Energy metering in the process industries

Currently, how well geared up are UK process companies to measure the amount of energy they are using within their industrial operations?

For UK process companies, industrial energy monitoring is still very much a work in progress. The main driver to measure energy consumption in any industry is cost management, but UK process companies - who are considered major energy users - must also face up to Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) legislation, and the associated compliance costs.

Another aspect this industry needs to consider is how they differ from standard buildings and businesses, where energy consumption is affected by internal and external environmental conditions. For this industry, the bulk of energy consumption in manufacturing and process industries is caused and influenced by other conditions such as manufacturing run times, production figures and equipment performance/diagnostics.

How should companies set about tackling these projects?

The first step for UK process companies is to measure energy spend and carbon emissions, and at the same time submit information to conform to the CRC legislation. Once submitted, the next step is to move ‘up the ladder’ and show improvements in carbon emission figures - and herein lies the complexity for this industry.

Data from fiscal meters tell these businesses how much energy they’re consuming and how much carbon they’re emitting - but it doesn’t tell them where, when and why. Sub-metering is an obvious next step, allowing areas within the business to be targeted and analysed accordingly.

Taking what we have noted above, the next requirement for these businesses to really analyse energy spend and opportunities for reduction is to map business intelligence data - such as information from equipment diagnostics and production figures - against the sub-metering data. The business will now be able to pin-point energy consumption patterns against processes and business functions.

Unfortunately, other than the software suite produced by t-mac, there are not many systems in the marketplace which offer the facility to align business intelligence information such as production figures and machine diagnostics and display this with energy data from sub-metering devices. That lack of availability - and consequent lack of knowledge - means UK process companies are lagging behind when it comes to measuring and managing the amount of energy used within their industrial operations.

Given the increases in energy costs over recent years, are many UK process companies still at the ‘starting gate’ when it comes to introducing energy-metering systems?

Yes, very much so. Obviously the economic situation in the UK and much of the rest of the world is still very difficult, and fuel costs have continued to rise inexorably - making life difficult for business.

It may seem surprising, then, that those businesses have not paid closer attention to their bottom line - including the amount they spend on energy. The CRC will play a large part in alerting firms to the amount they could be saving on energy by using the right metering and monitoring techniques, but sadly encourages single-point metering at the incoming mains supply rather than a sub-metered approach which could be more beneficial.

CRC legislation has pushed the need for fiscal metering data in process industries, which are considered major energy consumers. Analysis of mains and sub-metering data against energy influencers such as production figures and machinery conditions is still a little way off - but doesn’t need to be.

Saving energy requires some commitment from business, and a willingness to take up the right technology and work with staff or building occupiers to ensure they’re not seeing their profits lost through energy mismanagement.

What are the key trends in energy-metering technologies for the process industries, and what are the main drivers behind the introduction of these technologies?

The days of simply mapping energy usage at a one-stop mains meter should be a thing of the past. Sub-metering of key areas and important equipment is the way forward - with cost savings the main driver for change.

For UK process industries, however, sub-metering and monitoring brings vast amounts of data every day. Software, therefore, needs to be manageable and workable for the users. Real-time alerts can make a significant impact in this management process.

Setting up alerts against profiles and consumption targets helps to raise awareness of inefficiencies as-it-happens, and alerts against equipment diagnostics help M&E/maintenance teams pin-point a fault immediately and rectify before it causes cost to the business in excess energy use and downtime.

But the software should not just be used for alerting. It should be able to analyse data from metering points as well as production figures and machine diagnostics, mapping them against each other to provide the business with ‘reasons’ for energy consumption and subsequent cost. Here the software can be used to educate and influence building occupiers, getting all everyone involved in the energy management strategy from the start through showcasing and the drip-feeding of information to different areas of the business.

What are the biggest challenges for process companies when it comes to selecting, specifying and introducing effective energy-monitoring systems?

In essence, the key challenge is finding the right technology for the situation - and that means finding a system which does more than mains metering and more than monitoring weather, temperature, humidity and pressure. Advanced building energy management systems like t-mac, which incorporate other business intelligence factors alongside real-time sub-metering, allow industries to take control of their energy usage in many different areas.

Obviously the requirements of all UK process companies differ, and any system needs to be flexible enough to meet their needs. Metering, monitoring and business intelligence analysis perspectives all need to be taken into account, but clear and informative reporting is also key for the end user, who will not want to struggle daily with complicated software interfaces. Energy monitoring technology needs to be understandable by every user, from the FD and energy managers through to building occupiers - whose buy-in can be crucial in making real savings.

Dashboards like those produced by the t-mac software can encourage staff to take ownership of energy savings by displaying the energy repercussions of the actions they take in a clear, functional and timely way. Their input can then add value in different areas of a business - from the offices to the canteen and WCs.

By making the most of technology, businesses in the process industries can feel confident about the future - and equally confident that their bottom line is better protected than ever.