Digital Technology Saves Energy

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Singapore Chemical plant conquers barriers to meet Singapore’s energy requirements.

In Singapore, the government and industry work hand in hand to manage costs and increase the efficient use of its energy to reduce CO2 emissions. To meet the goal of net-zero, CO2 emissions, Singapore will need to be reduced by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030. By using energy-efficient approaches and technologies, the government and companies can achieve significant savings.

Managing energy has been viewed as a promising way to decrease energy consumption where the primary way to cut emissions involves using energy conservation approaches to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. To further this, Singapore’s Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F) supports a wide range of energy efficiency initiatives in the industrial sector. The E2F will aid project design, energy assessment, and equipment and technology investments. In addition, the E2F will co-fund up to 50% of the implementation and energy management information system (capped at $250,000 per energy-intensive facility or $125,000 per project for other facilities).

Unfortunately, reducing energy use to reach net-zero emissions does not come cheap. McKinsey analysts claim USD $9.2 trillion is spent annually on transitioning energy globally. Although many people may think energy use is similar throughout the world, particularly in industrialized countries, that’s not true. For instance, in 2021, Germany’s electricity consumption reached about 511.6 terawatt hours which is approximately 6 terawatt-hours per million head of people while the  US’s totaled approximately 3,930 terawatt-hours or 12 terawatt-hours per million people.

In comparison, electricity consumption in Singapore totaled roughly 53,480 gigawatt-hours in 2021, where the industrial sector consumed the largest amount of electricity at around 55.1%. This amount of energy is equivalent to powering 106,960,000 Corvette Z06s or 17,808,840 utility-scale wind turbines.

Calculating energy KPIs

Within the industry sector of Singapore, most of the emissions come from the refining and petrochemical sector, where industrial organizations must submit a greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions report and an annual EEOA report Energy Efficiency Opportunities Assessments report, to the government in which the operator calculates and reports their energy consumption.

Recently, Yokogawa and KBC had a chance to help a chemical manufacturer to meet Singapore government regulations while sustaining top energy performance and energy-intensive equipment reliability over the long term with minimum use of site resources.

Customer Needs:

  • Calculate various energy-related KPIs to monitor and improve performance and energy usage on site.

  • Generate an annual Energy Efficiency Opportunities Assessments report (EEOA) for Energy Efficiency and a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission report.

Solution:

  • Digitalize and automate the EEOA and emissions report generation.

  • Visualize sensor data and tracking of the performance and status of energy-intensive process assets (i.e., pumps and compressors), to identify and prioritize energy improvement opportunities. 

A Digital Twin approach to energy management

To identify the energy improvement potential and digitalize energy management and reporting, a digital twin-based energy management solution was implemented. It will allow the chemical site to track energy usage in real time and monitor, analyze, and report on energy performance.

The solution produces process-side energy metrics and uses process simulation to determine potential energy savings. It was deployed on a cloud platform to reduce the required on-premise IT infrastructure and simplify the process of data collection and integration from multiple sources, including an easy and quick customer support system.

Figure: Solution System architecture diagram - Data from PI historian moving to cloud using Edge and the first principles-based energy digital twin fed with this data to calculate energy KPIs used for optimal run of the plant.

Monitor and regulate your energy consumption
Implementing an energy management system can be a challenging task, especially in Singapore, where energy expenses can be substantial. Thus, companies need to be able to monitor and regulate their energy consumption to report it to the government. In addition to recognizing the benefits of an energy management system, customers expect to receive benefits, too, such as lower energy costs.

This solution makes it possible for operators to spot energy-intensive machinery and detect possibilities to minimize energy use. Apart from improved energy efficiency and cost savings, the business will also acquire a competitive edge over operators not using this approach. Having an energy management system also states a powerful message to the wider community regarding the firm's commitment to corporate social responsibility.

To learn more about energy management and digital twin technology, watch our webinar about GHG Emissions Management: What the Industry Needs.

For any questions pertaining to digital twin technology and energy management, get in touch with Chris Bealing, Principal Consultant.

IA2IA - Industrial Automation to Industrial Autonomy

Currently, all companies are at some stage of digital transformation and automated operations as a starting point. IA2IA is what Yokogawa foresees as the transition from Industrial Automation to Industrial Autonomy. We help the process industries to set and redefine their smart manufacturing goals by applying digital transformation technology to manufacturing operations, as we believe that autonomous operations are the destination you should be heading to.

Watch a small clip about the evolution of process industries toward a future with autonomous operations.