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Industrial energy efficiency has improved dramatically in recent decades. Even so, a large portion of global energy demand still goes towards manufacturing operations. The high level of energy that industrial plants consume has a major impact on both the economy and the environment.
For today’s industrial organizations, maintaining sustainable operations has become a key requirement. With the green energy movement gaining momentum, manufacturing facilities are seeking to become more energy-efficient. One of the highest priorities is effective energy management. Plant managers have the challenging task of managing all the flow energy in their facility. They and their facility operators and MRO teams need proven technologies to monitor the consumption of energy in a wide range of applications.
Many industrial sites can significantly improve their operating efficiency, and apply industry-accepted energy management strategies, by deploying advanced flow measurement technology. The latest ultrasonic flow meter solutions enable plants to obtain the information needed to meet their sustainability goals, reduce energy costs, and improve overall performance.
The MRO department of the factory must try to better monitor key factors related to energy, such as combustion air and gas flow, to identify losses and improve profitability. By monitoring the end-use position of fuel in the whole plant and measuring the consumption rate of each application, factory personnel can gain an in-depth understanding of the potential areas of efficiency optimization. This is also the case of power consumption. In both cases, the reduction of energy use can be achieved only by determining the location where the resource loss occurs.
For example, the combustion efficiency of air and fuel mixture is a key issue in boiler operation. Excessive oxygen will reduce the operating efficiency of the boiler and lead to undesirable pollutants. Similarly, too little oxygen will lead to incomplete combustion of fuel, and will cause soot accumulation that blocks the surface and reduces the efficiency of the boiler.
Comparing the flow rates of natural gas, propane and other fuel gases with the steam and hot water output of these assets will help drive the operational efficiency plan. Evaluating equipment performance based on accurate flow data is also helpful for the factory to optimize its strategy. Reducing fuel consumption is one of the easiest ways to reduce operating expenses (OPEX) and increase profits.
Whether industrial organizations try to meet strict energy consumption requirements and comply with greenhouse gas (GHG) standards, or want to apply industry best practices to optimize processes, they can use advanced measurement technology to provide the information needed to achieve energy efficiency goals, save money and improve factory performance.
In applications where hot water and heated liquid need to be measured, such as measuring boiler output to determine whether equipment is running effectively, factory personnel can deploy flow meters with integrated temperature measurement function to measure supply and return temperatures, and then calculate heat energy in BTU. Temperature measurement is usually realized by using precision resistance temperature detector (RTD), while liquid flow measurement can be carried out by electromagnetic flowmeter, turbine flowmeter, ultrasonic flowmeter or various other flow measurement technologies.
In recent years, ultrasonic flowmeter has become a common choice for engineers, operators and maintenance technicians who are concerned about equipment energy management. These devices adopt proven non-invasive measurement technology, which does not involve moving or liquid-contacting parts and will not cause pressure loss. The flow sensor is made of standard silica gel and can be connected with the pipeline for a long time. Ultrasonic instrument design provides wide adjustment ratio and maintenance-free operation-all of which are important advantages over traditional mechanical and digital instruments.
Figure 1. In recent years, ultrasonic flow meters have become a common choice for engineers, operators and maintenance technicians concerned with managing energy at their facilities.
Transmission time ultrasonic flowmeter is especially suitable for thermal measurement in thermal energy monitoring applications. With this clip-on instrument, the ultrasonic signal is transmitted to the downstream flowing fluid, and then another signal is transmitted to the upstream flowing fluid. Compare the time of sound wave pulse traveling downstream with the time of pulse traveling upstream. This differential time is used to determine the velocity of flowing fluid, and then calculate the volume flow in the pipeline.
Using a pair of matched RTD temperature sensor probes, the time-of-flight ultrasonic flowmeter can measure the thermal energy (BTU) using the temperature of the supply and return lines of the heating or cooling circuit. These instruments usually provide input and output interfaces, batch control and alarm, and flow/energy accumulation, which can be used by host computer, burner management system (BMS), PLC or flow controller for monitoring and control purposes.
A solution combining the clamp transmission time ultrasonic flowmeter with the precision RTD provides a cost-effective way to measure volume flow and obtain energy readings to evaluate the operation efficiency of boilers, chillers and other factory equipment. By measuring the flow rate and temperature difference (δ t), the user can calculate the energy consumed in BTU. Equipment efficiency can then be calculated as a benchmark, and continuous performance can be continuously monitored.
With the clamp ultrasonic flowmeter, there is no need to cut pipes during installation, and there is no need of heat permit for field welding. This equipment can provide high precision for most flow and BTU energy measurement applications. This type of instrument also provides an extremely wide range ratio and maintenance-free operation.
Monitoring energy consumption in industrial equipment applications is critical to improving plant operating efficiency, identifying the waste of resources and minimizing greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere. Modern flow meter technologies like transit time ultrasonic meters provide accurate flow energy measurements that make it possible to meet corporate energy management objectives while supporting today’s green energy initiatives.
When specifying a flow measurement solution, factory managers, operators, engineers and maintenance and reliability professionals should consider all relevant application factors (for example, fluid type, flow rate, accuracy and range ratio requirements, etc.). It is suggested that SUNCENT can be consulted to recommend the best instrument for a specific installation position, instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
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