Electrical Energy Management in the Cement Industry
A cement plant uses about 150 kWh of electrical energy per metric ton of cement produced. Where is this electrical energy being used? How is it being used? Can it be utilized more effectively? If so, how? What can be done to conserve the electrical energy used in an existing cement plant and in future cement plants? An electrical energy management program to resolve these questions is presented. Included is an electrical energy consumption survey of five cement plants. Department consumption is tabulated, and suggestions are made to conserve electrical energy and reduce cost of electrical power in both new and existing plants.
Robust Self-Scheduling of Operational Processes for Industrial Demand Response Aggregators
This paper proposes a novel structure for industrial demand response aggregators (IDRAs) to provide operational flexibility for the power system. A robust self-scheduling approach is formulated for the first time to optimize different sub-processes of the whole production line of heavy industries. The new approach satisfies the customer order with the lowest energy cost. Numerical studies are implemented on eight integrated cement factories, from Khorasan Regional Electric Company, in the east of Iran. The results show that the integrated model of heavy industries provides guaranteed flexibility to the system when a power shortage occurs or system reliability is jeopardized.
Using Activity Theory in Developing Instructial Tools for Project Management Studies
Competence and skills of the project manager are significant to project success. The skills needed in project managersâ work cannot be learned only by reading the books or a lecture hall; one learns them by practice. Therefore, an important challenge for educational institutions is to develop pedagogical practices that allow students to participate in working life projects and to confront real-life problems. Project-based learning (PBL) offers a model that enables students to practice the skills and competences needed in working life projects by utilizing real-world work assignments in time-limited projects. Using PBL method alone does not necessarily guarantee learning result. In order to be successful, PBL method requires effective and competent supervision and guidance of students as well as appropriate tools for instruction. In this study the concepts from activity theory (AT) are applied to development tools for supervising project-based learning.