good practice guide | Leonardo ENERGY

Energy Efficiency Self-Assessment in Industry

By

Didier Wijnants

Tue, 05/07/2013 - 17:15

Industrial companies seeking ways to reduce energy consumption often call upon external advisors to assess the energy efficiency of a plant. While this is generally a good idea, it is unwise to leave this task entirely up to the external advisor. Identification of promising opportunities for saving energy requires thorough insight into the plant’s processes and a profound knowledge of the process design. Plant engineers and operators generally have a much greater insight into their plant than external advisors.

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Case Study: Dynamic modeling of the performance of safety electrical circuits during a fire

By

Diedert Debusscher

Tue, 04/16/2013 - 13:54

The conductivity of copper is a factor of 5 less during fire. However, this is not taken into account in the current fire safety standards for cables. Consequently, a simulation case study was carried out on safety cables during a fire based on the design data of an actual large building—the GaleriaTarnovia shopping mall in Tarnow, Poland—in order to investigate cables’ properties in this situation and ensure future cable effectiveness.

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Heat Pumps for Larger Buildings

By

Keeran Jugdoyal

Fri, 04/05/2013 - 11:15

Heat pumps are increasingly being used in medium and large buildings to provide both heating and cooling. If specified and installed correctly they present a very good opportunity to save energy and reduce carbon emissions compared to traditional building heating and cooling technologies. This application note provides an overview of the types of heat pumps available along with the advantages and constraints of installing them in larger buildings.

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Standard EN 50160

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Fri, 03/22/2013 - 14:55

Voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public electricity networks

Standard EN 50160 should be understood as representing a compromise between the three parties which exert an influence on the power quality, i.e. network operator, network user, and manufacturer of equipment. Each of these three parties has an interest in playing their part. It is essential that electricity suppliers provide, as a minimum, a nominally adequate quality of supply.

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The properties of LED lighting

By

Stefan Fassbinder

Wed, 03/20/2013 - 18:56

Incandescent lamps are cheap but tend to have short lifetimes. The light emitted by incandescent sources is perceived as particularly pleasant because these hot radiators generate a continuous (or full) emission spectrum. Nevertheless, as hot radiators they waste much of the electrical energy supplied to them.

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Energy Efficiency Self-Assessment in Buildings

By

Bruno De Wachter

Tue, 01/29/2013 - 18:14

Energy efficiency has been a key topic for many years now, yet there still remain opportunities to reduce energy use in existing buildings. With existing buildings making up a significant proportion of Europe’s building stock, reducing the energy they consume can help make inroads to meeting carbon reduction targets.

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The Cost of Poor Power Quality

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Tue, 12/11/2012 - 17:56

Power quality is important when market liberalization focuses on electricity price and regulators are focused only on energy efficiency. Lack of power quality may cause damage and the total cost of using electrical energy can be thus doubled.

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Generator Set Design Parameters

By

Bruno De Wachter

Tue, 11/20/2012 - 22:00

The intention of this paper is to look at various aspects of generator sets (gensets) utilised globally to provide medium to long term backup power, and to improve system availability and reliability. Critical locations and applications depend on generators for back-up power. Examples of such critical locations are hospitals, airports, government buildings, telecommunications facilities, data centres, and nuclear power plants.

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UPS Power System Design Parameters

By

Bruno De Wachter

Tue, 08/21/2012 - 18:12

This application note is intended to be a source of guidance and to help reduce confusion pertaining to the design, configuration, selection, sizing, and installation of Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) systems. This document is a useful information source for electrical consultants, electrical engineers, facility managers, and design and build contractors.

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Materials for electric busways

By

Bruno De Wachter

Thu, 08/16/2012 - 15:22

Busbars, busducts, and busways using copper conductors have several advantages compared to their counterparts fabricated from other materials.

The main advantages of copper arise from its high electric conductivity (low electric resistance). These characteristics make it possible to create busways with the same current carrying capacity but that are smaller and/or more energy efficient.

