Evan Dent, business development manager, Endress+Hauser
Energy has become a key area of attention in recent years. South Africa in particular has a larger than average problem as a result of the capacity shortages it faces in the short term. With a predicted requirement for 3000 MW of savings required by 2012, one method of addressing the problem is the setting of energy efficiency targets in the private, commercial and industrial sectors. Unfortunately this is easier said than done, as the success or failure of energy targeting initiatives depends on human behaviour. A change in human behaviour can achieve savings of up to 30%, but these are often short lived as old bad habits return once awareness of the initiative fades.
Most early energy savings strategies involved the obvious ie, lights, geysers and other such household consumers. These are small savings when compared to energy used in industrial preciseness. One of the initiatives that can be pursued is improving the efficiency of the utilities at industrial plants. This has the potential to make large savings in processes energy consumption. It is key to process efficiency, since most utilities over-supply when compared to the demands of the process. Operational efficiency has the potential to save as much as 40% of the energy consumed in the section of the plant that is targeted. This is indeed attractive.
When streamlining utilities, the focus should be on the production of compressed air and steam, fuel consumption and also the movement of water in the process. These are all generally large energy users in a typical industrial process. Initiatives such as leak detection, pressure monitoring and filter blockage are often put into place. The human problem rears its head as time goes by, and the success of the initiative is reduced as the team falls back into old habits. So how do we make these into sustainable initiatives? To achieve this we have to look at energy management as a continuous cycle.
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