Industrial Energy Savings
Control Engineering Magazine asks Bill Lydon to comment:
October, 2006 Issue
Better ways to Manage energy (Page 56)
With energy prices as they are, now seemed like a good time to write a book
on energy management systems, says industry consultant Bill Lydon. He expects
his to be done in fall 2007 and available through ISA Books (www.isa.org/books)
at a chapter-a-month pace. Until then, though, he offers some advice.
Controls people need to look at processes from an energy-cost standpoint without
disrupting production. In many cases, Lydon says, that even can be done through
existing control systems, if the systems are attached to the desired areas. If
there’s an automation system in place, data may already exist to do energy
management. It’s all what you do with information gathered. Look at
where energy costs are and match input to demand. Figure cost of energy
into unit cost of production
Seek ways to optimize energy content. “If a process requires hot oil, for
instance, can you drop the temperature in a standby mode until right before it
is needed?” Lydon adds, as an example.
“There’s not much optimization of energy systems going on,” Lydon adds. “I think we’re going to see a lot more.”