Project SurfEnergy: energy management systems

Citation

Starkey, P. (2010), "Project SurfEnergy: energy management systems", Circuit World, Vol. 36 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2010.21736dac.002

Project SurfEnergy: energy management systems

Article Type: Exhibitions and conferences From: Circuit World, Volume 36, Issue 4

Intelligent Energy Europe is a European Community initiative that funds the identification of opportunities and the promotion of increased use of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Within the Intelligent Energy Europe programme is a project aimed specifically at the printed circuit board and surface engineering industries, entitled SurfEnergy, with the aim of strengthening competitiveness by achieving the wide introduction of energy efficiency measures. The partners in the SurfEnergy project are C-Tech Innovation and Env-Aqua Solutions in the UK, BESEL in Spain, UITS and Protection des Metaux in France, and the European Institute of Printed Circuits in The Netherlands.

SurfEnergy was a main topic at a symposium organised by C-Tech Innovation in co-operation with the Institute of Metal Finishing, in Birmingham, UK on 25 May 2010, attended by a large audience of manufacturers, equipment and process suppliers, together with university researchers and environmental specialists.

Dr Ian Dalrymple of C-Tech Innovation gave an introductory overview of the SurfEnergy project, explaining that its objectives were to increase the awareness of manufacturing companies to the possibility of introducing energy management systems and the potential benefits that could result, and to provide those companies with options for energy efficiency solutions, based on analysis and detailed understanding of the generic production processes currently in use. He emphasised that SurfEnergy was not directly concerned with general heating and lighting, carbon emissions reduction or alternative energy sources.

The project would provide a structured pathway to energy efficiency, with guidance on setting up an energy management system, energy auditing requirements, measure lists, tools for checking energy efficiency and investment advice. Supporting outputs would include Best Practice Guides, benchmarking studies, ideal factory priorities and life cycle assessments. Dr Dalrymple described how an energy management system could be adopted by a company to establish an energy policy, define strategic and specific objectives for the implementation of energy efficiency measures and construct a plan to carry out energy studies and management studies to assess energy usage patterns, all within the framework of BS EN 16001:2009, the European Standard for Energy Management.

C-Tech Innovation’s Stuart Dalrymple then explained in detail the development of an Energy Efficiency Toolkit specifically aimed at the PCB and surface finishing manufacturing sectors, to allow users to reduce energy consumption, reduce costs and make informed decisions on investments. The complexity of the PCB manufacturing process had been acknowledged at the outset and the tools recognised drilling, primary imaging, lamination, plating, etching, solder mask, final finishing, inspection and testing and water treatment as individual focal points for data collection and energy auditing. Available online was a quick-check tool, which gave a comparison with benchmark information, and a detailed tool in the form of a downloadable spreadsheet to enable manufacturers to monitor and forecast energy use and cost for individual processes and aid investment decision making. Although the toolkit was still at prototype stage, its functionality was already available on the SurfEnergy web site and was being tested by companies and experts. Anyone interested was welcome to participate.

Professor Martin Goosey, on behalf of Env-Aqua Solutions, introduced the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide, available to download from the SurfEnergy web site, and intended to provide information on energy use within the target sectors, highlighting the key areas where significant savings are possible and providing concise and easy-to-implement information reduction of energy usage. With an initial focus on the energy requirements of generic processes, the guide defines energy consumption implications and opportunities, identifies potential energy reduction possibilities within the limitations of each process, and covers materials, chemistry, equipment and operational methodologies, by collecting real information from suppliers and fabricators about the conditions they actually use for each process. Whilst acknowledging that specific process choices might be made for sound technical reasons or mandated by customer specification, the guide offers realistic advice in identifying the key energy-using processes and quantifying the potential for realistic optimisation of energy usage. Professor Goosey reminded the audience that environmental compliance might lead to higher energy consumption, and that the use of less aggressive chemistries might require longer process times and higher temperatures. However, energy remained one of the largest controllable costs in PCB manufacture, and identifying saving opportunities was a significant way to reduce them.

John Collins of C-Tech Innovation put a perspective on life cycle analysis in the surface finishing and PCB industries, which assesses the environmental performance of a product, service or process from design to disposal and enables a system to be improved from the point of view of its environmental impact, whilst taking into account the economics of the system. He showed how to examine all of the production processes, quantifying and normalising the environmental load compared to a reference system, and screening out options that were of low relevance. In the context of the SurfEnergy project, the purpose of life cycle analysis was to set out a framework that could be used to assess whether process modifications made to improve energy efficiency had negative impacts.

Dr Rod Kellner of Env-Aqua Solutions spoke about energy benchmarking and auditing in the surface finishing and PCB industries, where energy costs had doubled in real terms over the last five years, and the trade associations were keen to promote energy-saving initiatives. He commented on the importance of meaningful data and the difficulty in collecting it. Initial response to energy questionnaires was typically as low as 3 per cent. He believed that the SurfEnergy benchmarking questionnaire had originally been too detailed in expecting companies to answer nearly 300 questions. A simplified questionnaire, of about 40 questions, was attracting much improved response and was available online as part of the SurfEnergy toolkit. Information was being gathered on the type of company and operation and the costs and consumption of energy, characterised by total area of boards per annum, number of lots, outer layers, inner layers, holes and surface finishes. The obvious benefit to contributors was that once sufficient data have been collected, each would be able to obtain a relative measure of their energy efficiency performance compared with others carrying out the same or similar processes.

The symposium generated a great deal of interest and interactive discussion, and lively question and answer sessions on a topic which continues to increase in significance from an economic as well as an environmental perspective. The SurfEnergy web site gives free access to energy-saving tools and various publications relating to energy efficiency within the printed circuit board and surface finishing industries (http://surfenergy.eu).

Pete StarkeyEAB MemberCircuit World