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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 18806

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gökan May

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Guest Editor

Mechanical Engineering, College of Computing, Engineering & Construction, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
Interests: industrial energy efficiency; data-driven smart and sustainable manufacturing; factories of the future; fourth industrial revolution; predictive maintenance; zero defect manufacturing
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, increasing concern about climate change, scarcity of resources, and energy supply have increasingly changed the attitudes of society and industry toward the environment. Industrial firms have been affected by growing energy prices, strict environmental regulations, customer demand, and environmental awareness. Guided by this paradigm shift toward industrial energy efficiency due to global and industrial drivers, the issue of improving energy efficiency therefore gains more and more importance. This Special Issue of the journal Energies devoted to the broad field of “Industrial Energy Efficiency” aims to explore recent research into the concepts, methods, tools, and applications for improving industrial energy efficiency in order to advance and promote the development of modern and intelligent manufacturing systems.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

Design of energy-efficient production systems and factories;
Industrial big data analytics and cyber physical systems for improving industrial energy efficiency;
Energy management strategies and tools;
Green scheduling methods, algorithms, and applications;
Energy efficiency measures and related performance indicators;
Products, resources, and process design for energy-aware manufacturing;
Decarbonization of industry;
Review of industrial energy efficiency research and practices.

Dr. Gökan May
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

industrial energy efficiency
data analytics
energy management
sustainable manufacturing
smart manufacturing
Industry 4.0
green scheduling
decarbonization
performance indicators
review of research and practice
energy-aware manufacturing

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1506 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Decarbonisation Pathways for the Finishing Line in a Steel Plant and Their Implications for Heat Recovery Measures

by Anton Beck, Julian Unterluggauer, Franz Helminger and Irene Solís-Gallego

Energies 2023, 16(2), 852; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020852 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2587

Abstract

Steel production is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gas in the industrial sector with about 8% of total global CO

_{2}

emissions. Although the majority of emissions can be attributed to primary steel production, there is also potential for reducing CO [...] Read more.

Steel production is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gas in the industrial sector with about 8% of total global CO

_{2}

emissions. Although the majority of emissions can be attributed to primary steel production, there is also potential for reducing CO

_{2}

emissions in downstream steel processing. Large industrial furnaces, which are necessary for heating steel, are currently primarily fired with natural gas and by-product gases from primary steel production, offering great potential for heat recovery measures from exhaust gases. However, switching to alternative climate-neutral fuels could change this potential and thus jeopardize the economic viability of heat recovery measures. In the present work, it was therefore examined to what extent a change in energy sources in industrial furnaces affects the potential use of heat recovery in steel processing. For this purpose, an optimization model was used that takes into account heat recovery by means of direct heat transfer, heat pumps and heat distribution systems. Potential future changes in energy supply for industrial furnaces were examined using different storylines. Two different energy price scenarios were also considered to address uncertain developments in energy markets. The results show that heat recovery is a cost-effective and definitely recommendable measure. Switching to alternative fuels has little impact on the use of heat recovery. Electrification and thus the elimination of flue gas, on the other hand, greatly reduces the potential for heat recovery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improvement of Industrial Energy Efficiency)

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20 pages, 767 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Purchase Behavior of Energy-Efficient Appliances Contribute to Sustainable Energy Consumption in Developing Country: Moral Norms Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior

by Imran Hossain, Maria Fekete-Farkas and Md. Nekmahmud

Energies 2022, 15(13), 4600; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15134600 - 23 Jun 2022

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5734

Abstract

Since energy consumption in developing countries has increased significantly, motivating energy-saving habits among citizens is an important issue both from the academic and industrial perspectives. Thus, this study aims to predict consumer purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances based on an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). This study incorporated two additional constructs of moral norms and environmental concern in the model of the TPB. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1155 Bangladeshi consumers, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) regression was used to test the hypotheses. Results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control significantly influence consumer purchase intention of energy-efficient appliances (EEAs). This study also proved that the extension of moral norms is a significant predictor of consumers’ purchase intention in the classic theory of planned behavior (TPB). However, environmental concerns had no significant influence in the Bangladesh context. As far as the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical survey in Bangladesh to predict energy-efficient household appliance (EEHA) purchasing intentions using an extended model of the TPB. Marketers and policymakers can use the findings of this study to design strategies for generating more value for green consumers. The study also provides insights into environmental marketing and sustainable energy consumption in developing countries from theoretical and practical perspectives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improvement of Industrial Energy Efficiency)

