Automation: Driving Energy Down

Rising energy costs and greenhouse gas initiatives have brought renewed focus on the efficient use of energy, which represents the 2nd largest variable cost for most plants. Separation processes like distillation are one of the most common uses of energy, so many companies are looking to automation as an enabler to operating more efficiently. By installing the necessary field instrumentation, on-line analyzers and control equipment, energy savings as high as 25% have been documented. This paper describes how automation has delivered better production at lower energy costs for a number of industrial processes.