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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
2212-8271 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer-review
under responsibility of the scientifi c committee of The 22nd CIRP
conference on Life Cycle Engineeringdoi:
10.1016/j.procir.2015.02.196
Procedia CIRP 29 ( 2015 ) 40 44
ScienceDirect
The 22nd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering
Method for increasing energy efficiency in flexible
manufacturing systems: A case study
Hugo M. B. de Carvalhoa,b*, Jefferson de Oliveira Gomesb a
Renault of Brazil, Av. Renault, 1300, So Jose do Pinhais,
83070-970, Brazil
b Technological Institute of Aeronautics, Praa Marechal Eduardo
Gomes, 50 Vila das Accias, So Jos dos Campos, 12.228-970,
Brazil
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 (41) 9107-1312. E-mail
address: [email protected]
Abstract
In manufacturing systems, machines have been operated for years
or decades without the concept of electrical energy efficiency,
which has resulted in high manufacturing costs. In order to raise
competitiveness by reducing energy costs, a method for
systematically increasing energy efficiency is needed. This paper
presents a new method to increase the energy efficiency of machine
tools and equipment with computer numerical control (CNC) or a
programmable logic controller (PLC). This new method was validated
through application to three flexible manufacturing systems in the
automotive machining industry as a case study. 2015 The Authors.
Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the
International Scientific Committee of the Conference 22nd CIRP
conference on Life Cycle Engineering.
Keywords: manufacturing system; energy efficiency; electricity;
energy; CNC machine tool
1. Introduction
Filippi and Ippolito [1] and Avram and Xirouchakis [2] were some
of the first to study energy efficiency in machine tools with
numerical control (NC). They compared data from 10 different NC
machine tools involved in various operations. They concluded that
the installed capacity was never fully utilized because the average
power was less than half of the power available; only 60% of the
total time was spent on production. Studies on the energy
efficiency of flexible manufacturing systems for machining
processes are necessary to define the input and output of the
system in terms of useful energy. Several studies have attempted to
link machining and environmental impacts. The first ones
emphasising the importance of this relationship appeared in the
early 1990s [3, 4]. Since then, new terms such as green machining
have gained prominence in the field of computer numerical control
(CNC) machine tools and manufacturing processes. Energy efficiency
is achieved by streamlining useful energy. A review of recent
literature shows efforts being made to increase energy efficiency
in the machine tool industry. For example, Weinert et al. [5]
investigated reducing the cutting
fluid used during the machining process. Rangarajan and Dornfeld
[7] proposed a tool path and workpiece preparation method based on
energy efficiency. Mori et al. [6] explored the monitoring of
energy consumption by machine tools. Diaz et al. [8] investigated
the reuse of electrical energy from a spindle. Neugebauer et al.
[9] compared different drilling processes with different cutting
tools and material removal rates. Suggestions to increase the
energy efficiency of machining processes include turning some
components of the machine off and on via NC or a programmable logic
controller (PLC) [6, 10, 13], redefining the parameters of cutting
tools to reduce the machining time [6, 11, 12], redefining the
cutting strategy for the trajectory and path of the cutting tool
[10], changing devices of low-performance machines for equipment
with higher performance [10, 13], and setting machine parameters to
reduce consumption (e.g. axis and spindle acceleration) [10].
For all five suggestions, examples include applications to
cutting parameters, cutting strategies, and machine parameters
which decrease the acceleration along the axes. Li et al. [13]
showed the possibility of reducing the fixed energy consumption for
different manufacturing processes for
2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer-review
under responsibility of the scientifi c committee of The 22nd CIRP
conference on Life Cycle Engineering
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41 Hugo M.B. de Carvalho and Jefferson de Oliveira Gomes /
Procedia CIRP 29 ( 2015 ) 40 44
different machine states. There are examples of increasing the
energy efficiency by
switching off and restarting the equipment or equipment parts
during productive and non-productive times and how to implement
this approach. Turning equipment on and off reduces the electrical
energy consumption when the machine is in standby mode or in
operation. This is true even when the equipment is responsible for
a significant portion of the energy consumption of a manufacturing
system. This approach has mainly focused on reducing the energy
consumption of machine tools. This paper proposes a systematic
method applicable not only to machine tools but also to any
equipment in a manufacturing system with a PLC. The goal was to
develop and apply the method to a manufacturing system. The
proposed method improves on the work by Li et al. [13] to reduce
the fixed power of machine tools.
