5 Ways to Cut Energy Costs in High-Load Industrial Environments

Introduction

In high-load industrial environments, energy efficiency is an issue due to the high demand in these areas. That is why it is important to know how to cut energy costs when operating one. Methods such as knowing your power factor and reactive power compensation can help in cutting costs.

What Drives Energy Costs in High-Load Industrial Systems 

When trying to increase your energy efficiency, you should know what drives your energy consumption. In high-load industrial systems, having a low power factor, poor visibility into the system performance, and high reactive loads can lead to higher electricity and operational costs. When working in a heavy industrial setting, motors, compressors, and HVAC systems produce reactive power. Reactive power is a culprit when it comes to increased current flow, transformer capacity strains, and incurring kVA-based charges.

When looking to increase efficiency when it comes to your power consumption, you’ll need accurate measurements. That is why owning modern energy meters that provide added accuracy with their readings can help reveal trends in power consumption. It can provide information on real and reactive power, voltage, power factor, and current.

Information is a powerful tool, and in heavy industry operations, it can help you cut down on energy costs and improve your consumption. Not having a read on your systems’ performance can cause bigger problems in the future. Aside from high energy costs, inefficient systems can lead to machine damage and unplanned shutdowns.

Proven Strategies to Reduce Energy Use in High-Load Industrial Operations

In this section, we’ll discuss different strategies that can help you reduce energy consumption in high-load industrial settings. 

1. Improve Power Factor for Significant Electricity Cost Reduction 

A low power factor means your electrical system is not using energy efficiently. When your real power in kW has a ratio with your apparent power in kVA that is less than 1. Low energy efficiency can lead to more utility charges as kVA demand grows. Inductive loads lead to reactive power being generated and reduce the available capacity in your transformers and cables. Inductive loads include motors, conveyors, HVAC systems, and chillers.

When your machines’ reactive power is low, it causes additional flow, which leads to more losses, added operational strain, and voltage drops. In order to improve electricity cost reduction, you’ll have to deploy strategies to improve your power factor. One strategy you can deploy is using energy meters that can give vital information. 

There are a lot of energy meter options, but some of the most capable are CHINT’s CHS150, CHS120-p, CHS120, CHS390, and DDSY666 DIN-rail meter.  They can measure and provide information regarding your kW, kvar, Vrms, frequency, and power factor. Using energy meters will allow you to address any drops in efficiency and improve them in order to now waste energy and allow for electricity cost reduction.

2. Apply Reactive Power Compensation and Power Factor Correction to Boost Energy Efficiency

Improving your power factor and deploying reactive power compensation leads to a lot of positives that can increase your overall energy efficiency. Increased power factor scores lead to less reactive penalties, freeing transformer capacity, and reducing heating losses in your conductors. To combat the negative effects of having a low power factor, there are standardized industry methods deployed in heavy industry settings. These include automatic capacitor banks, detuned reactors, and intelligent capacitor controls.

These systems assist in stabilizing your power factor and improve energy cost reduction by connecting or disconnecting capacitor modules and correct your power factor. An example of this is CHINT’s JKF8 Intelligent Low-Voltage Reactive Power Compensation Controller. This product features power factor and reactive control functionalities, as well as a real-time display of PF, voltage, current, and active or reactive power. It also allows for automatic capacitor switching that has protection from low current, over-voltage events, delay time, and polarity recognition. These functions can help you achieve power factor correction, leading to better management of energy costs.

3. Reduce Losses and Prevent Failures with Harmonic Filters

Using harmonic filters can lead to a reduction in losses and prevent points of failure. Harmonics are waveforms of voltage or current. Distortions created by VFDs, inverters, high-frequency equipment, and UPS systems can lead to equipment damage, increased heating, and reduced efficiency. Harmonic filters remove unnecessary frequencies that reduce distortions and protect motors, transformers, and cables. Harmonic filters are important as they are able to combat heat and imbalance.

Systems that are damaged due to excessive heat and vibrations have their efficiency lowered. Harmonic filtering filters out vibrations from components that can cause these problems. This is important in high-load environments, as multiple machines working with each other will produce more heat and vibration that can damage other components. Having a tool to safeguard your machines will lead to better efficiency and more industrial energy savings.

4. Strengthen Load Management With Real-Time Energy Monitoring and Smart Energy Meters 

Load management allows you to control reactive power surges, load spikes, and equipment operating in excessive ranges. Monitoring is one form of load management and will help you and your workers keep track of your components’ efficiency. A few great tools for monitoring machines in a heavy industrial environment are energy meters and gateways. Digital energy meters and communication gateways allow operators to get real-time information regarding the status of their machines. They can also give an insight into whether a machine is working optimally or may need servicing due to inefficiency. 

These tools allow you to balance your load and prevent any damage to the machines, as well as optimize energy use during high-tariff periods. You’ll also be able to monitor your machines remotely and not need to be present. Examples of these tools are CHINT’s CHG540 or CHG580 gateways, which are excellent for data gathering GPRS/3G/4G, PLC, Wi-SUN, RS485). These can help you monitor systems in heavy industrial areas and pinpoint any potential faults or inconsistencies.

5. Improve Long-Term Performance Through System Design, Load Balancing, and Maintenance

The last step in improving your energy efficiency and lowering costs is by deploying load balancing strategies, conducting frequent maintenance, and system design. Integrating monitoring systems into low-voltage equipment can help you maintain long-term energy stability. 

Aside from integrating monitoring systems, deploying preventive measures is also important. You can inspect your capacitors, test harmonic filters, calibrate CT/VT, conduct thermal scans, and tighten terminations. These preventive steps can help your system have high power factor scores and ensure its efficiency. Maintenance practices make sure your systems are performing as expected and prevent unplanned downtimes and energy waste that lead to higher costs.

Lastly, periodic audits are a great way to keep track of equipment schedules, compensation settings, and matching real consumption trends with your load distribution. Allowing you to balance your consumption with your load and conduct load switching when needed, improving efficiency.

Applying these will help you cut down on unnecessary energy costs and will also lead to better overall efficiency in the workplace. 

Conclusion

Energy costs in industrial settings are very high, and to cut them, you will need to improve your power factor. You’ll also need to reduce your harmonics, maintain a well-engineered system, and monitor. CHINT is a global provider of smart low-voltage solutions that can help you cut energy costs and improve efficiency.

Contact CHINT Global today to ask our experts’ opinions on how to cut energy costs.