Energy Management & Utilities Flashcards
7 cards from real CPM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Energy Management & Utilities flashcards as text
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, which end-use category typically accounts for the largest share of manufacturing energy consumption?
Answer: Process heating
Process heating (furnaces, kilns, ovens, steam generation) accounts for approximately 50% of total U.S. manufacturing energy use, making it the largest single end-use category.
A 'base load' analysis in plant energy management is primarily used to:
Answer: Identify energy consumed regardless of production activity, revealing standby waste
Base load analysis identifies energy consumed when the plant is idle or in standby — revealing waste from equipment left running unnecessarily, lighting, HVAC, and phantom loads.
Waste heat recovery projects are most economically viable when:
Answer: Waste heat streams have sufficient temperature and volume to justify capital investment
Heat recovery economics depend on both heat quality (temperature level) and quantity (flow rate); streams must be large and hot enough to justify the capital cost of heat exchangers.
A utility 'green tariff' allows large industrial customers to:
Answer: Purchase utility-owned renewable energy at a negotiated fixed rate
Green tariffs let large industrial customers directly purchase renewable energy owned by the utility at agreed rates, supporting sustainability goals without the capital cost of on-site generation.
Building Automation Systems (BAS) in a plant primarily help managers by:
Answer: Automatically controlling HVAC, lighting, and utilities to optimize energy use
BAS integrate and automate control of HVAC, lighting, and other building systems, enabling optimal scheduling, setback during non-production hours, and automated fault detection for energy savings.
The Simple Payback Period (SPP) for an energy efficiency project is calculated as:
Answer: Project cost divided by annual energy savings
Simple Payback Period = Initial Investment ÷ Annual Savings, expressing the number of years to recover the investment; typical industrial acceptance criteria is 2–3 years.
In the context of ISO 50001, an 'energy baseline' is best described as:
Answer: A quantitative reference used to compare energy performance before and after improvement measures
An energy baseline is a documented reference-period performance record used to measure the actual effect of energy improvements; establishing a baseline is a core ISO 50001 requirement.