Efficiency of Manufacturing Processes Energy and Ecological Perspectives

Descripción

Energy and eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes are of great interest to manufacturers, consumers, government and others. This is due to the soaring energy costs and the environmental impacts caused by high-energy consumption levels. However, the energy consumption of manufacturing processes and the associated environmental impact has been historically overlooked. The unit process is the fundamental and dynamic element of any manufacturing system. Thus, it requires careful evaluation of its energy and eco-efficiency in order to derive further improvement measures. In this book, Dr. Li has developed a reliable methodology for characterizing energy and eco-efficiency of unit manufacturing processes. The Specific Energy Consumption, SEC, has been identified as the key indicator for the energy efficiency of unit processes. An empirical approach has been used to develop unit process energy consumption models based on SEC. Then these models have been validated on different machine tools and manufacturing processes to characterise the relationship between process parameters and energy consumptions. The tested cases cover a wide range of manufacturing processes including turning, milling, grinding, injection moulding and electrical discharge machining. All the derived SEC models agree with a universal form, where the Material Removal Rate (MRR) or throughput rate plays a decisive role in the model. The statistical results and additional validation runs have further proved the high accuracy of the derived models which is capable of predicting energy consumption with an accuracy of over 90 %. In order to characterise the eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes, Dr. Li also discussed the value and the associated environmental impacts of the processes. Besides the electricity energy consumption, other resource consumptions such as tool and coolant have been taken into account. The interrelationship among process parameters, process value and the associated environmental impact has been integrated in the characterization of eco-efficiency. The results have been further investigated to develop strategies for improving the energy and eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes.

Detalles

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