Final Technical Report
The Industrial Assessment Center program at North Carolina State University has conducted one hundred industrial assessments of small and medium sized manufacturers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Reports were submitted to each facility that included a brief description of the plant, historical energy use, and a technical analysis of potential energy efficiency savings, waste reduction, and productivity savings. Seven hundred thirty eight conservation measures were recommended with total annual cost savings in excess of $18 million. The NCSU IAC has worked with other government and private entities to deliver energy efficiency and conservation services. We have worked closely with the NCSU Industrial Extension Service, the Manufacturer’s Extension Partnership (MEP), and the North Carolina State Energy Office to provide follow-up technical help and financial assistance in implementing conservation recommendations. In addition to these organizations, the NCSU IAC has also worked with the NC Department of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, the NC Solar Center, Advanced Energy Corporation, Duke Power, Progress Energy, Dominion Power, and the City of Danville, Virginia. Eighteen undergraduate and twenty graduate students were exposed to a variety of manufacturing processes, trained on plant safety, and taught the use of various types of data collection equipment. The students performed technical analyses of each recommendation, computed the potential savings from engineering relations and collected data, estimated the cost from vendor information, and communicated the findings in a compact, well written report to the client. The students have also been exposed to a variety of business personnel, including corporate presidents, engineering managers, plant managers, plant engineers, facility maintenance staff, and production workers – each with a unique perspective on the challenges faced in a modern manufacturing facility. The program has exposed hundreds more students to the importance of energy efficiency / conservation through the incorporation of IAC experiences into the undergraduate curriculum. Both the Director and the Assistant Director teach junior and senior level classes in the thermal sciences curriculum of Mechanical Engineering. These classes have enrollments exceeding 100 students per year, or half of the graduating class. IAC experiences provide real-world examples and topics for discussion to further out student’s engineering education.
- Research Organization:
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC36-02GO12079
- OSTI ID:
- 899508
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/GO12079-1; TRN: US200722%%86
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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