Home Articles The role of Industry 4.0 in achieving net zero emissions

The role of Industry 4.0 in achieving net zero emissions

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Ankur Tomar, Regional Solutions Marketing Manager at Farnell

Global carbon dioxide emissions peaked at 36.700 billion tons in 2019. Fueled by economic expansion, emissions were 60% higher than in 1990 and there is now mounting pressure to control them. The industry can play a leading role in this regard, since the carbon dioxide produced during manufacturing processes contributes a significant part of all global emissions. As an example, partly thanks to the enormous volume required, concrete production alone is responsible for 8% of annual carbon dioxide emissions.

Several organizations representing industrial producers have committed to making their operations zero emissions by mid-century, if not sooner. Under the net zero doctrine, the sector agrees not to produce any greenhouse gas emissions that are not offset in some way. For starters, they can switch to processes that do not produce greenhouse gases, or they can choose to offset emissions in some parts of the process. This would involve applying new methods to capture or use carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases directly or by purchasing carbon credits from organizations specializing in carbon capture.

Energy use: from production to supply

The goals for almost any sector to achieve net-zero emissions will be difficult and will require the attention of each and every part of the supply chain. Organizations will need to take responsibility for the greenhouse gases that each step in the chain causes and are released into the atmosphere, as well as finding ways to reduce or even eliminate emissions altogether. There are clear sources of savings, especially in energy consumption, which is often the main component of greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing supply chain. It is inevitable that some energy will be consumed, but if it can be switched to renewable sources the balance will more easily go to zero.

Although in recent years a key issue in industrial production has been JIT (just-in-time) supply management, zero net balance can change the calculation of maximum efficiency. If an industrial manufacturing field installs large self-generation capacity based on wind or solar power, it can choose to use all of the power directly or sell a portion to the public grid. However, in selling power to the grid, a key problem with generation from renewable sources is that power production rarely correlates with demand. This can lead to situations where excess power cannot be sold to grid operators and must be stored or generators temporarily shut down. Alternatively, if energy-intensive processes increase during the energy surplus, a manufacturer can improve its ability to reduce total carbon emissions in exchange for additional work-in-process that must be stored prior to use.

The role of the cloud and edge computing

The operation of key process control systems can be fed into a large-scale feedback loop that takes advantage of the vast amounts of computing power now available through cloud and edge computing. Cloud servers can run Artificial Intelligence (AI) models that learn how best to plan for power changes and respond to weather or other environmental changes.

The need for high temperatures in some of the most carbon-intensive processes can limit how quickly any system can respond to make a difference in global emissions. This can limit the ability to respond to changes in the power supply. At a minimum, close monitoring of the energy mix in use at all times provides valuable information for planning the use of carbon credits and carbon capture solutions. Industrial control integrators and operators can employ several strategies to enable a seamless transition from existing architectures to one that takes full advantage of edge computing in these environments.

Importance of process control in applications

There are many other opportunities to move faster towards net zero emissions. Cement production is a good example. The central chemical reaction of the cement process is responsible for approximately half of the total emissions from production. Although the global cement industry has improved its energy efficiency, the International Energy Agency reported in 2021 that producers in some areas were not keeping up. The researchers who investigated the source of the discrepancy pointed out that the problem was poorer control of reaction conditions during the production of essential cement components. More exact control of processes would solve the problem and offer opportunities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Undoubtedly, there are many other industries where better process control will improve overall energy efficiency at various scales. Tighter process control can reduce waste heat or unnecessary by-products. A better prediction of material movements will reduce the energy consumed in transport. Using more effective controls comes down to individual actuators and motors. Motors represent about 70% of the total energy consumed in a processing plant. Until now it has been common to use relatively inefficient asynchronous AC motors in industrial production because they have a lower capital cost and are easy to maintain.

New motor technologies offer much greater electrical efficiency by reducing problems such as slippage, as well as a much higher level of control. Instead of having an AC motor spinning to maintain high torque when needed and engaged through a gearbox, an electronically controlled synchronous motor can be programmed to run only when required with torque and speed determined by the algorithm. The use of electronic controllers and motor drives from suppliers such as Eaton and Maxon means not only less electricity consumption, but less wear and tear and less heat.

short and long range communication

Knowing when and how to operate machinery is crucial to maximizing energy and material efficiency. This is where Industry 4.0 technologies come to the fore. A key element of the Industry 4.0 architecture resides in the use of short and long range communications to allow local control systems to share information. These systems can ensure that conveyor belts are only active when product needs to be moved from one location to another and that machine tools can be turned off when components do not need to be processed; and vice versa (activate when a new component is about to be delivered to your production cell). Sensors and widely distributed computing platforms play a critical role in receiving data from across the production environment and making decisions, sometimes with the support of remote servers, based on what they perceive in real time.

The increasing use of wireless protocols such as Bluetooth, WiFi and LoRaWAN makes it easier to deploy sensors where they are needed most, increasing instrumentation for existing machine tools and the systems that manage them. The addition of these sensors and cloud support does not require a complete overhaul of control systems. In many cases, the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that manage each machine tool can be used for many years. However, they can be complemented with industrial computers that are implemented as DIN rail modules to allow their incorporation into factory environments more easily. Advanced PLCs, such as those from Industriales Shields and Kunbus, can act as higher performance upgrades to existing PLCs if control algorithms need to be more sophisticated.

Using Ethernet and similar high-bandwidth connectivity, edge servers can take inputs from the many PLCs and control systems and integrate them into advanced models that ensure tight coordination across the entire factory floor, turning the systems on and off. on the go so excess power isn't wasted.

Smart sensors: a critical component

The widespread use of sensors coupled with intelligent monitoring systems offers the opportunity to ensure that machinery is running at maximum efficiency and minimizing waste. If systems detect a deviation from normal operating parameters during tests and inspections, the responsible team can be quickly taken out of service and overhauled. This avoids the need for scrapping and reconditioning that would otherwise negatively impact emissions reports as well as represent a direct cost to the business. Manufacturers can also take advantage of predictive maintenance to not only ensure that machine tools and other mechanical systems are running at peak efficiency, but to schedule maintenance at times that best align with goals like carbon emissions. Traditionally, the decision to take machinery offline would have been guided by traditional operating patterns. However, an analysis program may now determine that the least-cost path is to schedule maintenance for when low-carbon power sources are least available. Experience-based AI models can use the many inputs from factory floor systems to determine the best procedure.

Integration

A single change or update can't do much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the industry. By embracing Industry 4.0, manufacturers can use many different techniques to eliminate sources of excess carbon emissions and energy use, each adding up to a goal that makes net-zero operation achievable. Specialty electronic component distributors, such as Farnell, play a key role in migrating a business to Industry 4.0.

Resellers that offer technical support can take existing infrastructure into account and advise companies on the provision of hardware such as advanced PLCs, sensor modules, industrial computers and many of the other subsystems that must be combined to create a effective net zero emissions plan.