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The South African industrial sector is under significant financial pressure and need to reduce production costs to remain competitive in the global and local market. Some steel plants use reheating furnaces to reheat materials before hot rolling. These furnaces use industrial fuel gases as an energy source. Process by-product and purchased gases can be used as fuel. Inefficiencies in gas distribution...
This paper gives preliminary results on the energy audit being conducted on Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) building facilities, by the Centre for the Development of Green Technologies. The aim of the project is to identify possible areas of energy wastage on campus in order to reduce cost associated with electrical energy consumption. To achieve this, A PEL 103 Power & Energy data logger...
The platinum price has decreased nearly 42% since 2010, forcing platinum mines to reduce expenses in order to remain profitable. Electricity consumption is a large capital expenditure for the mining sector and efforts should thus be made to reduce energy consumption while maintaining production. Compressed air networks were identified as a large energy consuming section in the mining industry. Inefficiencies...
This paper develops a model which can be used to minimize the electricity cost of South African farms through the usage of a wind pump with pico hydro generator and a borehole in pumped hydro storage configuration referred to as “hydro aeropower”. This model will optimally schedule the generation power flow from the pico turbine given the demand, the state of water level in the reservoir as well as...
This work explores the use of thermo-acoustic system as alternative technology for electricity generation. This technology is proposed as a potential replacement for low-cost electrical power generation because of its simplicity and lack of moving parts. Thermo-acoustic generators providing clean electrical energy to power small appliances. The energy conversion from heat into sound wave is done within...
Several challenges exist for the successful implementation of demand side management (DSM) projects in the industrial sector. Due to the large financial impact of these projects, the process of determining and reporting project-specific impact is crucial to the ultimate success of the project. Numerous DSM projects have been implemented worldwide, including South Africa. The success of these projects,...
South Africa is a water scarce country and due to this, large water transfer schemes were built to supply major parts of the country with raw and potable water. These water transfer schemes are high energy consumers due to the large pumps utilised for distributing water over great distances against significant static heads. With the present electricity situation in the country, Eskom invested in,...
The world depends upon coal for much of its energy, yet coal had developed a reputation for being “dirty” and polluting. The reputation seems undeserved; coal can be, and often is, burned cleanly. There are concerns about various emissions, particularly sulphur and nitrogen oxides and mercury, but the impact of these emissions seems overstated, so that statutory control levels are set to unnecessarily...
Deforestation has significantly affected availability of reliable low cost energy resources in low income rural households. As a result, off grid communities are becoming less and less reliant on round wood for energy. However, large amounts of agricultural and forestry residues that are produced annually are destroyed in perennial veld fires and some are deliberately destroyed to prepare for new...
There is a genuine opportunity for the developing world and vulnerable and low-income communities to leapfrog the conventional paradigm of power. Where conventional electricity is reliant on expensive, polluting and centrally controlled generation (with its spider web of infrastructure and dependence on decades-old technologies), the developing world can harness modern, low carbon, renewable, agile,...
Manually controlled compressed air networks are operated inefficiently. A need exists to reduce the electricity cost of a mining complex by optimising the control of the compressed air network. One way to achieve this is by controlling the compressed air supply to accurately match the demand. A locally developed Dynamic Compressor Selector (DCS) controller was improved to better control complex compressed...
Mine cooling and ventilation systems ensure favourable working conditions underground. Mines are hesitant to reduce the Bulk Air Cooler (BAC) water flow as doing so raises safety concerns. Previous studies on this topic compared the measured wet-bulb temperatures to the maximum allowable wet-bulb temperature of 27.5°C. This paper investigates how the temperature of the underground network is affected...
Cool roofs are beneficial for most buildings almost everywhere in the world. They are described as an inexpensive method in order to improve the comfort level in buildings in mild and hot climate and to save energy. However, their cost-effectiveness can vary significantly, depending on climate and local factors. Therefore, the use of simulations with local conditions can provide the clarity required...
The production of greenhouse gases (GHG) has led to the Earth's surface temperature increasing by an average of 0.6°C in the 20th century. This is partly due to over reliance on fossil fuels. Human activities are estimated to account for about 69% of GHG emissions. There is now an urgent need for alternative fuels, especially renewables such as biomass, to mitigate this. In most of Sub-Saharan Africa,...
Improved efficiency is the task of the hour. Environmental challenges, which include climate change, global warming and greenhouse gas emission have been fuelling the need to increase energy efficiency in electrical rotating machinery. Furthermore, there is a need to establish a level platform for motor manufacturers globally where they can produce electric machines according harmonized standards...
The changes made to Eskom's IDM ESCo model in 2015 forces energy services companies to sustain industrial DSM project performance for thirty-six months. Historically, typical industrial DSM performance declines shortly after the performance assessment period. To help ESCos adapt to the new program, processes were developed to manage the sustainability of industrial DSM project performance. Three separate...
Numerous initiatives exist for the efficient energy management of mine compressed air systems. Most of these initiatives are also part of large projects that provide a definite impact within short timeframes. However, some of these implemented initiatives lack sustainability. A need therefore arises to identify and implement initiatives that continually improve the efficiency of a mine's compressed...
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