Assessment of the energy consumption of the glass production process by compressed air flow measurements

In this work the authors propose a methodology to manage the operation of a compressed air plant to guarantee its best energy efficiency, so controlling the energy consumption of the industry where such a plant is present. In particular, the aim is to set a strategy for controlling the optimal operation of the compressors in the plant, in the perspective of Industry 4.0, to ensure the minimization of energy consumption found by their use and their automated management. The methodology bases its principle on the digitization of the operational maps of the machines, able to provide in real-time their operating conditions found by the measurements of the characteristic parameters, and thus intervene, through feedback chains, on control systems to restore optimal conditions, when possible, or intervene with routine maintenance to prevent irreversible damage. It is intended to test the procedure on a compressed air plant of a glass industry located in southern Italy.