Tracking Carbon Emissions in Manufacturing with ICP DAS’s Environment and Energy Management Solution
Users can collect information about the electricity consumption of factories and equipment with the ICP DAS‘s three-phase smart power meter PM-3000 series and the IIoT power meter concentrator PMC-5231. The smart power meter and power meter concentrator can also be used in conjunction with ICP DAS‘s air sensor modules to obtain temperature, humidity, and PM concentration data on the factories’ production lines and then send the received data to the control center, thereby helping companies track the carbon emissions of the production process and achieve the goal of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Introduction:
The client is the largest manufacturer of contact lenses in Taiwan and the fifth largest manufacturer in the world. The company is known for its strictest manufacturing and quality control standards. Every step of the contact lens manufacturing process, from the initial design of the structure to final use by the consumer, is recorded and strictly controlled by the computer. Environmental monitoring of production lines in cleanrooms is very important part of the production process. In addition to temperature and humidity control in cleanrooms, there also should be no polluting particles in the air. Among other things, the client wanted to record and analyze the production equipment’s capacity information using a computer to form a new energy-saving policy. This case study shows how ICP DAS‘s environmental and energy management solution can help a client achieve these goals.
ICP DAS's environment and energy management solution
The customer uses the ICP DAS’s isolated three-phase smart power meter PM-3133i-160P to collect power information of plant and equipment. The temperature and humidity data logger DL-100TM485P is used to monitor and record the temperature, humidity, and dust in cleanrooms. Another temperature and humidity data logger module, DL-1020, monitors and records the same parameters but in production lines. The power meter concentrator PMC-5231 is used to transmit power, temperature, humidity, and PM concentration data in cleanrooms and production lines to the control center via Ethernet (Modbus TCP). In addition, the industrial LED display iKAN-124 is used to show the collected information about temperature, humidity, and PM concentration in cleanrooms and production lines, as well as for alarm notification in case of emergencies or special conditions. The solution structure is as follows:
Collection of plant/equipment capacity data
The ICP DAS’ isolated three-phase smart power meter PM-3133i-160P has high precision and can accurately collect power information, which is used to obtain plant and equipment power consumption data. The received data will then be sent to the power meter concentrator PMC-5231 through the Modbus RTU communication protocol.
Temperature, humidity, and PM concentration monitoring in cleanrooms
The DL-100TM485P data logger can measure the temperature and humidity in certain areas and transmit the obtained data to the PMC-5231 power meter concentrator via Modbus RTU for environmental monitoring.
Temperature, humidity, and PM concentration monitoring of production lines
The DL-1000 is a series of modules developed by ICP DAS to measure particulate and gaseous air pollution concentrations for industrial applications in harsh environments. Modules are IP43 rated and can measure and record the following parameters: PM1/2.5/10, CO, CO2, HCHO, TVOC, NH3, H2S, temperature, humidity, and dew point. The modules in this series can also apply date and time stamps on collected data and store up to 180,000 downloadable records. In this case, the customer uses the DL-1020 module to measure the production lines’ temperature, humidity, and PM1/2.5/10 concentration level.
Power meter concentrator with edge computing and control capabilities
The PMC-5231 power meter concentrator has the flexibility to integrate power meter modules, provides real-time power management and data recording functions, instantly reads and records power consumption information of electrical equipment measured by power meters. It supports various communication protocols and has a built-in Web Server. Users can view power information and set system parameters directly through the browser. With the IF-THEN-ELSE statement, the PMC-5231 power meter concentrator can execute automatic logic stably and efficiently. When it detects abnormal voltage, current, gas level, or temperature in environments and machines, it will immediately send alerts to inform the management personnel (via email, SMS, LINE, and WeChat). In this case, in addition to integrating the power information of the factory area and equipment, it also collects and sends production lines’ temperature, humidity, and PM concentration data to the control center via Modbus TCP protocol.
Industrial-grade LED display is a great companion for on-site managers
The iKAN series industrial LED display from ICP DAS has industrial-grade anti-noise capability, high reliability and stability, supports ASCII and Unicode characters, which can be used to display text messages in multiple languages. It supports various communication protocols, including Modbus TCP/RTU, CGI, PROFINET, and others. The iKAN series display can interact perfectly with numerous industrial control devices from different brands. At the same time, the iKAN-124 display can show up to 24 characters in one line. It can also receive messages from the PMC-5231 power meter concentrator through Modbus TCP communication protocol, allowing on-site personnel to instantly monitor temperature, humidity, production capacity, or machine status. When a malfunction occurs in the machine status, or if the temperature and humidity, as well as the PM concentration, do not correspond to the correct values, the logic control mechanism of the PMC-5231 will immediately activate the iKAN-124 to display emergency messages.
