Conducting an energy audit can help you identify potential areas of improvement in Factories

An ideal way of identifying energy management opportunities in your factories?is to conduct an energy audit as part of the process of developing your energy management strategy. An energy audit is a periodic examination of your factories?energy system, or part of the system, to ensure the most appropriate sources of energy are employed, and that this energy is used as efficiently as possible. While the audit is the systematic gathering and evaluation of energy data about an factories?and its processes, the purpose is to promote efficiencies, which will benefit the entire factories??including staff. For the audit to be meaningful, it will be necessary to discuss the auditing process with all staff, both senior and general, and obtain their cooperation in data gathering. Employees are often the most valuable source of information about waste and inefficiencies audit can be conducted by an ESCO?

Approaching the Energy Audit

There are three stages to the energy audit process. These are:

Stage 1: an audit of historical data

Collect and analyze company records of energy use to determine:

? the cost and physical quantities of energy inputs used;

? annual and seasonal trends in energy use and cost;

? the energy use per unit of output.

Stage 2: the screening survey

Undertake a screening study of energy use in the organisation to indicate:

? major energy consuming plant and processes;

? obvious energy waste and inefficiencies;

? gaps in the metering and reporting of energy use;

? priority areas for further investigation of likely inefficient

energy systems.

Stage 3: detailed investigation and analysis

Processes identified by the screening survey that justify further

investigation will have to be examined.

Stage 1: an audit of historical data The first stage involves the collection of all available energy accounts and production records (if necessary). The objective is to identify and quantify each of the energy forms. This will provide a basis on which the ESCO can evaluate future performances and indicate which areas warrant closer examination. . The ESCO will list all energy forms for the current year and convert them to a common unit. This will give the relative importance of each energy form. Listing the unit cost and total expenditure of each energy form is also desirable so that priorities may be assessed based on the relative importance of each fuel. If similar records are available for several years,

Seasonal patterns

The seasonal consumption pattern for each major form of energy provides valuable information. The space heating or cooling components can often be estimated from such profiles where consumption is metered separately. In this part of the process it is possible to determine your premise’s cooling and heating energy with reasonable degree of confidence

Review purchasing arrangements

Purchasing energy supplies at the most favorable price is an important aspect in minimizing energy costs. So detailed information on annual and seasonal consumption, costs, and average prices enables a preliminary analysis of alternative tariffs,?

Plot energy consumption against output?

With sufficient data the ESCO?can determine the level of output during each billing period and calculate the energy use per unit of service or product. Relating consumption and output data in this way gives a broad first estimate of the energy intensity of your operation.

Calculate the specific energy consumption?

This is where energy use is related to a single product or single activity. An index will provide the best means of comparison of current performance with those of the past. In some cases you may also be able to compare your energy use with other other factories the same industry. Industry associations can often assist you in this regard.

Stage 2: the screening survey

The survey can be very simple in plants where there may be few fuels and processes, or very complex where there is an array of equipment and processes. Whichever, the basic principles are the same, and their aim is to establish where obvious energy losses are occurring in the Factories . This stage involves conducting an initial survey to review the Factories gas and electricity metering system, collect detailed energy consumption data for each process and develop a plan of action to senior management. The plan should detail the most important areas of energy cost reduction based on the screening survey. It should also outline the sequence of action necessary to reduce energy costs in the most efficient manner. Items requiring action should be ranked according to the cost and time required for implementation, and the expected payback period or rate of return of each project. The ranking method should be described in detail in the report.

Stage 3: detailed investigation and analysis At this stage you will find that the results of the screening survey will enable you to develop a list of priorities for further detailed studies. But you may also find that some areas such as lighting, air-conditioning, motor drives, compressors or other industrial processes will need more sensitive analysis. You may need specialist assistance here to help you select only those processes that are most likely to yield significant cost savings for a reasonable effort. The survey also should aim to develop norms and targets for energy consumption, which are necessary to control energy use. The results of this detailed investigation and analysis, together with those obtained from the screening survey, should be used to update your Factories energy management strategy, and establish targets for energy efficiency and regular reviews of energy use.