Maintenance circle

 

Word for the day: ENERGY

 

Every object on this universe – living or non living – needs, consumes and has something that is very fundamental for existence. In fact, this solar system and many other galaxies beyond our understanding, have this fundamental unit called energy. It is found in all forms in all objects. Magnetic, Nuclear, Wind, Solar, Gravitational, Thermal, Water and Electrical energy are some of the most conventional forms. Fat and mitochondria in our body are also other forms of energy that is essential for us to complete many of our daily activities. Entire solar system is held by many forces that are nothing but different forms of energy. So, what is energy? At its basic level, energy can be defined as "ability to do some work" and accomplish certain task. Walking, running, lifting an object, launching a rocket and many innumerable tasks consume energy. Higher the energy, higher the power and more will be the ability to do work. A horse is more powerful than a deer due to its higher energy level. According to the fundamental laws of science, energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another.

 

Typical manufacturing set-up has many types of equipments and processes consuming energy in one form or other. Even though there are a complex set of machines running and performing different tasks, they all obtain and consume energy in one form or the other. For illustration, let us study a water pump. Its "end objective" is to pump water from one level – usually a sump or a well – to a higher level, which is usually an overhead tank.

 

What does pump do? In very basic essence, the pump has an electric motor connected to an impeller and converts "input electrical energy" taken from a power source to a "mechanical energy" by rotating the impeller and pushing the water to the desired level. Depending on the quantity of water and height to which it has to be pumped, the motor has to convert that much of energy. This directly means higher power consumption. In this simple case, the electrical energy is measured in "Kilo Watts" and the mechanical energy is measured in "head" and "displacement" capacity.

 

But where did the pump get electric power from? A complex generation and distribution system, in which energy types are interchanged, must be understood. Refer to "Energy Pyramid" in the following picture. The basic sources of energy are various materials available in this earth. Water, when falling from height provides "hydro" energy for running hydro-electric stations which generate "electric energy." Rich coal and ore reserves provide "thermal or heat" energy which will be used in thermal stations to generate "electric energy." Petroleum products provide the essential "thermal energy" which can be converted into "electrical" or "mechanical" energy based on application. This way, there are innumerable materials and resources available on this earth which helps us get energy to accomplish various tasks.

 

Now, going back to pump example, the "electrical energy" required to accomplish the task might have been obtained from a thermal or a hydro-electric or nuclear power station. All the tasks which are performed by any machine consume energy in one form or other and all of them will have its energy source in this earth.

 

With this reference, we can try and classify the energy into three levels before it reaches the end point and completes the intended tasks.

 

Primary Level Energy: Available in various "raw" forms like Wind, Solar, Hydro, Nuclear, Coal, Petroleum products which possesses one or other forms of "raw" energy. Energy in this level cannot be usually directly used to perform many of the tasks and needs to be "transformed."

 

Secondary Level Energy: The most common and widely used range of equipments falls into this category. Motors, heaters, burners wind mills, automobile and any other equipment that can transform the primary level into a "usable" form occupies this category. Some equipment can directly perform useful task at this level as well. Electric heater and welding machine are two good examples.

 

 

 

 

Tertiary Level Energy: The most useful and probably the end piece of machinery that uses energy from secondary level. It can vary from a simple pump to a complex hydraulic system. Conveyors, air / gas compressors, machines themselves are good examples of tertiary and probably the final consumption point of energy.

 

Electrical and Thermal energy are the most common forms of energy that is used in any manufacturing facility to perform the required tasks. It may vary from producing raw materials, automobile, consumer product to even a simple safety pin! You can draw an "energy balance" sheet for your set up to understand which "type" of energy need to be conserved and maintained more than others.

 

Any inefficiency in lower level will be carried over to its upper level. For example, a very old hydro electric station may not produce intended energy from its source, water. An inefficient motor or a poorly insulated heater can consume more energy than its actual requirement. A leaking compressed air system wastes lot of energy due to its inefficiency. This ALSO means that the corresponding motor is consuming lot of additional energy. Therefore, it is very important to conserve energy at every possible level. A broader approach to energy audit is therefore necessary than just concentrating on electrical energy alone, which is usually the case. All possible elements in the "energy chain" must be studied for any inefficiencies and action should be taken accordingly.

 

All the units of energy measurement – KWh, Kcal, N-m/s, Kg-m/s, Joule and many more – can be converted into any other value since energy can be converted from one form to another. It is suggested to convert all the available forms of energy in your set up to one unit type for better understanding.

 

Attached to this document is free software that you can use for all your conversion needs apart from energy conversion.

 

Energy conservation is very vital for any organization. If every person becomes energy conscious and spends it more cautiously, we will not be harming the earth's ecological balance and saving lot of resources for many future generations.

 

ONE UNIT OF ENERGY SAVED IS TWO UNITS OF ENERGY PRODUCED