A Workshop on Industrial Energy Audit was organized by the student branch chapters,IEEE Power Energy Society (PES) and IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), on September 19, 2015. Eighty-six BTech (Electrical and Electronics and Mechanical Engineering) students and MTech Power Electronics students from Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru; four students of BTech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Sreedevi Institute of Technology, Tumkur and one from PRDC, Bangalore attended the workshop. The workshop was led by two key resource persons: Mr. Jayakumar M. (Associate Professor & Special Officer, LBS Center for Science & Technology, Regional Centre Thrissur, Kerala) and Mr. Santhosh (CEO, Athul Energy Consultants).
The workshop began with a welcome address by Mrs. Deepa K (Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering and IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter Advisor, Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru),who also introduced the speakers. The first speaker, Mr. Jayakumar M., with 18 years of experience in teaching and research, holds a position in Energy Conservation Society and has bagged awards for outstanding contributions in the area of energy environmental conservation and promotion of people’s participation in energy conservation. He has also been a part of 125 Industrial Energy Audits, spanning almost all Engineering sectors and is a member of the Panel of Experts– AICTE, ISTE, ECS & BIOSK (Kasaragod). Power quality issues related to computers and UPS systems were discussed in his session. Mr. Jayakumar M. revealed the monthly power consumption at the campus with electricity bills from BESCOM, which indicated a high surcharge of Rs.8.8lakhs. The speaker explained the methodology which can be adopted by the college to reduce this high consumption through a series of control measures.
The second speaker, Mr. Santhosh, CEO Atul Energy Consultants, has conducted more than 120 audits, and has more than 25 years of experience in the energy auditing field. The session gave situations wherein the campus could conserve energy such as reducing the AC temperature from 18 degrees Celsius to 23 degrees. He stressed that 30% less energy is consumed on every 1 degree decrease in AC temperature. He also briefed that there is only a requirement of 5 degrees difference from the outside temperature. He also suggested that instead of excessive lighting inside the hall, photo luminescent window paints should be used so that there would be a good amount natural lighting inside the hall. He explained how an energy auditor finds the root cause for the wastage or the leakage by following a procedure from source to sink. The speaker explained the energy audit that he had conducted using real time data and graphs.
Mr. Santosh showed a case study using the example of Milma, where he explained how a peak demand in one of their production units due to the improper usage of compressors during rainy seasons increased their maximum demand, which was rectified after the energy audit. He also explained how the air conditioning systems at Kochi International Airport were rectified, which helped the airport authorities achieve better efficiency after the energy audit was conducted. A glimpse of the energy managers /energy auditors’ exam conducted by Bureau of Energy Examination(BEE), the subjects to be highlighted, the duties of an energy auditor and the components of an energy auditor’s tool box were also covered.
Later, participants were divided into four groups for a demo session at the substation where the speakers explained the use of power quality analyzer in finding the parameters in the distribution system of the campus. A live demonstration on 110KVa generator also was demonstrated to the participants. The certificates were distributed at end of demonstration session.
The session was followed by an interactive session between IEEE PES and PELS student branch chapter members where the speakers gave suggestions to reduce power consumption. Some suggestions were: initiating a small awareness campaign by distributing pamphlets among students, conducting quizzes on energy conservation, hosting seminars on energy conservation, displaying energy control measures in the notice boards, putting up slogans for conservation of energy around the campus, declaring one day in a year as energy efficient day and implementing practices such as switching off fans and lights when not in use. They also advised controlling usage of excessive air conditioning in the halls by putting up wall mounted thermometers to check the temperature. The speakers also suggested changing 40watts tube lights to 36watts, removing the copper chokes being used in lighting and instead use electronic, proposed a biogas plant utilizing the canteen waste which could bring down the usage of LPG cylinders, removal of usage of halogen lights and analyzing the load pattern of the entire institute.
During the valedictory function, mementos were presented to Mr. Jayakumar M. by Mrs. Mini Sujith (Vice Chair, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering) and to Mr. Santhosh by Mrs. Kritika Devi (Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering).
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