Purdue TAP to offer energy efficiency and sustainability workshops

July 27, 2011

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Technical Assistance Program will offer a series of energy efficiency and sustainability workshops for businesses and manufacturers beginning in August.

The workshops, which will be in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, are designed to help companies improve processes and develop energy management practices to a competitive advantage.

Credits for both continuing education units and professional development hours are available for each session.

The workshops are:

* Fundamentals of Compressed Air, Aug. 17, Indianapolis. Participants will find out how a compressed air system works and the benefits of optimal compressed air system performance. They will learn how to achieve higher productivity, reduced downtime, greater energy savings, increased product quality and greater efficiency.

* Advanced Management of Compressed Air, Aug. 30 and 31, Indianapolis. Attendees will learn what data and tools are necessary to measure and assess the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a compressed air system. Students will learn how to develop a system profile and address point-of-use issues, including determining actual air quality requirements, investigating and reducing highest point-of-use pressure requirements, and addressing high-volume intermittent applications.

* Demand Management, Sept. 8, Fort Wayne. This four-hour workshop provides training in industrial electrical demand management. Participants will gain an understanding of what drives electrical demand and electric utility demand charges.  Instructors will demonstrate how different load profiles can benefit from or be penalized by different types of tariff structures. They also will lead attendees in a discussion of how managing electrical demand, choosing the appropriate utility tariff and taking advantage of distributed generation can benefit their facilities.

* Power Factor, Sept. 8, Fort Wayne. This four-hour workshop provides training in industrial power management. Attendees will learn how poor power factor can affect their electric bills, damage electrical systems and reduce system capacity. They also will learn how to improve power factor and reduce harmonics by installing capacitors and filters, and how to calculate the resulting energy cost savings. They will learn how to apply this information when making equipment purchasing and maintenance decisions.

* Fan Systems Assessment, Sept. 27, Indianapolis. This workshop focuses on how to implement low-cost and no-cost changes that are considered industry best practices. Through an interactive case study at a particle board factory, attendees will learn how to reduce energy costs in dust collection systems and industrial air handling systems.

* Motor System Management, Sept. 28, Indianapolis. This workshop covers technical and policy/procedure topics related to management of motor systems. Participants will learn how to achieve higher productivity, reduced downtime, greater energy savings, increased product quality and greater efficiency. Participants also will learn how to select the optimum motor for specific industrial applications, establish an effective motor systems maintenance plan, and develop guidelines for motor repair services.

* Steam Systems Management, Oct. 12, Indianapolis. Participants will learn the operation of typical steam systems and methods of system efficiency improvement. Areas of potential system improvement include steam generation efficiency, resource utilization effectiveness and steam distribution system losses.

Registration and information on costs, exact locations, and continuing education and professional development credits for the workshops are available at https://www.mep.purdue.edu/events/


Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Source: Abbey P. Maddy, Purdue Technical Assistance Program marketing specialist, 317-275-6820, amaddy@purdue.edu