Energy audit of an industry for energy conservation and economical operations

Energy is one of the major inputs for the economic development of any country. In the case of the developing countries the energy sector assumes a critical importance in view of the ever increasing energy needs requiring huge investments to meet them. Energy conservation and energy efficiency are separate but related concepts. Energy conservation is achieved when growth of energy consumption is reduced, measured in physical terms. Energy conservation can there for be the result of several processes or development such as productivity increase or technological progress. On the other hand energy efficiency is achieved when energy intensity in a specific product, process or area of production or conception is without affecting output, consumption or comfort levels. Promotion of energy efficiency will contribute to energy conservation and is there for an integral part of energy conservation promotional policies. An energy audit is an inspection, survey and analysis of energy flow in a building, process or system with the objective of understanding the energy dynamics of the system under study. Typically an energy audit is conducted to seek opportunities to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the outputs. Auditing involves evaluating the information gathered research possible conservation opportunities and make recommendations on mechanical structural operational and maintenance improvement. Energy saving upto 50% or more is often possible in a typical installation using VFDs and distribute the loads connected to a power system to operate at different times(priority based load shedding).