1.1. Material
The electrical energy consumed by a machine is measured using
measuring equipment. The measuring equipment is installed at the
entrance of CNC machines and equipment. This research used the
RE6000 portable power analyser (EMBRASUL) as the measuring
equipment; this is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Measuring equipment inside machining centre.
The power analyser stores data on the active power, reactive
power, and effective power measured at intervals of up to
hundredths of a second. Energy metering and monitoring is essential
to obtaining authentic information from each individual machine,
and the sample rate should be less than 0.5 s [13]. Data are stored
in a file which can be transferred to a computer via a network
cable. Data are obtained by a software program within the measuring
equipment and later opened in a spreadsheet, as shown in Fig.
2.
After the power analyser is installed, the electrical energy
consumption of each function is measured by programming the PLC. A
function is a device which consumes electrical energy and executes
an action. Examples include an electrical motor or electrical
resistance. With the PLC, it is possible to switch the
functionality of sub-components on or off to adjust the energy
consumption.
Fig. 2. Electricity consumption of CNC machine tool during
machining.
2. Method
For current manufacturing systems, the development of a method
to increase energy efficiency is essential to minimizing the impact
of the rising costs of electricity. Industries with manufacturing
systems which are more than 10 years old are common. Hence, there
are machines and equipment that were designed without concern for
energy efficiency, which wastes electricity. In order to avoid
having to invest in more energy-efficient new machinery, a
systematic method was developed in this study to improve energy
efficiency in manufacturing systems with new or old machinery,
which is presented in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Method to increase energy efficiency of equipment in
manufacturing system.
The first step is to measure the energy consumption of the
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42 Hugo M.B. de Carvalho and Jefferson de Oliveira Gomes /
Procedia CIRP 29 ( 2015 ) 40 44
equipment in the manufacturing system. After the machine or
equipment is selected, the power consumption needs to be measured
over a period of time, and the energy consumption and time of each
step in the process need to be recorded. The energy consumption
must be measured by dividing the equipment into functions. Once the
functions of the equipment are defined, the next step is to analyse
each function. If a function can be turned off at any time, the
equipment is reprogrammed. If the function cannot be turned off at
any time, it is checked to determine if the functionality can be
modified in order to reduce consumption. If either of the above two
conditions can be met, the functionality is turned off or modified.
The equipment is measured to define the gain in energy efficiency.
This cycle of analysis and reprogramming must be carried out for
all equipment in a manufacturing system. It is mainly necessary for
application to flexible manufacturing systems which are heavily
automated. All of the reprogramming is done with the PLC or NC of
the machine and must be performed by the maintenance and process
engineering team. A process engineer is needed to analyse the
impact of this change in the quality of the manufactured product
and machine maintenance. This method also enables gains without
investment because only the time spent programming the PLC or NC is
required for application. This method enables the review of all
functions of all equipment of a manufacturing system. Each function
is measured with the measurement equipment, and the PLC of the
machine is reprogrammed. Thus, each function is switched off for a
new measurement. The difference is the energy consumption of the
analysed function.
