The Characterisation of Energy Consumption in Manufacturing Facilities – A Hierarchical Approach
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Donal Óg Cusack; Eoin O'Driscoll; Garret E. O’Donnell
- Source
- International Journal of Automation Technology. 7:727-734
- Subject
- Computer science
business.industry
Mechanical Engineering
Energy consumption
Process engineering
business
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- Language
- ISSN
- 1883-8022
1881-7629
The continuing inflation of energy costs coupled with the imminent implementation of environmental taxes have placed the manufacturing sector under significant pressure to increase energy performance and reduce emissions. In order to alleviate the impact of this energy price rise, more and more research is focusing on the efficient utilisation of energy. In order to quantify the impact of any energy efficient machine tool or facility optimisations it is first necessary to robustly measure, map, and record the initial energy requirements. A hierarchical approach to the quantification and characterisation of electrical energy consumption within manufacturing facilities represents one approach that enables energy efficiency improvements in the manufacturing sector. This research study applies the hierarchical approach in a multinational biomedical device manufacturing facility. A combination of energy measurement devices and systems are used to perform the quantification and characterisation. One objective of this research is to develop absolute energy transparency at each level of the manufacturing facility hierarchy.