Enhancing energy management of a car manufacturing plant through modelling and dynamic simulation

Car manufacturing is a significant energy consumer and it is a common practice to co-produce electricity and heat on-site. Despite of the research and development already conducted in the area, many opportunities for reducing energy use exist. By developing an intelligent Energy Management System which utilizes precise monitoring of the energy production and consumption as well as predictive optimization, remarkable savings can be achieved. Fast and appropriately accurate prediction models are needed for the optimization of the energy production and consumption. This paper presents a method for developing such prediction models through the following two steps: i) detailed dynamic first principle models are developed, ii) the detailed models are used to identify and parametrise on-line prediction models. The methodology and its application to a car factory are presented.