3. Case Study
3.1. Method to increase energy efficiency in transport
equipment
As an example, this method was applied to the conveyor of
different flexible manufacturing systems. The conveyor transports a
piece from one operation to another in a discrete manufacturing
system. However, the design of the conveyor does not provide energy
efficiency. Normally, these systems remain on even without a piece
to transport during production breaks or inactive periods. Each PLC
controls two to five electrical motors. The measurement was
performed at the entrance of the PLC. The systematic method reduced
power during inactivity by approximately 1000 W. This PLC
controlled two conveyors, and the method was initially applied to
one conveyor. The initial consumption was measured, and the
executed functions were identified. Then, the selected function was
checked to verify whether or not it can be programmed to
automatically turn on and off (e.g. when there is no piece entering
or no manual request for the part). Finally, the electrical energy
consumption of the conveyor with the programming changes was
measured, as shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Method applied to conveyor in manufacturing system.
The conveyor analysed work for only 2 min per shift after the
reprogramming, and the energy consumption was reduced by 90%, as
shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Power consumption by conveyor after analysis and
reprogramming.
3.2. Method to increase energy efficiency in machines with PLC
only
The method was also applied to multiple washing machines of
different flexible manufacturing systems. The method to increase
energy efficiency was applied to a washing machine, and then it was
replicated for another washing machine. The function of the washing
machine in a manufacturing system is to clean a piece before
assembly. The washing machine does not have an NC, only a PLC. The
washing machine performs external washing, vacuum drying, and hot
air drying, as shown in Fig. 6. The washing machine has 19
different stations with different functions, such as external
washing with high pressure, internal washing with a robot, the
vacuum station, and the dry hot air station. This is the reason for
the high power consumption of the washing machine.
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43 Hugo M.B. de Carvalho and Jefferson de Oliveira Gomes /
Procedia CIRP 29 ( 2015 ) 40 44
Fig. 6. Method applied to washing machine of pieces.
The first function analysed for the washing machine was the
vacuum drying. This station in the machine continues to operate
throughout the process. Reprogramming the washing machine reduced
consumption by 18% when there is no part to clean.
The initial measured electrical power consumption of the washing
machine was 1824 Wh/cycle. After the functions of the washing
machine were reprogrammed, the consumption was reduced to 1494
Wh/cycle. The vacuum drying function was reprogrammed with the PLC.
When there is no part in the dry vacuum station, the washing
machine turns it off. Before that, the power of the washing machine
reached 200 kW during a working cycle, as shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Power consumption by part before method was applied to
washing machine.
After the systematic method was applied and the PLC was
reprogrammed, the maximum power reached 180 kW, as shown in Fig.
8.
Fig. 8. Power consumption by part before method was applied to
washing machine.
The same methodology was applied to five different washing
machines in three flexible manufacturing systems for the automotive
industry. Application of the method to systematically reducing the
electrical energy consumption has resulted in more than 200 actions
so far.
4. Conclusion
The proposed method to systematically increase energy efficiency
makes it possible to reduce power consumption during standby mode.
The method reduced the electrical energy consumptions of the
conveyer, washing machine, and central filter in standby mode by
83%, 12.5%, and 1% respectively. This methodology was applied to
CNC machines and increased their energy efficiency. Power
consumption during standby mode does not add value to the
manufactured product and must be considered waste because the
machine consumes energy without performing any functions or steps
in the production process. If a flexible manufacturing system is in
idle mode for 2 h/day for 48 productive weeks, there are 480 h/year
of electricity consumption without production. These 480 h are
equivalent to 20 days of 24 h production. This represents 75% of
the production in 1 month for 1 year. In the literature, there has
been no analysis of the energy consumption for manufacturing
systems or application of a method to increase the energy
efficiency of flexible manufacturing systems.
The proposed method can reduce the electrical energy consumption
during non-productive and productive times through reprogramming of
the PLC for any equipment. This way, the equipment can recognize
when a function can be switched off without needing to know how
long this situation will hold. For example, this situation may
occur from the absence of a part due to failure in the previous
operation.
Acknowledgements
This research is part of a PhD thesis for the Technological
Institute of Aeronautics (ITA). The research was supported and
carried out with the manufacturing systems at Renault of
Brazil.
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44 Hugo M.B. de Carvalho and Jefferson de Oliveira Gomes /
Procedia CIRP 29 ( 2015 ) 40 44
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