Towards Improved Energy and Resource Management in Manufacturing

Sanober Hassan Khattak,Michael Oates,Rick Greenough

doi:10.3390/en11041006

Sanober Hassan Khattak, Michael Oates + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en11041006

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Abstract

Exergy analysis has widely been used to assess resource consumption, and to identify opportunities for improvement within manufacturing. The main advantages of this method are its ability to account for energy quality and consumption. However, its application in industrial practice is limited, which may be due to the lack of its consistent application in practice. Current energy management standard, that facilitate consistent application of procedures do not consider the quality aspects of energy flows. An exergy based energy management standards is proposed in this paper that would take into account energy quality aspects, while facilitating the consistent application of exergy analysis in industrial practice. Building on ISO50001, this paper presents guidelines for implementing energy and resource management in factories, incorporating the concepts of exergy and holistic factory simulation, as illustrated through a manufacturing case study. From the factory level analysis, a chilling process was identified to have significant improvement potential. A dry fan cooler, using ambient air was proposed for the improved efficiency of the chillers. Energy based metrics portrayed a system that operated at high efficiency, however exergy analysis indicated much room for further improvement, therefore impacting decision making for technology selection. The contribution of this paper is in presenting a set of prescriptive guidelines that could possibly be further developed into a new energy management standard that would utilize the advantages of exergy analysis towards improved energy and resource management in manufacturing.

Highlights

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), industry was responsible for more than half (54%) of the worldwide energy consumption in 2016 [1]
The results showed that the greatest opportunities were identified by considering both material and energy on a common unit basis, using exergy
It has been identified that incorporating the exergy concept into an energy management standard may lead to improved energy and resource management in manufacturing

Summary

Introduction

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), industry was responsible for more than half (54%) of the worldwide energy consumption in 2016 [1]. The industrial sector’s energy use is expected to grow by 1.2% yearly up to 2040 [1]. There is a limited availability of energy, material, and clean water resources that support human activity on planet Earth. Since industry is a major consumer of natural resources, global efforts are directed to reduce industrial energy and resource consumption. The European Union designated resource efficiency as one of the seven flagship initiatives in its Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth [2]. Approaches and policies for resource efficiency of 31 countries were surveyed and summarized in [3]

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