ENERGY MANAGEMENT | TECHNOLOGY
The latest machinery and systems can offer numerous ways to save energy in the injection moulding plant. However, smart energy management of existing facilities can also deliver impressive results, writes Mark Holmes
Attention to management of energy reaps rewards
Energy use in an injection moulding facility is a major element of its operational costs, having a crucial bearing on the overall efficiency of the plant and, as a result, its degree of profitability. Manufac- turers of the latest injection moulding machinery, systems and ancillary equipment are all designing products with good energy efficiency in mind. However, while the latest machinery can deliver reductions in energy consumption, good use of an existing injection moulding plant coupled with effective monitoring can also provide an operation with sound energy management. The first step in understanding the basic energy consumption of an injection moulding plant is to calculate the Performance Characteristic Line for the site, according to Dr Robin Kent, Managing Director of Tangram Technology, consulting engineers for energy management in plastics processing. “In most plastics processing, electricity is the main energy source,” he says. “Electricity use is not, as is some-
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times thought, fixed and uncontrollable, it is variable and controllable. For most sites the electricity use will be directly related to the production volume in a given time period. It is possible to show this by plotting electricity use against production volume (processed amount of plastic) in a month or week as a scatter chart and finding the linear line of best-fit to the data. The equation of the line-of-best fit is the Performance Characteristic Line (PCL) for the site [see pages 46 and 47]. This gives an insight into how the site functions and can be used for monitoring and targeting as well as for budgeting purposes. The PCL is the ‘energy fingerprint’ of the site and varies with every site. It gives important information on how the site functions.” When the PCL has been determined, an Energy
Policy can be established for the injection mould- ing plant. “The PCL gives an insight into how energy is used at a site but there will be no pro- gress in managing energy use unless it is on the
Arburg says its smart assistant packages are central to the company’s energy
management strategies for its Allrounder machines. Its new filling assistant was developed in conjunction with German company Simcon
June 2020 | INJECTION WORLD 45
IMAGE: ARBURG
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