Making the switch to energy systems optimization in Sri Lanka
New training courses are enabling Sri Lankan industries to take a different approach to saving energy
In Sri Lanka, 60 industrial energy practitioners are learning how to take a systems-approach to optimizing energy systems to slash industrial energy waste, energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. They are the first cohort in two new energy systems optimization training courses that will train hundreds of Sri Lankan engineers, technicians and consultants over the next five years.
Alf Hartzenburg, Technical Director at Green Industry Specialists, who is helping to deliver the training, describes the approach to energy that many companies currently take as “like driving your car with your right foot on the accelerator and your left foot on the brake pedal, [that’s what happens] when you’re throttling flows with valves and dampers.”
He adds: “Traditionally, when companies seek to improve the operation of any energy system they look at the separate components in isolation… By becoming aware of what is happening in the whole system – understanding the components of the system, but also how changing one component will impact the performance of the other components and the performance of the system as a whole – the energy savings are significantly higher.”
The fundamentals of energy systems optimization
The ESO training is split into two courses to cover the two most relevant energy systems in Sri Lanka – motor and steam. At the beginning of May 2023, two groups of 30 participants, a mix of engineers from industrial plants and engineering consultants, undertook a two-day, user-level training on each system.
The user-level courses are classroom-based and start with what Alf describes as “the fundamentals”: the science that makes a motor or steam system work.
“When optimizing an energy system we start at the end-use process. Is it continuous or batch production and how can the process be optimized? When are your peak [energy] demands of the day and what is your demand profile? When we understand the needs of the process, and once the process is optimized, we then look at the distribution, for example, the type of headers, ducts, valves, drives, pulleys, pipes … So then, when we design the supply or the generation of primary or secondary energy, it will match the needs of the process.”
User-level participants are familiarized with the tools and modelling needed to optimize an energy system. They are then given a theoretical plant to work on to identify and measure energy waste, develop solutions and quantify the savings.
“Most importantly is the ability to quantify the benefits of optimizing a system,” says Alf. “If someone’s manager understands that they’ve saved the company $2 million last year, they’re going to take notice.”
Becoming energy systems optimization experts
In June and July 2023, around 25 participants from each user-level course will embark on expert-level training for around 10 months.
The expert training begins with a week-long course in a real plant that has been selected by UNIDO. Working in groups, participants will the knowledge gained from the user-level training to scope out energy saving opportunities and quantify the payback time and the savings that could be made. At the end of the week, they’ll present these findings to plant management.
Then they conduct this process in their own plant (or a plant they are consulting for), attending webinars every few months for guidance and support, and take a three-and-a-half hour exam to pass the course.
“This is when they will really start their journey to become true experts,” says Alf. “They’ll need to apply their learning, and the more work they do in systems optimization, the better they will be at saving energy.”