Energy Performance Analytics Software Released

Yokogawa Electric Corporation (the Netherlands) announces the November release of Energy Performance Analytics (EP-Analytics), a software tool that uses energy performance indicators (EnPI) to track how energy is being consumed in a plant, identifies gaps between EnPI targets and actual performance, and helps to identify countermeasures to improve energy performance. The EP-Analytics software is powered by the Visual MESA energy management and optimisation solution.

Manufacturers around the world are working hard to improve their energy performance and protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Released in 2011, the ISO50001 standard provides a framework of requirements that help companies in the process industries effectively manage their energy performance and achieve regulatory compliance.

Yokogawa is a leading supplier of advanced solutions and control instrumentation to the process industry, and excels in helping manufacturers conserve energy by optimising their plant operations. In 2013, Yokogawa took a significant stake in Soteica Visual MESA, a world leading supplier of energy management systems with a solid track record in providing solutions for the utility facilities at large industrial complexes. Through this partnership with Soteica, Yokogawa is able to offer the Visual MESA solution to its customers.

The EP-Analytics plant energy performance visualisation software is based on Yokogawa's knowhow in production processes and operations, and is powered by Soteica's Visual MESA energy management and optimisation technology.

To improve plant energy performance, it is necessary to first grasp how energy is being used by each process unit. By visualising and tracking the energy consumption in each unit, inefficiencies can be easily identified and located. The EP-Analytics software runs on a workstation that is connected via an OPC interface to the control system, giving it access to pressure, temperature, flow rate, and other plant data. Based on the Visual MESA simulation engine, the EP-Analytics software uses rigorous "first principle" models to track energy flows throughout the plant and calculate the energy performance for each individual process unit and piece of equipment. This software also compares actual performance against expected energy performance to pinpoint underperforming units and equipment, and this information can be used by plant personnel to plan specific countermeasures.

EP-Analytics' rigorous calculation engine uses "first principle" modelling to precisely calculate how much energy is being consumed by turbines, boilers, and other plant systems and equipment. It also calculates the mass balance of the steam and other forms of energy that are supplied to the production processes, and thus can quantify energy losses and other imbalances in the overall system.

EP-Analytics is designed to support manufacturers' roll-out of ISO50001. The EP-Analytics software supports ISO50001 methodologies such as the "plan-do-check-act" (PDCA) cycle as well as activities such as management reviews. The British Standards Institution (BSI) has assessed the EP-Analytics software scope and functionality with regard to the key requirements of the ISO50001:2011E standard. BSI confirms that it is faithfully represented in a Yokogawa report elaborating the functionalities of EP-Analytics and that it can be used to reliably visualise data and achieve conformity with ISO50001:2011E.

As EP-Analytics uses the same energy calculation engine as Visual MESA, it is possible to upgrade from EP-Analytics to Visual MESA, which is capable of optimising a plant's power consumption in real time, while systems and equipment are all operating. This is a task that Visual MESA is designed for, and major energy companies all around the world use it for this purpose. In the event that a production process needs to be made more energy efficient, Yokogawa also offers a number of advanced process control and operation management solutions.

Regarding this new Yokogawa offering, Kim Hock Teo, head of Yokogawa's Solutions Service Business Headquarters' Advanced Solutions Business Division, says, "Energy regulations are growing ever stricter, and this is driving up energy costs. It is clear that our customers are looking for ways to make more effective use of sensors and controllers to improve their energy performance. With its holistic solutions, Yokogawa has much to offer in this respect. I am pleased that we can now add EP-Analytics to our solutions, in partnership with Soteica. Our Advanced Solutions Business Division will continue to deliver the advanced solutions needed to improve energy performance."