Identification of energy saving potential in steam boiler through an ISO 50001 standard

The energy performance of steam boilers, such as the efficiency and the evaporation ratio can decrease along time because of the poor combustion, heat transfer fouling, poor operation, and low maintenance rate. The energy indicators assessment allows to observe the abnormal operational deviations to implement corrective action, so it is necessary to find out the level of efficiency in real time to evaluate the thermal performance, which is an obligatory requirement to implement the energy management program in the industry. As a contribution in the area of energy efficiency in steam boilers, the results of an applied research are presented, where the behavior of steam production and gas consumption as input variables were considered to apply the methodology and obtain the energy saving results on a boiler from 125.000lb/h steam capacity. The consumption and energy production control charts, the base and goal line, and base 100 indicators were calculated to facilitate the energy monitoring of the steam boiler for a period six month. Letting the application of the methodology to recognize saving opportunities starting from the analysis of variables that impact the energy consumption affected by different ways energy consumption of the company. The study showed a linear base with the form EB = 0.0595x + 0.988, with a linear correlation equal to R2 = 0.973 and a goal line EG = 0.0586x + 1.3814, with a linear correlation of R² = 0.97, which means statistical validity in the data collection. Additionally, the base 100 index was calculated to identify satisfactory the peaks of energy efficiency, showing efficiency and inefficiency in the process. The study shows that data reflected below the efficiency rate (100) are considered peaks of energy inefficiency, which means energy saving opportunities for operational control, maintenance management, production planning, besides the typical ones due to technological changes

Ten systemic steps for sustainable energy savings in small and medium enterprises

Energy savings are a priority in the different industrial sectors including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). They have a conceptual perception of energy savings by replacing their service and production technologies with more efficient one. However, this technological change requires large-scale investment. There is another approach that can be used to reduce energy costs that has less impact on company production costs and does not require investments in technology. This approach considers planning and control procedures, which are considered in the present study. This study proposes a new method consisting of 10 systematic steps to achieve energy savings in SMEs. This method initially evaluates when, how, and where the energy is used, then identifies opportunities to achieve sustainable energy savings. The method involves various activities including an assessment of energy efficiency based on final energy consumption, adjusting production plans with low energy consumption and costs, and monitoring the energy budget. Application of this methodology in SMEs can save energy around 5 − 20% over a period of 1 to 3 y with some very low payback periods of less than a year. Operational controls implementation in Significant Energy Uses (SEU) can save energy around 2 − 5% of the consumption, without requiring investment in technology

Simultaneous sulfidation/oxidation of a ferritic steel under a simulated mixture of flue gas from an oil refinery

Ferritic steels are exposed to simultaneous oxidizing/sulfiding environments during their service in industrial furnaces, which intensify their degradation and reduce their expected lifetime. This research supplies different corrosion details from those highly reported for the studied alloy under single oxidation or sulfidation atmospheres, as well as from those works developed on oxyfuel gas mixtures. The experimental data obtained by us were compared with an oxidation paper previously published by the same authors but without the additional effect of sulfur oxides. The simulated conditions used included temperatures from 450 to 750 °C, exposure times up to 200 h, and a flue gas molar composition without the carbon dioxide influence. As a result, the oxidation mechanism was markedly affected by bulk and surface sulfur compounds, due to their strong adsorption, pathways blocking, and induced layer spallation. This study aimed to identify sulfur compounds onto the oxide layers by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which were later validated through a ferritic-steel sample extracted from a refinery furnace. Finally, the present work contributes to the field of physics-physical chemistry-by providing the thermodynamic equilibrium of sulfur oxides at tested conditions and the kinetic behavior of the scale

PEST analysis of wind energy in the world: From the worldwide boom to the emergent in Colombia

This article presents the analysis of the political, economic, social and technological aspects of the countries with the greatest development and generation of wind energy in the world, with the aim of studying the successes and disadvantages over the years and serve as a reference to a country like Colombia, which is in full technological development and is very interested in investing in new alternatives to the imminent ecological disaster resulting from polluting emissions. Colombia signs the Paris Agreement and immediately creates a large number of opportunities supported by state policies and economic investment, specifically in the construction of wind farms that guarantee a real alternative to the country's energy demand. Wind energy supplies 5% of the world's electricity, a contribution in which countries such as the United States, China, and Germany are the main producers. For this reason, it is necessary to study and analyze the factors that prevent the technological development of wind energy in Colombia, if it is considered a country with abundant resources in renewable energy sources and zero cost, a country that aspires to be a protagonist in the next 5 years according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy

