Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

Committee Chair

Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan

Abstract

The depletion of fossils fuels, the unstable supply of these fuels, and the phenomenal increase in energy costs emphasize the need to conserve energy. Compressed air systems are major energy consuming systems in most of industries and are known to be the most inefficient. The baselining of such systems assumes importance in energy conservation because of this. As a result, the baseline of such systems stresses the importance of energy conservation. When designing a new facility and operating an existing one, eliminating inefficiencies such as inappropriate uses, excessive system pressure, leaks and other wastages leads to energy conservation. This research is an attempt to develop a rule-based system that could capture expert knowledge to eliminate such inefficiencies. A system developed could then be used to evaluate and eliminate these inefficiencies in small and medium facilities. The effect of some factors like pressure, flow and friction on the energy cost is found using the system developed. The outputs were then analyzed and discussed

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