaks are inevitable and will never be fully eradicated, being able to identify and fix the vast majority of them through regular maintenance provides one of the biggest opportunities for energy saving. Getting an air compressor operating at maximum efficiency could reduce its energy consumption by up to 40%.
The best tool for this job is an acoustic camera. A basic model will provide rapid and safe visual detection of compressed gas leaks, enabling the engineer to prioritise repairs by not just identifying sources but also comparing their size. More advanced models are able to carry out such detailed evaluation that they can calculate how much electricity is lost every year due to a specific leak. The most sophisticated acoustic cameras have additional modes such as detection and classification of partial discharge, or the ability to identify where the main energy loss problems are in mechanical equipment, usually due to failing bearings in conveyor systems. Although acoustic imagers are more expensive than thermal cameras, they have the potential to generate more savings because they can show the user energy losses that would otherwise remain undetected.
Not complex or unaffordable
In summary, industrial organisations need to understand one key point – it is easier than they might think to pinpoint key areas in their business where they are losing money unnecessarily through poor energy management. The solutions to their problems are out there today and they are not complex or unaffordable. To have no maintenance strategy in an industrial environment and no way of identifying and evaluating where energy is being lost or where significant inefficiencies exist is no longer practical. The future requires us to take control of our energy usage and to minimise wastage and engineers now have the means to make their organisations more efficient, more sustainable and less costly to run.
Finally, engineers must remember that the benefits they seek will come not just because certain measurement tools are being used but because those tools are part of a comprehensive maintenance programme. If a company focuses on maintenance it will automatically obtain a longer operational life from its equipment, saving money while also running the plant at the highest possible level of efficiency. A point that is often missed is that substantial amounts of greenhouse gas emissions are generated by manufacturing new equipment and installing new facilities so keeping the need for replacement to a minimum can make a massive difference to a company’s impact on the environment.