In addition, the use of copper results in highly durable connections that can resist strong mechanical forces.

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Life Cycle Costing - The basics

By

Bruno De Wachter

Wed, 08/15/2012 - 18:00

Many attractive investment projects – for instance in energy efficiency – are not carried out because companies tend to underestimate their financial viability. Companies find it difficult to come up with a well-informed, satisfactory answer to the essential question: which projects are the most profitable in the long-term? What they need is a practical working method that is straightforward to use and produces reliable investment guidance. Life Cycle Costing is just such a method.

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Cable Conductor Sizing for Minimum Life Cycle Cost

By

Bruno De Wachter

Tue, 08/14/2012 - 18:38

Energy prices are high and expected to rise. All CO₂ emissions are being scrutinized by regulators as well as by public opinion. As a result, energy management has become a key factor in almost every business. To get the most out of each kilowatt-hour, appliances must be carefully evaluated for their energy efficiency.

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Safety in non-residential installations

By

Bruno De Wachter

Thu, 07/26/2012 - 16:24

Statistics regarding electrical accidents worldwide indicate that thousands of people are injured or killed every year. Electrical professionals working on the installation, maintenance, repair, and construction of electrical facilities are in fact the very people most likely to experience an electrical accident. Of these, electricians are the most vulnerable. Contact with electrical wiring or other electrical equipment is the most common cause of an electrical accident.

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Stochastic Life Cycle Costing

By

Bruno De Wachter

Thu, 07/05/2012 - 17:45

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) analysis helps you compare several investment opportunities based on the costs and revenues each investment generates over several years. You learned how to perform a simple LCC in the first Application Note.

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Building Automation and Energy Efficiency (EN 15232 standard)

By

Bruno De Wachter

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 14:04

Automation, control, and supervision systems can have a significant impact on the energy consumption of buildings and their occupants, reducing it by 10, 20, or even more than 50 percent.

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Introduction to Industrial Electrical Heating

By

Bruno De Wachter

Tue, 05/22/2012 - 17:10

This application note provides an introduction to a series of papers on industrial electric process heating technologies, hereinafter referred to as electro-heat or electro-heating technologies.

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Electric Motor Asset Management

By

Bruno De Wachter

Thu, 07/07/2011 - 16:27

Electric motors are available for a wide range of applications and in a variety of power outputs. They are the ideal drivers for a huge number of operations. Electric motors are the primary mover for a vast majority of industrial and tertiary sector activities. Some motors are visible as a separate entity; others are built into boxed applications such as air compressors, heat pumps, water pumps, and fans. Electric motors account for approximately 65% of the electricity consumed by EU industry.

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Integrated Earthing Systems (Earthing Grid)

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Wed, 07/06/2011 - 12:06

Businesses and governments will continue to focus on efficiency and quality improvements while at the same time remaining under pressure to reduce costs. Hence, automation developed to a very high level and the Internet has become a strategic requirement. The consequent business vulnerability must obviously be recognized and risk reduced. High availability level to the IT infrastructure is a primary requirement.

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Isolation Transformers

By

Mon, 04/04/2011 - 14:47

Transformers can be more than just static devices that transfer electrical energy. Separation transformers, isolation and extra isolation transformer play a major role in the protection of people and equipment. They come in all ranges, from very small (a few VA) to quite large (a few MVA), and although more expensive than autotransformers or transformers with simple separate windings, they are an easy way to solve problems that could arise concerning:

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Electricity Systems for Hospitals

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Wed, 03/30/2011 - 11:10

Electricity is only of third-rate interest to hospitals. Their core business is the welfare of its patients, for which medical appliances are required, which, on their turn, require electricity. That said, electricity is a vital utility which malfunctioning or interruption can easily lead to disastrous consequences. This combination - being absolutely vital but far from the main interest domain of the organization – entails a certain risk.

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