Date of Graduation

2007

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This research focuses on the benchmarking of electrical energy use at sawmills. Lean energy, a concept similar to lean manufacturing, has been applied in this research to enable facility personnel to understand the specific energy consumption at their sawmill. Becoming lean reduces operating costs and increases profitability. A user-friendly interactive model, Baseline Electrical Energy Consumption in Wood Processing Sawmills (BEECWPS), was developed to enable the user to develop an energy profile based on the sawmill process dynamics and to provide real-time information about the process and production details. Process and production data were gathered by visiting six sawmill facilities in West Virginia. A detailed methodology was developed to collect the field data and determine the specific energy consumption (SEC). The BEECWPS model has the capability of developing the energy benchmark for the facility under consideration upon successful submission of the required data. System analysts can use BEECWPS to effectively identify the effect of production parameters on energy and to revise strategies regarding production for an existing or a new facility. The use of the BEECWPS model does not hamper the production process, so the user may run the model for a set of operating conditions and study the results. From the sensitivity analysis conducted at one of the sawmill facilities, it was found that wood species is the most important factor contributing to variations in energy use with the SEC ranging from 102.1–124.7 kWh/mbf. The energy use for this facility can be reduced by 3.9 percent.

Download

Share

COinS