Industrial motor-driven systems consume more than 70% of global manufacturing electricity annually and offer one of the largest opportunities for energy savings. Program experiences in the US, the United Kingdom, and China have demonstrated that energy savings opportunities are typically 20% or more for these systems across all industrial sectors.
Despite the potential benefits, energy savings from motor-driven systems have remained largely unrealized worldwide. Both markets and policy makers tend to focus on system components, which have a typical improvement potential of 2-5% versus 20-50% for systems. Determining how to optimize a system requires a high level of technical skill. In addition, once an energy efficiency project is completed, the energy savings are often not sustained due to changes in personnel and production processes. Although training and educational programs to promote system optimization have proven effective, these resource-intensive efforts have only reached a small portion of the market.
The same factors that make it so challenging to achieve and sustain energy efficiency in motor-driven systems (complexity, frequent changes) apply to the production processes that they support. Yet production processes typically operate within a narrow band of acceptable performance. These processes are frequently incorporated into ISO 9000/14000 quality and environmental management systems, which require regular, independent audits to maintain ISO certification, an attractive value for international trade.
This paper presents a new approach to achieving industrial system efficiency (motors and steam) by creating a top-down and bottom-up framework that will encourage plants to incorporate system energy efficiency into their existing ISO management systems. We will describe the Industrial Systems Framework, which is being prepared for China, but applicable elsewhere, that includes national standards and an Industrial Systems Optimization Library. ISO work instructions are part of the framework, so that a plant can easily incorporate projects into their ISO Quality Environmental Manual. The goal is to provide a plant-based mechanism that helps each company maintain their focus on energy efficiency commitments, provide visibility for its achievements, and provide verification of results for financial backers (including carbon traders) to help stimulate much greater industrial energy efficiency.
