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Energy Management Systems (EMS) 101Author: Atindra Chandel (achandel@masplantiz.com)

Introduction

Saving energy directly leads to large financial andenvironmental benefits. Energy Management Systems may

help you to reduce energy consumption by up to 20%-30%.While some companies succeeded at achieving thisreduction, others have failed. How is it that few companiesare achieving such incredible result with the sametechnology? This paper tries to answer this question anddiscover a better approach to energy management. I haveprovided a questionnaire at the end to help you evaluateyour organizations effort in energy conservation.

What is an EMS?

EMS stands for Energy Management System. As per the oldschool of thought EMS is a combination of hardware andsoftware that helps you to:

Monitor - Regular collection of information on energyconsumption in order to establish a basis for energy

management and explain deviations from targets.

Analyze - An information system that stores and analyzesenergy-consumption data. It helps you identify trends as tohow energy was used at various production levels of amanufacturing process or ambient temperature for abuilding.

Target - Setting targets to reduce or control energyconsumption based on an appropriate standard orbenchmark.

Control Implementing management and technologicalmeasures to correct any variances from target.

This is a conservative definition of an EMS system and isprimarily centered on technology. According to the improvedapproach, an Energy Management System (EMS) is people

centric. It is incomplete without Engagement.

Engagement - The main objective of engagement is toconnect users actions with energy consumption. Bydisplaying real-time consumption information, users see theimmediate impact of their actions.Letting users know theirreal-time consumption alone can be responsible for asubstantial reduction in energy consumption.

System Architecture An EMS consists of smart energymeters, sensors and devices that monitor energyconsumption and factors effecting consumption. Thesedevices transmit data over wired or wireless network to acentral server. An interactive application helps you inanalyzing and reporting information, while engaging users.

Figure 1: Energy Management System Overview

Will installing an EMS lead to a 30% reduction in energyconsumption?

Usually customers think that installing an EMS system will

itself reduce their energy consumption. This is an incorrectview. An EMS in itself has limited capability of reducingconsumption, until it is supported by commitment frompeople running it. EMS has to be supported by properutilization of the analyzed data. The hardware and softwarewill only be of a limited utility without a supportingmanagement program. You can also delegate this work to anexternal consultant, who can help you achieve the desiredresults.

How to choose an Energy Management System?

One of the important prerequisite to success is choosing theright Energy Management System. I have summarized a fewpoints that you should take care of:

1. Choose an Energy Management System (EMS) vendor

who can provide the hardware, software, and consultingsupport to effectively run the program.

2. While selecting the energy meters make sure theyprovide the measurement you require. The metersshould have capability to communicate on an openprotocol like MODBUS. This will not tie you down to asingle hardware or software vendor. You can choosefrom the following meters:

Energy Meter or RMS Meter These provide keyparameters like Energy, Power Factor (PF),Demand etc.

Network Analyzers Additionally these metersprovide Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and/orindividual harmonics.

The Indian Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)requires permanently installed fixed metering based onfollowing three criteria:

a. Load greater than 1000 kVA -Shall havemetering to record demand (kVA), energy (kWh),total power factor, current (in each phase and theneutral), voltage (between phases and betweeneach phase and neutral), and Total HarmonicDistortion (THD) as a percentage of total current.

b. Load not exceeding 1000 kVA but over 65 kVA -Shall have metering to record demand (kW),energy (kWh), and total power factor (or kVARh)

c. Load not exceeding 65 kVA -Shall have meteringto record energy (kWh)

3. While selecting the software, keep the following inmind:

Try to avoid desktop applications that limit sharingof data to a single location, plant or PC. Theseapplications are poor in engaging users.

Energy management software that is built on webtechnologies is better suited to handle enterpriselevel sharing and reporting.

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The software should support engagement throughinteractive dashboards, email and SMS.

A good EMS should be expandable and allow youto monitor other related parameters liketemperature, fuel level etc. (via sensors anddevices) in conjunction with energy measurement.

How to implement an Energy Management System?

The following steps are involved in implementing an EMS:

1. Choose a vendor who can provide you a completesolution Hardware, Software and Consulting

2. Identify the key areas where energy is beingconsumed, the plant is broken down into theseareas. Generally, most of the energy consumptionis concentrated in a small number of processes,like lighting, heating, or certain machinery.

3. Install individual meters to monitor these areas(load).

4. Assess what other measurements will be requiredto analyze the consumption appropriately. Thisdata will be used to chart against the energyconsumption: these are underlying factors whichinfluence the consumption, often production (forindustry processes) or ambient temperature (forHVAC), but may include many other variables.

5. Create a communication program to engage theend users. This can be in form of emails, SMS,posters or interactive dashboards.

6. Create management targets and reports to monitoractual consumption against these targets.

7. Analyze data collected to identify areas that haveconsumption higher that the targeted consumption.

8. Implement controls to reduce consumption inproblem areas.

What are the key cost components?

Hardware Cost of meters, sensors, communicationdevices etc. that is installed.

Software Licensing or monthly service charge for energymanagement software.

Consulting Cost of consulting services for design,implementation and training.

What is the usual payback period?

Depending upon the size of the facility the usual paybackperiod is 12-24 months.

Evaluate your facility

I have provided a few questions that you can ask inside yourorganization to evaluate your energy conservation effort.

1. Do you have a detailed Energy Management Plan inplace?

Yes No

2. Do you monitor and record your energy consumptionfor different operations or plant area?

Yes No

3. Have you assigned the energy managementresponsibility to a person or team that can measure,coordinate and follow-up and see the high level picture?

Yes No

4. Do you have an Energy Management System in place?

Yes No

5. Do you have a communication system to engageenergy users, visualization that they can understandand act on?

Yes No

6. Have you ever evaluated your thermal insulationeffectiveness?

Yes No N/A

7. Do you regularly check for compressed air leaks? Anair leak, it's a 100% waste of energy and costing you alot of money!

Yes No N/A

8. Have you replaced your lighting with fluorescent or LED

fixtures?

Yes No N/A

9. Have you implemented variable frequency drives(VFDs) for multispeed loads?

Yes No N/A

10. Do you use synchronous motors or switched capacitorsor Automatic Power Factor Control (APFC) to correctthe power factor?

Yes No N/A

11. Do you control resistive loads (cookers, heaters)operation with controllers (like AC Drive controls)

designed for resistive loads? Yes No N/A

12. Have large plant equipment starting sequenced plant-wide?

Yes No N/A

13. Do you "harvest" the energy from plant air compressorsand refrigeration units to provide heat for anotheroperation?

Yes No N/A

14. Do you use products like soft starters where largecontactors are being implemented?

Yes No N/A

15. Do you have induction heating system as opposed tofurnace or coil heating?

Yes No N/A

If the answer to majority of the questions was NO you havea good chance of benefiting from an EMS or energyconservation program.