Analysis of Energy Utilization in Selected Industries in Southwestern Nigeria

摘要

This article presents an analysis of energy use and energy saving opportunities in selected industries in southwest Nigeria. The study is based on the realization that enormous potential exists for energy saving improvements in the existing energy using industrial equipment. A walkthrough energy audit provided data for the power rating, operation time of energy consuming equipment and machineries and power factor. The data were then analyzed to investigate the breakdown of end-use equipment and machineries' energy use. The results of the energy audit in the selected processing and producing industries showed that the electric motor accounts for a major fraction, 40-70%, of total energy consumption. Based on the available data, the food processing industry had the highest energy consumption per year at 5,039.45 TJ/yr., while the ceramic industry had the lowest average annual energy consumption at 109.43 TJ/yr. The annual energy consumption variances for specific sectors during the period under consideration industry-wide were: food processing industry, 28-108 MJ/kg; distillation and bottling industry 3.72-3.96 MJ/kg; chemical industry, 76.55-92.80 MJ/kg; and ceramic industry, 7.71-7.93 MJ/kg. The energy used ratio for all of the selected industries is far from unit (1). This indicates an ineffective utilization of energy in the industries, which implies that more energy is expended in the unit production of finished product. The study established that energy is not sufficiently utilized in the companies studied, so this article suggests possible strategies for efficient energy usage in the selected industries.