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24 pages, 6308 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantifying Compressed Air Leakage through Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Techniques in the Context of Energy Audits

by Gustavo Felipe Martin Nascimento, Frédéric Wurtz, Patrick Kuo-Peng, Benoit Delinchant and Nelson Jhoe Batistela

Energies 2022, 15(9), 3213; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093213 - 27 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3020

Abstract

Following the recent European directives highlighting the need to increase energy efficiency in the European Union, this work aims to show the possibility of using Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) techniques to improve energy audits by estimating the compressed air leakage from a dataset of a tertiary building. The first step towards the reduction of energy consumption is performing an energy audit, in which a detailed analysis of the energy performance is executed. This analysis usually uses on-site measured data by the auditors. However, the time available for these measurements is limited and may not include some modes of operation. One example of that is the quantification of compressed air leaks. This task can be performed by estimating the flow rate during a no compressed air consumption period. However, these periods may not coincide with the auditors’ original schedule. This problem could be addressed by using historical data. Nevertheless, historical data from energy management systems usually are only available for global consumption, and rarely for individual appliances. In this context, a NILM approach would be helpful to enhance energy audits carrying analysis of modes of operation not included in the on-site measurements. In this paper, the leaks are firstly quantified using measurements mostly for benchmarking purposes. The results suggested 62% of leaks in the study case. In a second step, the Factorial Hidden Markov Model (FHMM) was applied to the data. Five typical working days, simulating the context of an energy audit, were used as training data, while one week during vacation time, with no compressed air consumption, was used to quantify the leaks. The results show that it was possible, in the context of an energy audit, to estimate the compressed air leakage using NILM techniques in this dataset with less than a 1% difference when compared to the estimation made with actual measurement. Finally, savings estimations considering the elimination of the leaks were performed, varying between 10% and 100% of the leakage repair. Considering the ideal scenario of complete leaks elimination, the savings would represent around 44% in the compressed air system and 4.75% of the current annual global consumption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improvement of Industrial Energy Efficiency)

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15 pages, 62159 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Efficiency of Industrial Centrifugal Fans Using Blade Adjustment Mechanism

by Przemyslaw Moczko, Piotr Odyjas, Damian Pietrusiak, Jędrzej Więckowski, Peter Scholz, Martin Dix, Tomasz Osiecki, Tristan Timmel and Lothar Kroll

Energies 2022, 15(3), 893; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030893 - 26 Jan 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6546

Abstract

The paper presents research on increasing the efficiency of industrial centrifugal fans, which are the third highest energy-consuming group of devices. This problem is related to the frequent incompatibility of the fan characteristics with the flow conditions of the installation in which they are operated, which lowers efficiency and increases energy consumption. By ensuring high efficiency of these devices, it is possible to significantly reduce the operating costs of such industrial equipment. For this purpose, a unique concept of regulating the flow parameters of centrifugal fans was developed. The scientific basis of this idea is that a relatively small change in the impeller diameter of the fan significantly affects the flow rate and the pressure rise of the fan. Therefore, the idea uses variable length of the impeller blades by dividing them into a fixed and a movable part. It enables adjustment of the length of the blades, which allows extension of the range of effective and efficient operating parameters. On this basis, several technical solutions of the regulation system were developed, which were then tested using simulation and analytical methods. Two material options for the moving part of the blade have also been developed, one made of metallic materials (high-strength steel and aluminum) and the other made of composite materials. The research showed a significant influence of the mass of the movable part of the blade on the load of the control system. Therefore, ultra-light material variants were used for the impeller blades. The flow simulation tests of the new method of adjusting the fan flow parameters confirmed the effectiveness of this solution. As a result, a wider range of highly efficient centrifugal fans equipped with such a control system was obtained. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improvement of Industrial Energy Efficiency)

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