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In this article, we will give you the Top 3 Energy Saving Tips in Manufacturing Environment. If you have recently noticed that the goods you are producing are not totally up to scratch and maybe the height, moisture or colour of your product is not quite 100% or any of your key product KPI, you could have underlying problems with your equipment.
For example, there could be issues with your heat exchanger, that you are not aware of, and it may be causing unnecessary product and energy wastage. But it could be costing you financially. In many cases, these common problems go undetected until the damage has already been done and the mistake has already been paid for. But we have the answers to saving energy in a factory environment. It all starts with…
1. Monitoring Data
Most commonly, data in a factory-like setting largely goes unmonitored. But the first thing we do that forms the basis of everything we do is monitor data on energy usage, gas, electricity, steam and water in a factory and plant setting, as we know the importance of this stage.
We like to gather data, lots of data for you and then analyse it, to provide us with an accurate picture of how efficient your factory or plant is. From the data, we are able to identify where the ‘big wins’ relating to gas and energy are. We spend a lot of time with our clients analysing pure data on energy usage and we’ve been focused on this for a long time now. With this data, we use process integration/pinch analysis to establish the most optimum capital to running cost options to reduce your energy footprint.
Another aspect we monitor when it comes to reducing energy wastage is emissions. Monitoring things like CO2 and oxygen levels provides us with an accurate picture of how efficient a plant is running.
2. Maintenance and Planning
Prevention is always better than cure, right? That’s why it’s equally as important to maintain your processing equipment to ensure that it’s consistently performing at its best. Most factories will have some plans for maintenance in place, however, whether they go into detail with it, (like whether or not it is recurring on a monthly or weekly basis) is a different story.
To keep on top of maintenance and planning, we look at typical areas of factories that require the most maintenance, to have a direct impact on the energy usage of the factory.
For example, when maintaining a burner, the air filter requires changing regularly. If it’s not changed frequently, it will have an impact on combustion, which will have a domino effect on the efficiency of the burner and your bottom line, running cost.
Also, if you have a heat exchanger, it needs to be cleaned thoroughly and regularly, inside and out. If you were to get fouling on a heat exchanger tube, it will have a dramatic impact on the process and energy usage of the factory. But we aim to help put people on the right path when it comes to maintenance, as we help factory users to adapt and improve their planning process to ensure these things get done correctly.
3. Process Optimisation
This is all about finding the best way of utilising energy in your plant. We do this by analysing data and focusing on understanding the key variables that affect energy usage. By carrying out an in-depth design of experiment, we are able to plan a number of experiments to look at the impact that these variables have. Following that, we will build a model of how we can make a plant more efficient and optimise it so it’s energy saving. We can also implement the model into control systems, too.
Luckily, we can take care of all of this for you. We have solved the most complex of problems when it comes to heat recovery. Rest assured, there is no such thing as a too big or too small problem.
How do we do it you may be thinking. We achieve this by working with various proven technologies that can be embedded into your current processes or by creating new systems.
To break it down how we will achieve this:
- We will perform an audit and analysis of the problem you have to capture plant or process data either from existing infrastructure or by creating new ones.
- Then we will analyse the data and hone in on performance, and efficiency and highlight areas for potential improvement.
- Our main objective is to eliminate problems that impair production, optimise the operation and minimise costs relating to energy and waste. We aim to provide you with platforms and tools to help you reach your company sustainability goals and minimise the impact on our environment.
So if you think your equipment and machinery are performing at suboptimal levels and you want to improve efficiency in your factory or plant, we’d love to hear from you and talk about how we can help.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you a better understanding of how energy saving can be achieved and what measures need to be put in place. Implementing these tips will not only help manufacturers save money and energy, but also protect the environment.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any further questions or would like us to carry out an audit on your behalf.
