| The thesis describes a study in the field of industrial energy conservation, focussed on two questions: (1) How can the opportunities for reducing the energy used in an existing production process be found? (2) How must decisions be made with respect to the choice between different opportunities, taking into account the fact that they have mutual effects upon each others results?;With respect to the question mentioned first, a case-study in a paper dryer was performed, in order to work out and illustrate the analysis methods given in common energy management handbooks. An important part of this case-study concerns the development of a simulation model of the process. This model was used for systematically deriving possible energy conservation measures in the dryer; moreover, it was useful in analyzing the interactive effects of conservation measures.;With respect to the second question mentioned above, it became clear that the right choice between different energy conservation measures (= determining the priorities) cannot be made by simply applying economic criteria to the individual measures, because the effects of the physical interactions between the measures are ignored completely then. Therefore, an analysis was made of these physical interactions, on both a theoretical and an empirical basis. The effects on the economic benefits were investigated, which led to a relatively simple priority criterion.;Based upon that, a procedure for decision-making in energy conservation projects was formulated. This procedure is suitable for practical applications because it determines priorities and allows for decisions to be made on the basis of limited information: namely, without making calculations for combinations of measures. |
