Energy Consumption and Efficiency in a Biscuit Manufacturing Plant

This report analyzes the energy consumption in a biscuit manufacturing plant, focusing on identifying the most significant energy-using processes and proposing strategies for improvement. The study begins with an introduction to the importance of energy efficiency in the manufacturing industry, highlighting the environmental and economic impacts of high energy consumption. It then provides a detailed breakdown of the biscuit manufacturing process, identifying the mixer, molder, oven (baking), cooling, and packaging as the most energy-intensive stages. The report quantifies energy usage in each process and uses a Sankey diagram to illustrate energy flows, conversions, and losses within the factory. The analysis reveals that baking is the largest energy consumer. The report suggests the incorporation of renewable energy systems like combined heat and power systems and solar technologies. Furthermore, it proposes strategies to reduce energy costs, such as implementing a closed-loop energy management policy and investing in new, energy-efficient technologies. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of continual improvement and the adoption of a comprehensive energy management plan to enhance efficiency and sustainability.

Energy Consumption in a Biscuit Industry
Name
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Energy Consumption in a Biscuit Industry
Introduction
The manufacturing industry uses up to half of the global world’s resources and this trend is
expected to increase with the projected increase in population across the globe as a result of a
higher disposable income (1). Environmental impacts have led to a growing decrease in the
availability of resources required in manufacturing such as materials, energy sources, as well as
sources of clean water causing global efforts to reduce the energy consumption and the depletion
of other resources resulting from industrial consumption (2). Industries thus ought to explore
alternatives for resource and energy management through an analysis of the dynamic interaction
of manufacturing systems in order to identify ways of improving industrial energy efficiency.
The dynamic interaction of all the manufacturing and service systems ought to be considered
because the production systems are mainly dependent on inputs that result for the servicing
facilities of the building and thus this relationship ought to be considered. Further, since in a
factory setting, the consumption or conservation of either of water, materials, or energy is
interrelated requiring all these aspects to be considered holistically when assessing the energy
consumption levels of a factory to prevent problem shifting when considering the problem in
ideal conditions(3). In this study the energy consumption methodologies of a biscuit company
will be assessed using the Sankeymatic Software in order to propose alternatives and
interventions to improve the energy efficiency of the factory. Energy analysis will consider the
factory as a whole system that entails the building, the manufacturing processes involved and the
other services that facilitate operations in the factory all having a dynamic relationship (4).
Considering this dynamic relationship in this study will allow for the flow of resources on the
floor of the factory to be analyzed and thus an identification of immense opportunity for resource
recovery and inefficiency mitigation.
Theory
In industry, manufacturing costs take up a large proportion of all the operational costs due to the
high demand in material and energy consumption as well as the high rate of water use and
wastage. This has brought out a need for factories to focus on sustainability through ensuring that
the manufacturing and building service systems are adapted to promote the symbiotic

relationship between the immediate environment and the needs of the future. Different methods
such as the closed loop manufacturing approach have been suggested to reuse resources and
achieve an optimum sustainable model to the low inefficiency problem witnessed in factories
across the globe (5). However research by Therkelsen, Masanet, and Worrell (6) has proven that
the closed loop approach cannot be implemented before a company understands its energy
consumption pattern considering the heat gains that occurred during the production process. The
opportunities of the factories can only be able to identify opportunities to improve their energy
consumption through analyzing the resource consumption, material and energy consumption
efficiency through the principles of conservation of mass and energy (1).
Significant Energy Consuming Processes in Biscuit Manufacture and quantify energy used
In normal biscuit manufacturing processes, the main manufacturing processes that the raw
materials will undergo to be turned into biscuit include processes such as the mixing of the
dough, shaping it into the desired shape of the resultant biscuits, the actual process of baking the
biscuits to dehydrate them, cooling the baked goods, then packaging. In the first stage of the
most energy usage in the company, a mixer is used to mix measured ingredients into the dough
consistency that produces the specific physical, color, and taste characteristics of the product in
the biscuit factory. The energy being used by the mixer can be quantified by considering the
energy specifications of the mixer, the length of time that the machine is running and the mass of
ingredients its being used to combine into a dough (7). The dough is then molded into the desired
biscuit shapes by a molder which determines the size, weight, and thickness of the biscuits
before a conveyor transports the shaped dough into the oven for baking. The energy needs of the
molder are determined by the feed rate of the machine and the speed of the conveyor. This
implies that there is a dynamic interaction between the energy needs of the conveyor into the
molder and out of it to the oven. After shaping a camera eye is used to ensure that all the shaped
dough is exactly what is required and that there are no foreign bodies in the dough to guarantee
quality.
The biscuits then proceed to an industrial oven bakes them and dehydrates the biscuit to achieve
the crisp, quality and flavor that is desired. In this stage of baking, the dough is taken through
two stages where they go through the oven to be baked and dehydrated before they are cooled.
The baking process uses hot preheated air that is directed into the ovens to bake the biscuits the

