Enhancing Resilience and Sustainability for Small Manufacturing Enterprises in Southern Illinois

Author

Raman Budhathoki, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

8-1-2024

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Mathias, James

Abstract

Small and Medium manufacturers (SMMs)in the United States comprise about 90% of manufacturing establishments and consume about 50% of all energy consumed by the industry. Many SMMs in the Southern Illinois (SI) region lack technical assistance for improving current practices of energy and water conservation in their facilities. This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to address this issue.A preliminary evaluation protocol, using spreadsheets was developed with individual sheets under different focus areas such as energy usage baselining, variable frequency drives (VFDs), notched V-belts, lighting, temperature offset, water management, air compressor, and heat loss from vertical, horizontal, cylindrical, and mixed surfaces. The emphasis areas of the evaluation protocol are among the most common topics covered in Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) assessments. The program can be used by the SMMs as an initial scoping tool to determine energy and cost saving opportunities. Additionally, SMMs based in the SI region can get an estimate of incentives they are eligible for when implementing energy conservation measures covered in the worksheet. A manufacturer based in SI, USA used the program to find energy and cost savings for the areas they felt were most pertinent. They used the air compressor, heat loss from cylindrical surfaces, and water management worksheets and the annual savings predicted by the program were 2.5% of the total power consumed, 4,657 kWh, and 3.64% annual return on investment, respectively. In addition, two case studies have been developed that consider the potential savings from each energy conservation area, payback period, and implementation costs.