Benefits:
PMC series power meter concentrators support various communication protocols such as Modbus TCP/RTU, SNMP, and MQTT. The data can be encrypted and transferred to the cloud monitoring software through the MQTT protocol.
The PMC-5231 power meter concentrator provides real-time recording of electrical equipment and power reports, calculates daily power consumption statistics, which is used to manage production efficiency. The supervisory unit can understand the power consumption status of the machine from the daily, weekly, and monthly reports, thereby improving the monitoring of power consumption costs.
The PMC-5231 power meter concentrator provides a data recovery function. When a network failure occurs, the system will continue to operate normally, and the data, generated during the failure period, will be retained. After the PMC-5231 is reconnected to the network, the saved data will be returned to the control center to ensure complete data recovery and effectively prevent data loss due to network failures.
The DL-1000 series particulate and gas measurement modules support various communication protocols and can transmit obtained data via DCON, Modbus TCP/RTU, and MQTT communication protocols. For easy integration into an existing monitoring system, the modules in this series can use the most common communication interfaces such as RS-485, Ethernet and PoE.
The iKAN series industrial displays are controlled via Web-based management. This means that they can be configured and controlled without being connected to a personal computer. The iKAN series industrial displays can also be directly connected to Modbus devices, sensor modules (such as the DL-302 CO2/temperature/humidity/dew point data logger), or PMC-5231 power meter concentrator and WISE-5231 IIoT edge controllers. Suitable field applications include: factory production monitoring; air quality monitoring in gyms, libraries, and shops; temperature monitoring and personnel access control; environmental monitoring in recreation areas; construction site safety monitoring; air quality and traffic monitoring in tunnels.
ICP DAS's environmental and energy management solution helps businesses track their carbon emissions
More than 130 countries around the world are committed to achieving the Net Zero environmental sustainability goal by 2050. The European Union has also proposed carbon tariffs in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is expected to enter into force as early as 2023 in a transitional form, and to fully apply from 2026. If exporting countries do not have a carbon trading system, importers may face higher tax costs.
ICP DAS‘s environmental and energy management solution can help companies obtain information about energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions during the production process, as well as manage carbon emission factors. Among them is the series of air sensor modules that can capture the amount of gas emitted from production lines, factories, diesel generators, and boilers. The collected information will include gas emissions from production and maintenance processes, refrigerants for freezers/cold rooms, and air conditioning equipment. A series of smart power meters can collect energy emissions generated by power consumption, such as the power consumption of water-cooled chillers, air conditioners, lighting, equipment used in the manufacturing process, and electric vehicles.
With the PMC-5231 power meter concentrator, gas and voltage data, current power factor, cumulative energy consumption (kWh), other power record files, and carbon emissions data are integrated and automatically sent to the IoTstar IIoT cloud management software. The data recovery mechanism of the power meter concentrator ensures that the control center receives complete data.
The IoTstar, an IIoT cloud management software developed by ICP DAS, can remotely monitor and control the PMC-5231 and its connected I/O modules, devices, and equipment. With the IoTstar dashboard service, each power meter concentrator has an independent dashboard that graphically visualizes data such as air quality, voltage, current power factor, cumulative energy consumption (kWh), as well as real-time carbon emissions. The IoTstar Report Service provides report statistics and query services; reports can be provided in PDF or Excel file formats.
Conclusion:
The international standard for calculating the carbon footprint of a product is based on the various stages of the product’s life cycle. In other words, it is the sum total of the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the processes of collecting raw materials, assembly and manufacturing, packaging and delivery, use, disposal, and recycling. Such a calculation range has affected the entire manufacturing supply chain’s upstream and downstream cooperation models. European clients have asked partners from different countries to implement ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) concepts in enterprises and offer energy management systems that comply with the ISO 50001:2018 standard.
ICP DAS has been working diligently in the energy management field for many years. Examples include an energy management solution for a palm oil plant in Thailand that monitors and controls the machines’ power consumption to achieve the dual goals of energy saving and preventive maintenance; and environmental and leakage monitoring solutions for factories in Taiwan that utilize environmental monitoring modules to provide comprehensive monitoring of the entire plant area. ICP DAS helps its clients transform traditional factories into smart factories, and it will continue to work in this direction to help customers move towards sustainable ESG management and operations.
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ICP DAS was established in 1993 and strongly focuses on innovation and the enhancement of industrial automation technology. ICP DAS continuously endeavors to develop a comprehensive selection of products ranging from remote I/O controllers, distributed I/O modules, I/O data acquisition boards, programmable automation controllers, industrial communication modules, web-related products, motion control systems, SCADA/HMI software to automation solutions for applications critical to energy management, motion automation, smart factories, intelligent buildings, and smart cities. Our ambition is to provide a wide range of high-quality products and versatile applications, together with prompt and efficient services, that can be implemented to assist in the continued success of our clients worldwide.