Techno-economic analysis of on-grid biomass renewable energy power station: A case study in Caribbean region of Colombia

In this article a techno-economic study of an Electric-Biomass on-grid power plant is presented, in order to compare the performance and the operating annual cost under some types of biogas produced from poultry, bovine and porcine manure, and solid urban organic waste, using the Homer® software to develop many solutions. Certainly, the best set up had the maximum combined renewable energy with a minimum electric consumption from the grid. The scheme was integrated by two 500kW biogas-powered electric generator on grid to supply an average energy of 1401.6kW, with an annual operating cost of $2.09 million when the energy supply is electric. Results presented a significant operational cost reduction when the biogas generator is operating on grid, finding an 8.61% of cost decrease using biogas generated from poultry, bovine and porcine manure, and a 10.53% of cost decrease using biogas from solid urban organic waste from centers and grocery market places at Caribbean Region of Colombia

Variable control tool in MATLAB for energy transformation processes

During the stages of transformation of energy in a process, exercise control over the variables that intervene in it, improve its performance, and identify undesirable conditions in these. Thus, this study is developed as a graphical interface to implement a methodology for controlling variables of energy conversion processes, such as internal combustion engines. The control tool developed in MATLAB variables is based on multivariate statistics. The methods for developing this tool of Graphic User Interface is based on the statistics of principal component analysis and failure statistics such as T! Hotelling and the Q statistic that allows the control of anomalies presented in the operation's behavior. About the methodology, first, the input data are normalized, achieving standardization of the observation matrix vs. variables, then the spectral decomposition of the normalized data is performed, reaching the generation of the matrix of auto-values, allowing the age of the projection space of the data. With this based and delimited, it is possible to establish the ranges of observation of the mentioned statisticians. The result obtained from this research corresponds to software that allows the constant observation and analysis of the behavior of each variable of the generation engine. It describes the upper limit, lower limit, arithmetic mean, principal components, graphics of the statistics, and detects the failures in real times

Analysis and optimization for the process of glass tempering using autoclave

A mathematical analysis of the glass tempering process was carried out using an autoclave, varying the operating parameters of the system. It was found that the process time can be reduced by up to 3.23% by changing the resistance to 15Ω, but increasing the resistance more than this value would mean compromising the quality of the final product. Thus, it is advisable to make variations of the resistance between 10Ω and15Ω, which will allow the optimization of the process time and pressures without affecting the quality of the resul

Bibliometric study of state observer research applied to internal combustion engine

The present study was conducted to evaluate the worldwide scientific production related to observers applied to internal combustion engines by taking information from the Web of Science (WoS) database and taking the papers published between 2001 − 2017. The works found are mostly research articles with a total of 130 articles equivalent to 97.01%, of the 134 articles studied, and it was also noted that the production of this type of work increased in the last 3 years, with the maximum value in 2015 being 22 articles, even in those 3 years, the greatest number of references were also found. The United States is the country with the highest number of publications with 42 followed by People´s Republic of China, France and UK with 41, 11 and 11 respectively. Although the USA is the country with the highest number of publications, China has consolidated its position as the country with the highest number of publications and citations in the last 3 years. However, within the top 10 institutes with the highest number of publications, 4 of them are from the United States, among which Ohio State University stands out as the institute with the highest number of publications with 16 (11.9%). On the other hand, the most commonly used words in the documents were observer (91), control (47), engine (47), based (42) and estimation (41)

Articulation of environmental management in projects of non-conventional energy sources in the Caribbean Colombian region

This work addresses an inclusion methodology based on criteria for the implementation of non-conventional energy sources and critical environmental factors for the licensing of the same, which is applied to the case study installation of wind turbines in seawater desalination plants in Isla Grande - Bolívar, this study was carried out taking into account field visits, and previous studies, where its main researchers and observers coincide with the authors of this article, the proposal includes aspects that involve the matrix of project stakeholders, work is completed with the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the factors of greater environmental impact, within the obtained results it is emphasized that the greatest impact that this project makes to 170 habitants of Isla Grande Bolivar is the changes of the current and/or potential use of soil, soil contamination and displacement of birds, In mammal, reptile and amphibian communities, it is suggested that Environmental Management Plans (PMA) be implemented, such as programs for conservation management, soil resource management, and vegetation and wildlife management programs, allowing for effective licensing of the project benefiting equally the interest group