In this article, I will share methods you can use to conserve electrical energy.
There is a need to conserve electrical energy for many reasons. All the reasons that will force you to conserve energy will always give you positive outcomes.
I won’t be talking about the benefits of conserving electrical energy, I know you got that covered already.
I will write about different methods that you can use to conserve electrical energy to the fullest.
You need to use these methods to minimize electrical energy losses and obtain sparing use of energy.
Conserving electrical energy will help you save money and prevent the waste of resources.
Everyone is obligated to conserve electrical energy.
Conserving electrical energy in power plants will reduce the cost of operations and increase profits.
You will eventually find that there is less input needed to produce a greater output.
Without wasting time, let me share the things you need to know when it comes to conserving electrical energy.
These are the methods of conserving electrical energy in power plants;
1. Reduce distribution and transmission losses.
If you want to conserve electrical energy used in power plants this is the first you have to do.
You have to minimize the transmission and distribution losses.
If you can find a way to minimize these losses in a power plant they will be conserving electrical energy.
Several measures can be put into place to reduce the transmission and distribution losses.
Transmission losses can be reduced by using a good electrical conductor with minimum resistance to electrical energy flow.
This will allow the smooth flow of electrical energy to the point of applications without losing more energy in the wires.
Apart from that you will need to reduce ohmic losses by using a conductor with maximum conductivity when it comes to transmission.
Another thing you can do to reduce the transmission losses you can use a dielectric substrate of a low-loss tangent and high dielectric constant to minimize the dielectric losses and losses as a result of leakages.
These are just some of the measures you can put when reducing transmission losses but there are more things to be learned.
You can also minimize distribution losses by using high-quality wires of appropriate resistance and good configuration of the transformers.
All these things will help you conserve electrical energy in a power plant.
2. Minimizing the coal burnt in thermal power plants.
If you are in a thermal power plant this will apply to you. If you want to conserve electrical energy you have to reduce the coal burnt.
The coal used in a thermal power plant not only helps in power generation but also its application uses power.
The methods of handling the coal, supplying it, and using it in the furnace, will also consume energy.
That is if you are using material handling equipment. If the thermal power plant is massive you will have no choice but to use these pieces of equipment.
You might like this: Bulk Material Handling Equipments: Advantages, Disadvantages & Maintenance
Their usage results in high energy consumption. As the load of the coal being supplied to the power plant increases so does the electrical energy consumption.
Reducing the coal burnt in thermal power plants will improve energy conservation in the thermal power plant.
How do you reduce coal consumption in a thermal power plant significantly when the demand for it increases?
You can reduce the load of coal burnt in the thermal power plant by using quality coal.
If the coal burnt is of high quality, you will only need a considerable amount of it to keep the power generation going on.
But if you are using coal of low quality, the energy produced by it will be lower, to compensate for that, you will need more coal being fed into the furnace and this means more electrical will be used.
I hope you have understood how coal consumption in a thermal power plant can increase electrical energy consumption.
3. Use of high-efficiency motors in power plants.
If you want to conserve electrical energy in power plants this is something else you will have to do.
You need to invest in high-efficiency motors that you will use in the power plant.
There are so many pieces of equipment in the power plant that uses electric motors to keep the processes going.
If you use motors of high efficiency, the electrical energy consumption will be less but the output will be higher.
High-efficiency motors will cost you a little bit more money to purchase but they are worth it.
They will give you the operation you desire in the power plant.
If you use electric motors of low efficiency, you should know that they will consume more electrical energy while the torque they will provide will be lower than you anticipated.
This can keep the processes in the power plant lagging because of the choice of electric motors.
High-efficiency motors will conserve electrical energy in power plants by using lower power but giving out a bigger output.
4. Optical reactive power scheduling.
Optical reactive power scheduling is another measure that can be put into use to minimize the electrical energy losses in a power plant.
If the number of distributed resources integrated into distribution networks is high optical reactive power scheduling will be needed to enhance electrical energy conservation at the distribution level.
This will ensure that the power losses at the distribution level are reduced, since we may have transmission and distribution losses due to the high number of resources integrated at one point.
Optical reactive power scheduling is mostly used at the distribution networks to gain the control needed to minimize transmission and distribution losses.
5. Efficient energy system planning.
Another way to conserve electrical energy in power plants is to have efficient energy system planning.
Efficient energy system planning will allow the operators to have an appropriate set of data that they can use to conserve electrical energy.
Knowing how power is used in the power plant will enable the operators to come up with ways through which they can change user behaviors.
With the set of data they have they can be able to monitor how different appliances in the power plant consume electrical energy.
All these sets of data will allow them to develop efficient energy system planning.
With efficient energy system planning, it will help the operators to also do energy audits easily and the results will also be to conserve the energy.
If energy system planning is done effectively, this will enhance electrical energy conservation in the power plant through energy monitoring and targeting.
6. Improving power plant load factor.
Improving power plant load factor improves electrical energy conservation in power plants since the total capacity of the plant will be utilized at the maximum thus resulting in lower cost of the electricity being generated.
The plant load factor is the ratio of the average load to the peak load during a particular period.
The plant load factor always targets the capability of the power plant during the peak.
Improving the power plant load factor will allow the power plant to utilize all the resources to the maximum thus increasing the output while lowering the energy consumed by the plant.
A high power plant load factor indicates that the plant load is using electrical energy efficiently thus conserving more electrical energy.
If a plant has a low load factor, this indicates that the electrical energy is not used to the maximum.
So, it’s necessary to improve the plant load factor by reducing demand or increasing production efficiency to conserve electrical energy.
7. Optimum utilization of installed capacity.
If the power plant is going to use the installed capacity to its full potential, this will conserve electricity.
When the installed capacity is used to the maximum, this will result in higher output and lower energy consumption.
If the utilization of the installed capacity is lower, the electrical energy will be used more while giving a lower output.
Optimum utilization of installed capacity deals with the production rate of the power plant.
When the power plant is at its optimum utilization capacity it increases electrical energy production at a lower input thus increasing energy conservation.
Lastly…
Electrical energy conservation is important to maximize profits in a power plant.
The energy that is used in the plant and the energy that is distributed has to be conserved by any means to reduce waste and inefficiencies.
Some measures of electrical energy conservation will require one to invest more while others do not so.
All these practices of energy conservation are important to ensure we achieve the best out of the power plants.
Thanks for reading, if you have any questions leave your comment and I will see you in my next article.
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