Industry 4.0 may change the scenario of energy consumption

Aug 20, 2019 by admin    No Comments    Posted under: Companies, Economy

Brazil is inefficient in generating and consuming electricity, and it is not just a source of study, that says this. The most recent of these is the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, which evaluates the public policies and business practices of energy management of the largest consuming countries. In this ranking, Brazil occupies only the twentieth position among the 25 existing. What caught the eye was the difference in investment in energy efficiency. While Germany invests more than US$ 2.5 billion a year, Brazil allocates only US$ 191 million.

The size of the energy waste was measured by ABESCO (Brazilian Association of Energy Conservation Service Companies). Between 2014 and 2016, Brazil squandered the equivalent of 11.4 times the annual output of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant. It is as if the country had despised US$ 15.2 billion, since this energy was not used productively.

The industrial sector is responsible for this process, as it consumes 40% of the energy generated in the country. Electric motors consume 68% of factory electrical energy and, when inefficient, become the big villains of waste. At the eighth^. Brazilian Congress of Industry Innovation, held last month by Sebrae (Micro and Small Business Support Service) and CNI (National Confederation of Industry), the speakers unanimously acknowledged the importance of Industry 4.0 as a way to make the industrial sector more efficient.

In this context, intelligent real-time information generation systems increase efficiency, reduce unwanted downtime and have better control over resources, for example.

According to a study by consultancy McKinsey, in smart factories, the reduction in energy consumption can reach 20%. Moreover, the gains do not stop there: up to 40% reduction in maintenance costs, up to 25% increase in labor productivity and greater accuracy in demand forecasts.

WEG, a Santa Catarina-based multinational company, offers the “backbone of Industry 4.0”: sensing, internet of things and software for monitoring and analyzing data. Among the marketed products, the highlight is the WEG Motor Scan, which aims to monitor the performance of electric motors employed in factories.

Through WEG Motor Scan, data is extracted and sent to the cloud, allowing preventive actions that aim at reducing energy consumption and maintaining the motors correctly. This information can be accessed anywhere and anytime from a smartphone. Because of the WEG Motor Scan, the Company was this year’s big winner in the product innovation category of the National Innovation Award organized by CNI.

Another innovative product is the Inmentro certified SMW smart meter. The information collected allows the distributor to evaluate how energy is being delivered and consumed, as well as it can be used within industry and on energy consumption of IoT measuring machines.

Source: www.valoronline.com.br