The Impact Of Energy Management On Process Automation Systems

By Peter Hogg

In 2012, 4% of large corporations surveyed by Accenture said they deselected suppliers who failed to meet environmental objectives. Another 39% projected that they will soon follow this lead. This increasing focus on sustainable production is not only driven by regulation but also by the ability of sustainably focused companies to outperform their peers.

Strategies for energy efficient production need to take a holistic approach in order to achieve the universal targets of reducing carbon emissions by 20-30%. The approach needs to focus on more efficient equipment, process changes, and operator engagement to make and maintain significant energy savings.

Many companies have started on this journey, often by simply adding some power metering and dashboards. Most of these systems, however, fail to link the consumption with specific production efforts and operational tasks. Consequently, their conversion to real energy savings is low.

In this paper, we will detail the key functions of an energy-aware process automation system (PAS) and how its links between production and energy result in increased production and energy efficiency.