Energy audit and management of an industrial site based on energy efficiency, economic, and environmental analysis

Abstract

This study presents an energy audit and management for an industrial site in Borg El-Arab City, Egypt. Notably, the investigated industrial site falls in the category of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are characterized by a high share of final energy use and possess a significant untapped energy-efficiency potential. In this work, potential sources of energy wastage in the facility have been investigated following a unique energy audit and analysis road map. Furthermore, tailored energy efficiency recommendations and effective energy management practices have been proffered for the various industrial equipment available for the first time. Besides, the proposed action plans are economically evaluated using the payback method and their environmental benefits are assessed accordingly. The results show that a proposed expansion of the PV system would produce 676.62 MWh/year and satisfy about 50.95 % of the factory’s annual electricity consumption. The renewable energy system presents an investment cost of $124,115 with an attractive payback period of about 3 years alongside curbing 293 tons of CO2 emissions annually. In addition, the installation of variable speed drives in the motor systems would save about 48.477 MWh/year with a payback period of 1.73 years and mitigate about 21 t of CO2 annually. Nevertheless, thermal insulation of the mold assembly using thermal boards and incorporating an air gap in the mold assembly design results in energy savings of about 319 MWh per year. The energy management of fans, compressors, and lights demonstrates annual energy savings of 121.461 MWh, 14.88 MWh, and 32.154 MWh, respectively. Notwithstanding, replacing fossil fuel-based forklifts with electric forklifts leads to an investment cost of $32,220 with an associated payback period of 5.74 years. Noteworthy, the energy audit and management herein present energy savings and CO2 emissions mitigations of 535.971 MWh and 232 t annually, respectively. Evidently, the energy audit and management performed will act as a guide for relevant decision-makers towards energy efficiency improvements, consequently achieving economic savings and limiting the carbon footprint.