High Tech

Industrial

Monitoring

Utility

Institution

Industry Applications

Process/Chemical/Petrol     ...details Despite their differences, continuous-process industries share underlying characteristics: they maintain continuous operations in facilities that represent substantial start-up costs and time, yet can be interrupted or disrupted by seemingly minor fluctuations in power quality. If the product stream is disrupted, lost productivity and lost product can create a large financial burden. For example, a voltage sag in a paper mill can waste a whole day of production and inflict a $250,000 loss, while a 5-cycle interruption at a glass manufacturing facility can cost a minimum of $200,000. Power monitoring can detect deterioration in power quality before problems arise.

Power Quality     ...details Never before has power quality and reliability been such a key issue for facility managers. Not only can the cost of downtime run into thousands, or even millions of dollars per hour, but power quality events can impact sensitive equipment such as servers, motors, process equipment and computers. This end-use equipment is often interconnected within networks, industrial processes and power infrastructure and can be negatively affected by events that arise both from the supplying power system and are generated within the facility. Power monitoring is key to maximizing uptime and ensuring all power infrastructure is functioning properly.

Energy     ...details Energy and demand costs have a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. In fact, the cost of energy is one of the most commonly mismanaged expenses, regardless of a company’s size or the industry represented. Often, energy is purchased in one department, consumed in another, with energy management systems operated and maintained by still another. A typical commercial or industrial facility can save from 10 percent to as much as 40 percent annually on energy costs by implementing a comprehensive energy action plan. And, while each facility will require an organized approach to recognize those savings, facilities first need to understand their power consumption, location of major loads, electric demand usage patterns, and associated costs.

Distributed Generation     ...details With changes in the energy marketplace, concerns over grid reliability and security, and increased interest and cost advantages for some facilities in generating their own power, a diverse set of distributed generation and alternative energy solutions have emerged. Those solutions include new reciprocating engines, microturbines, fuel cells, photovoltaics and wind farms. These solutions are used for primary power, premium power, peak shaving, green power, cogeneration and backup power. Additionally, a new opportunity exists for the aggregation of multiple distributed generation devices to participate in today’s energy markets.