Baking has been found to be the largest energy consumer in this industry as it accounts for upto
78 % of all the energy needs of the industry since biscuit making does not require proofing and
fermenting to allow for leavening and gluten formation, or freezing which are processes that use
up plenty of time and energy resources (7). In biscuit industries, the oven is zoned to ensure that
the functions of the baking process namely dehydration and color characterization are optimized.
The energy needs of the oven thus depend on the temperatures at which the cookies are to be
baked to achieve their perfect traits and the time it takes to cook them to this stage. Further, the
oven energy needs are also determined by the size of the oven and the type of fuel that is used.
The baking process is then succeeded by a cooling process where the biscuits are cooled by a set
of fans as the biscuit exit the oven to result into a heat sink as the heat leaving the biscuits is
disposed to allow them achieve a low temperature sufficient for the packaging stage. Other major
energy needs in this production factory include those facilitating the building services including
equipment such as HVAC systems, motors, boilers, lights as well as conveyance and monitoring
systems (8).
Before packaging, tasting samples are taken from the batch to ensure that the taste, crumble and
crisp of the cookies is consistent with the characteristics of the factory’s signature product. A
laser eye is also used in this process to ensure that the product being taken to packaging are not
damaged before a machine is used to measure the products and arrange them into a waiting box
then machine used to wrap and seal the product for guaranteed quality and improved shelf-life of
the product. The individual boxes are then conveyed to a packaging station that fits the small
boxes into larger ones, then seals and ships them off to the storage section of the company
awaiting distribution. The packaging energy requirements can be quantified by considering the
machine specifications and the number of hours the machine is running on a daily basis (8).
Methodology
The SankeyMatic software was used to conduct a holistic analysis of energy needs of the factory
by considering the energy consumption of the building through the services. It also allows the
flows of energy to be considered in terms of their magnitude and quality to assess the ability of
the factory to achieve and maintain a high level of energy efficiency in all the manufacturing
processes. This knowledge would be effective in helping the management of the company to
identify the opportunities to reduce inappropriate energy consumption and related costs as well

through dealing with issues that emerge in the manufacturing processes that use energy (9).
Considering the manufacturing processes in the biscuit industry involve the transformation of
both energy and material from one form into another the software is best suited to consider the
dynamic interactions of the conservation of these two physical units. The manufacturing
processes and building services that were modeled utilized a data based approach and the data
used was the data found in secondary sources (9) and where the data was missing rough
estimates were used to complete the simulation. The data used considered the utility bills of the
factory, as well as the specifications of the equipment and machinery that are used in the factory,
as well as physics based simulations. The boundary of the system selected was the walls and the
roof of the boundary to provide a more holistic analysis that better represents that actual
situation. The scope of analysis for this study incorporated the entire production process from
measurement to packaging and storage.
Results

Souce E
Source: SankeyMatic Simulation
The Sankey diagram
The Sankey diagram depicts that the oven process of baking has the highest energy requirements
for this industry followed by that of cooling and that the major energy losses occur in the baking
and packaging processes.
Alternative Technologies

Since the company has a high energy demand that it cannot possibly cut out on as the industry
operations are highly energy reliant, the company can consider the incorporation of renewable
energy systems. This is because renewable energy technologies can reduce the intensity of non-
renewable energy sources reliance for the different processes and utilities in the biscuit industry
as renewable energy is derived from the natural sources such as the sun, geothermal heat, ocean
tides and even the use of wind which are all easily replenished before the next generations come
to be. These technologies will seek to improve the energy efficiency of the plant by encouraging
the recycling and reuse of energy while reducing pollution and carbon footprint of the factory,
and in so doing guarantee the company’s sustainability (10). Some of the renewable energy
technologies that the company can consider include the use of combined heat and power systems
which maximize on the waste heat and minimize inefficiencies during transmission. Another
very plausible way to incorporate renewable energy technologies is to incorporate photovoltaic
cells and solar heating technologies to cater for lighting and heating needs in order to maximize
the use of the sun’s energy into the energy requirements of the factory and improve its energy
efficiency.
Reducing the Factory’s Cost on Energy Use
From the manager’s perspective the cost of the energy use of the factory can be reduced by
looking into the inefficiencies and streamlining them as well as investing in new technologies to
aid in reducing the energy costs of the factory’s operations. The company should begin by
ensuring that energy wastages are minimized to the very least through gradually implementing a
closed loop energy management policy that allows for energy to be saved, recycled, by reusing
the feedback obtained at the end of the cycle is reused for improvement of the system (11). As
part of the management, I can make a proposition to draft another energy management plan or
policy that seeks to reduce the energy consumption of the company after research findings of this
report. After important areas of usage of energy in the biscuit factory have been identified,
continual improvement can be done while working toward the new energy management plan
following set objective and targets of reducing the cost of energy use gradually. The following
management approach to implement energy management plan step by step and gradually is
summarized in the below figure.

(Source: Sikirica, et al., 2013)
The other method that I would as part of the management is to advice the company to invest in
new technologies designed to reduce energy use inefficiencies in the processing line. The mixer
design for instance ought to focus on improving the baking characteristics of the dough to allow
the oven to require less energy to bake the biscuit to the expected parameters. The ovens
installed should also be designed and placed in an area that will promote their working efficiency
and give them the required working conditions to ensure that the energy uses of the factory are
reduced (12). This can also incorporate technologies such as the use of recovered heat energy
which can be incorporated to reduce the heating needs of the oven and thus reduce the cost of
energy use.
Conclusion
In this exercise the energy consumption levels of a biscuit production company were used to
analyze the energy needs of the company and to assess ways of reducing the factory’s energy
usage cost and the renewable energy technologies that can be implemented in the industry. A

sankey diagram was simulated using the Sankeymatic software to assess the energy needs of this
factory in order to assess the renewable energy technologies and other solutions that can be
implemented to bring the energy costs of the company down. The proposed renewable energy
technologies to be incorporated into the factory include utilizing solar energy for lighting and
heating needs when required and the use of technologies that combine heat and power to
improve inefficiencies (12). Alternatives selected to improve energy costs include embracing
new technologies of mixers, ovens and packaging machines as well as implementing an energy
management plan that seeks to cut out all possible inefficiencies by analyzing the energy audit of
the factory.

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Appendices

Manufacturing Processes in a Bakery Factory
(Source: Sikirica, et al., 2013)
Energy requirement per pound of biscuit dough
(Source: Sikirica, et al., 2013)

.
Energy improvement opportunities for long-term investment in bakery factories
(Source: Sikirica, et al., 2013)