Festo_Technology Plant

Scharnhausen Technology Plant: Energy efficiency planned and put into practice

02 The experts are able to monitor the

safe operation of the buildings and facili-

ties via a tablet.

01 Training courses on energy

efficiency are part of the education

programme in the Technology Plant.

Flair for energy

The physical background for calculating the Sankey diagram is the

conservation of energy principle: every energy flow into the factory

must also leave it at the same intensity.

Strong flows are symbolised by thick arrows, weak flows by thin

arrows. The arrow thicknesses correspond exactly to the energy

flows and thus make them transparent.

Scales and effects can be estimated at a glance. The Sankey dia-

gram can make it easier to understand the routes of power distri-

bution or carbon dioxide emissions and to directly read off interac-

tions.

Planned and constructed

Two natural gas-operated combined heat and power stations with

a total output of around 1.8 megawatts ensure a basic energy sup-

ply to the site today. A combined heat and power station generates

electricity and heat at the same time, with an overall efficiency

»We are working on a networked and intelligent energy

transparency system. By this means we can disclose

current consumption figures to every employee on-site

and make potential savings visible. Transparency in the

energy consumption figures is the key to becoming

more efficient. We have laid the foundations for this with

a measuring system that provides us with this data.«

level of around 95 per cent. The heat is used for heating purposes

in the cold part of the year. During the summer months, it is con-

verted – together with the waste heat from the air compressors –

into cooling for production with the aid of absorption chillers.

Although the consumption of natural gas increases by operating

the combined heat and power stations, overall efficiency is consid-

erably improved and unwanted emissions are significantly

reduced. Energy is also recovered in the machining department:

waste heat given off by the machines is transferred into the ground

by means of concrete core activation and utilised according to the

underfloor heating principle. The result of the energy networking

of production and buildings is lower consumption, less costs and

lower emissions.

Johannes Linzbach, Production Systems Research