Inefficiency in energy management is one of the greatest and least detected culprits of high operating costs. Energy efficiency can vary as much as 300% between the most and least efficient producers of the same product. The highest percentage of your greatest operational cost is energy to make the manufacturing process work. There are big savings to be had..if you know there and how to look for them.
PlantWeb digital plant architecture, offers technology and services that enable you to see what’s happening in your process and equipment, identify conditions that cause energy waste, access the information wherever it’s needed, and take action to optimize your energy producing assets... before it’s too late. PlantWeb allows you to get the most efficient use of energy by:
- Improving conversion of fuels to energy
- Optimizing the mix of fuels and energy-production assets
- Managing energy efficiency of process equipment
- Minimizing energy consumption by motors
Better control of your conversion process can wring more useful energy from every barrel, ton, or cubic foot of fuel.
The high performance of Emerson instruments and control elements, combined with diagnostics to verify ongoing performance give more accurate, tighter control of the conversion process. In addition, online monitoring and diagnostics let you detect and even predict potential process and equipment problems. You get the opportunity to take corrective action before conversion efficiency is affected, and the confidence to move setpoints closer to operating targets. For example:
- Sensor diagnostics in Rosemount analytical devices detect probe fouling and provide operators calibration control from the control room, ensuring accurate measurement.
- Fisher FIELDVUE digital valve controllers continuously monitor valve performance, detecting excess friction, stiction or other problems affecting valve performance leading to inefficient valve usage.
- DeltaV’s boiler control software provides complete logic for managing combustion, feedwater and drum level, stack oxygen, and steam header pressure. …all at your operators fingertips.
Many plants have multiple steam systems or other energy producers. Each may be able to use multiple fuel types and serve multiple production units. Add in fluctuating fuel prices and changing process needs, and it may seem impossible to find the most cost-effective combination of fuels and assets at any given time.
One key to reducing energy cost is to understand where it's being wasted and the economic impact of this inefficiency, so you can take the most productive path to improvement.
PlantWeb’s AMS Suite: Equipment Performance Monitor provides a clear view of current vs. design efficiency for a broad range of process equipment, including heat exchangers, expanders, economizers, waste heat boilers, compressors, pumps, and turbines - and uses actual production costs to show you the cost per hour of declining performance.
As a result, you'll be able to identify where and when maintenance can have the greatest impact on energy use and overall production economics.
Emerson can also help you reduce energy use by improving the efficiency of the electric motors that drive pumps, compressors, fans, and other equipment.
- PlantWeb's AMS Suite: Machinery Health Manager enables energy savings of up to 15% by monitoring motor vibration, magnetic flux, case temperature, and other variables to detect and alert you when corrective action is needed to restore motor efficiency.
- Because motors are often sized for worst-case conditions, they often operate at power levels up to 40% below their most efficient. With variable-speed drives from Emerson's Control Techniques, however, motors sized for worst-case conditions can operate at more-typical reduced speeds and power levels while maintaining high efficiency
- High-efficiency motors such as those from Emerson Motors also reduce costs by converting energy to motion 5-10% more efficiently than standard motors used in process equipment.
A free white paper which discusses reducing utilities costs with PlantWeb will be available in the near future.
