The latest technology evening was held at the Durban Country Club on 4 April. Eric Hore, director of advanced solutions for Moore Process Controls gave a thought-provoking presentation titled ‘Energy optimisation is everyone’s responsibility’.
Hennie Prinsloo (left) thanks Eric Hore after the presentation.
He showed how South Africa, where we rely heavily on our coal resources for electrical power generation, is a significant environmental contributor to a sub-Saharan temperature rise rate that is approximately 1,5 times higher than the global average. Another very important factor is the almost 1,5 litres of water consumed per kilowatt hour of generated electrical power sold to consumers by Eskom. Even if environmental arguments fail to persuade companies to invest in optimisation, there are huge potential economic benefits that can be achieved by those that optimise their energy usage.
Monitoring and data recording developments have enabled the acquisition of information that allows energy baselines to be derived in ways that accommodate changing factors such as ambient temperature, feed quality, operator influence etc. Eric outlined the application of ISO 50001 and displayed graphs showing how comparison of real-time plant energy usage against energy baselines can be used to set optimal maximum demand, as well as assisting with the optimisation of plant operation. He also gave examples showing startling figures for the economic benefits which can, and have been, achieved through energy optimisation.
With manufacturing and mining using between 53% and 63% of all energy consumed, engineers working in those sectors clearly have a significant role to play in optimising the use of energy.
The presentation concluded with a question and answer session, after which Eric was thanked by Hennie Prinsloo, who also thanked Moore Products for sponsoring the evening. Everyone then adjourned to enjoy some networking over a few drinks and another excellent meal provided by the Durban Country Club.
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