Computer‐aided Waste Detection: New Potential for Energy Saving

Published date01 April 1992
Date01 April 1992
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/02635579210012241
Pages16-20
AuthorVilnis Vesma
Subject MatterEconomics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations
16 INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & DATA SYSTEMS 92,4
Computer-
aided
Waste
Detection:
New Potential for Energy
Saving
Vilnis Vesma
D
esk-top computers' ability to display
graphs is important in diagnosing
performance.
Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 92 No. 4, 1992, pp. 16-20,
MCB University Press Limited, 0263-5577
The Context
When companies suffer from excessive energy costs, it
is usually for one of
two
reasons: either the price which
they
pay is too
high,
or they use too much
in
the first place.
If they use too much, that in itself can have two causes.
Either there is underlying inefficiency, because plant and
buildings are inherently poor performers, or they
will
have
been hit
by
operational problems which have caused their
plant or buildings to perform less economically than they
should. These operational faults themselves fall into two
categories: predictable, and unexpected.
Thus,
at the end of
the
day,
we have four basic conditions
which can cause excessive energy costs:
Price too high.
Underlying inefficiency.
Predictable fault.
Unexpected change in performance.
For each of these general cases there is
a
distinct defence.
The defence against high prices is to take care of tariffs
and contracts. In the case of underlying inefficiency, the
defence is a survey of the plant and equipment and
investment in modifications or replacements to improve
it. When it comes to operational problems of the
predictable variety (things like burners going out of
adjustment) a good defence is periodic inspection and
maintenance.
Lastly, we have unexpected change in performance, and
it is here that monitoring against targets comes into its
own.
And
it
is
on this
and especially the new role played
by personal computers that I will concentrate.
Aims of the Technique
What sorts of thing can go wrong unexpectedly? By
definition, the answer
is
"almost anything". But, to give
some
examples:
thermostats can be tampered
with;
time
switches can stick or
be
overridden; office staff can import
unauthorized electric
heaters;
managers and operators can
inadvertently
or deliberately
indulge
in
bad operating
practices. An example here would be to leave unwanted
auxiliary plant running idle.
So any organization needs to be able to do three things.
First it needs to be able to
detect
unexpected waste
promptly; second, having detected it, it needs to estimate
the
excess cost
of each incident so that priorities can be
set; and third, for those problems that drag on, the
organization needs to be able to
diagnose
the timing and
nature of the underlying fault.
The Method
How can these three objectives
detection, costing and
diagnosis
be met? The answer turns out to be very
simple. It is a question of measuring how much energy
you consume each month or each week, and comparing
it with
a
target. The target is not just
a
fixed amount, but
is variable, and is linked by a fixed mathematical
relationship with some "determining factor" such as
production volume. Each week or each month, as new
information comes in, the energy consumption and
production volume could be plotted on a graph and you
would expect
to
see
all
the plotted
points
falling
in a
straight
line.
It is this straight line which represents the "target
performance characteristic'' for that particular stream
of
consumption. Figure 1 illustrates this.
On the first occasion on which a consumption volume is
recorded which lies significantly above that target
line,
you
will have detected an incipient fault.

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