18 The Environmental Implications of Digitalization …
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Energy and fluid flow management
The energy consumption includes electricity or other power sources for heating up
ovens, furnaces and building, supplying compressed air and running machines. Fluid
flow mainly consists of cooling liquid.
Sensors collect real time data on energy and fluid consumption and indicate
abnormal situations instantly. The central control room collects and visualizes energy
consumption data from critical processes, e.g. induction, soft annealing and heattreatment. These processes are the most energy intensive processes based on the
LCA studies. With the awareness of huge consumption of energy in furnaces and
ovens, optimized planning with fully loaded batches is motivated in order to increase
utilization.
Energy recovery
Energy losses also provide opportunities to recover energy for those major
consumers. Heat is collected mainly from the following sources:
1. Cooling fluid from the hot rolling mill through water heat exchanger.
2. Heat recovery from air compressors through lubrication oil/water heat exchanger.
3. Energy in hot oil from hardening furnaces.
4. Other sources: hydraulic oil, honing oil, grinding water.
Other solutions for energy recovery are through the ventilation systems with heat
recovery, mainly installed in shower-rooms, bathrooms, toilets, etc.
Besides, heat collected for heating up offices and shop floor in wintertime, and heat
exchanged with river water for cooling down those areas in summer time. Compared
to the situation of 10 years ago, the consumption of electrical energy is around 50%
less today in one manufacturing site, despite growing production volume.
To sum up, the potentials of environmental impact reduction from digital technologies shows in Fig. 18.3 along the value chain from the case company. The
figure reshaped the “Micro perspective of Industry 4.0”, proposed by Stock and
Seliger (Stock and Seliger 2016), and visualized possibilities of reducing environmental impact by digitalizing operation processes. Facility management contributes
tremendously on increasing energy efficiency, and shows as Smart Factory in
Fig. 18.3.
In addition to the support from digital technology implementation, company
policy on energy and CO 2 reduction from sourcing department on machine purchase
also contributes to environmental sustainability.
The machine purchase should include the environmental requirement in the specification. As indicated in technical specifications in Environmental Standardization
Group, the amount of energy consumption and CO 2 emission should not exceed the
limit regulated in company policy, including refurbished machines. It is an important indicator when purchasing a new equipment, and cannot be compromised in any
circumstances, including lower price.
The distance of material supplier is an important KPI when developing a new
supplier, as the distance can influence the lead-time of raw material and components,
259
Energy and fluid flow management
The energy consumption includes electricity or other power sources for heating up
ovens, furnaces and building, supplying compressed air and running machines. Fluid
flow mainly consists of cooling liquid.
Sensors collect real time data on energy and fluid consumption and indicate
abnormal situations instantly. The central control room collects and visualizes energy
consumption data from critical processes, e.g. induction, soft annealing and heattreatment. These processes are the most energy intensive processes based on the
LCA studies. With the awareness of huge consumption of energy in furnaces and
ovens, optimized planning with fully loaded batches is motivated in order to increase
utilization.
Energy recovery
Energy losses also provide opportunities to recover energy for those major
consumers. Heat is collected mainly from the following sources:
1. Cooling fluid from the hot rolling mill through water heat exchanger.
2. Heat recovery from air compressors through lubrication oil/water heat exchanger.
3. Energy in hot oil from hardening furnaces.
4. Other sources: hydraulic oil, honing oil, grinding water.
Other solutions for energy recovery are through the ventilation systems with heat
recovery, mainly installed in shower-rooms, bathrooms, toilets, etc.
Besides, heat collected for heating up offices and shop floor in wintertime, and heat
exchanged with river water for cooling down those areas in summer time. Compared
to the situation of 10 years ago, the consumption of electrical energy is around 50%
less today in one manufacturing site, despite growing production volume.
To sum up, the potentials of environmental impact reduction from digital technologies shows in Fig. 18.3 along the value chain from the case company. The
figure reshaped the “Micro perspective of Industry 4.0”, proposed by Stock and
Seliger (Stock and Seliger 2016), and visualized possibilities of reducing environmental impact by digitalizing operation processes. Facility management contributes
tremendously on increasing energy efficiency, and shows as Smart Factory in
Fig. 18.3.
In addition to the support from digital technology implementation, company
policy on energy and CO 2 reduction from sourcing department on machine purchase
also contributes to environmental sustainability.
The machine purchase should include the environmental requirement in the specification. As indicated in technical specifications in Environmental Standardization
Group, the amount of energy consumption and CO 2 emission should not exceed the
limit regulated in company policy, including refurbished machines. It is an important indicator when purchasing a new equipment, and cannot be compromised in any
circumstances, including lower price.
The distance of material supplier is an important KPI when developing a new
supplier, as the distance can influence the lead-time of raw material and components,