While many functions in industrial plants are commonly automated, the tracking and management of energy remains a task frequently conducted manually. Workers move around with spreadsheets from machine to machine, attempting to capture some semblance of the energy being consumed in a procedure fraught with potential errors and with no way to capture real-time energy overages or to determine when and under what conditions they occur. At the same time, emphasis on sustainability in industrial plants increases daily as do energy consumption regulations. Industry needs an easy, effective way to measure and manage energy usage. New solutions are appearing on the market, one of which is Emerson’s energy management system Movicon™ Pro.Energy™, and it incorporates important capabilities that show what does and doesn’t work in energy management systems. Here are a few important factors:
- Be easy and affordable to integrate and use – Except in cases where sustainability is being required, many plants won’t take on the headaches of integrating an energy management system – unless it’s simple and cost-effective. Movicon Pro.Energy runs on a very easy-to-use, SCADA-based platform that employs Wizard-type setup and configuration. The wizard helps users select field variables and automatically create a data collection database. Literally in minutes, users can gain the required visibility they need into their energy use and costs to increase energy efficiency, monitor consumption, and improve their organization’s carbon footprint. Whether from a workstation in the control room, or from a mobile device in the field, users can instantly access highly intuitive, customizable dashboards that translate raw data from devices and energy carriers into actionable information. Nothing motivates like fast results.
- Be more than just a data collection system – When users begin to get a reliable, ongoing flow of accurate energy consumption data, they quickly move to wanting to do something about it. They want to go from collection to management – again, if the process is simple. That’s why users should look for a data collection system that is or easily becomes a management system. Because Pro.Energy runs on Movicon.NExT™, users can collect data to manage assets more efficiently through Pro.Energy data in tandem with control system data coming from Movicon.NExT. Teams can identify the status of assets to help make decisions for altered or reduced operation or implement different scheduling to take advantage of off-peak rates.
- Be open – The less a plant has to change, the more likely they are to integrate energy management. Movicon Pro.Energy offers numerous integrated solutions to connect directly to PLCs, multimeters, analyzers, remote I/O, and control systems via native I/O drivers. It can also reduce investment and complexity in data collection, easily creating a powerful supervision architecture. It connects to HMI and SCADA systems already installed on production lines and to remote telemetry devices in IIoT equipment using OPC UA client and server. Users can collect and record all energy consumption data, and automatically import tags with a wide variety of fully integrated communication protocols including Modbus, Bacnet, Konnex, LON, Simatic, Schneider, ABB, Profibus, Profinet, IEC 60870, and IEC 61850.
When users start seeing real-time energy data available on their hand-held devices; when they start producing convincing reports at the touch of a button; when corrective measures for energy problems become clear – they see the value of automating energy data collection and analysis. But the most convincing moment is when energy costs start to go down thanks to technology that was easy to install and use, and very affordable to implement.
To see data on Movicon Pro.Energy check out this data sheet, or go to the Emerson website.
