FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MILWAUKEE — Most industrial managers are aware that they can save money by switching to more energy-efficient lighting in their plants, using control strategies for air compressor systems, and correcting heating or air conditioning leakage.
“They know they can save, but they don’t know how much. They don’t know the exact numbers,” says Dale Tutaj, a senior electrical engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
Tutaj works at the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), which is housed in UWM’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the center is one of 26 nationwide – all at universities – that help area small- to medium-sized industries save money by suggesting energy conservation strategies and productivity of mechanical processes.
During the summer, Freedom Plastics of Milwaukee became the 500th company that the center has assessed in its nearly 20-year history, says Umesh Saxena, director and professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering. UWM’s center has re-applied for funding every five years and has always been approved by DOE.
Companies that have taken advantage of the free assessment service represent fields such as foundries and metal casting, plastics and moldings, printing, food processing – some of the same types of industry that are the most significant consumers of energy. In fact, industry consumes most of the electrical energy generated in the U.S. today.
“We’ve done every type of company,” says Saxena. “Any kind that has high-energy processing.”
Some restrictions, however, are imposed by the DOE. To be eligible for an assessment the company must:
• Be within 150 miles of a host campus,
• Have gross annual sales below $100 million,
• Have annual energy bills between $100,000 and $2 million, and
• Have no professional in-house staff to perform the assessment.
Four to six students typically work on the assessments each semester, directed by either Saxena, Associate Professor John Riesel or Professor Emeritus Vjekoslav Pavelic. Students come from the mechanical, electrical or industrial engineering degree programs.
The team begins by touring the plant, but members already know a lot about the company before the measuring begins, says graduate student Dejan Ristic.
Using devices from DOE, team members then begin investigating factors like leaks, operating hours, loads, age and condition of the plant’s major equipment.
Then they make a list of the possible things that could be altered to result in energy savings, says Ristic, who hopes to work in a similar setting after earning his degree. “Some of our suggestions cost nothing or very little. But some do require some budgeting.”
During the exit interview, the team submits a report, outlining the exact steps that could be taken and how much money the company would save after implementation for each recommendation.
“A large portion of what we do is calculation based on conservation estimates,” says Tutaj, who has worked at the center since his sophomore year and plans on a career in energy management. He says the team usually recommends seven to 10 ideas.
Saxena follows up with companies, keeping records of only those recommendations that are implemented by the company within two years. Recommendations not adopted may be considered too costly to address by the company’s management, he says.
Forty percent of the center’s suggestions have been implemented, he says, which is in line with the results from other IAC centers across the country.
“It’s a good mix of getting your hands dirty and then running the numbers and showing the evidence,” says Tutaj. “Another benefit is that you get to see how an actual company’s production process operates. When you take your courses you don’t get to see that part.”
For more information contact Saxena at 414-229-4052, uksaxena@uwm.edu, or go to http://iac.uwm.edu.
