Sensors And Energy

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Sensors and Energy       Sensors appear to have a ready and growing market in the energy sector as devices that can enhance the efficiency of extraction, processing and usage of energy sources of all kinds. They have been widely used in traditional parts of the energy sector for many years, but new opportunities are emerging as the economics of energy is transformed by very high fossil fuel prices and concerns about pollution and climate change. Sensors are also finding new roles in emerging renewable energy systems. There are several factors that make the energy sector a lucrative market for the sensor industry. The following are the key driv ers for sensors in the energy domain: • • • • •

Limited natural resources  Advancement in energy management techniques (both managing use and security  management)  Challenging demands posed by regulatory and other constraints  Key technology and materials development in the sensor business  Abundance of applications 

Limited Natural Resources A critical attribute of the energy sector is the accelerating rise in demand for non-renewable energy sources, with the ongoing industrialization of India and China being a key driv er. The consensus estimate is that a 50 percent rise in energy consumption will occur by the year 2030. The rapid escalation of oil prices during 2007 and 2008 is a strong reminder that the natural deposits of fossil fuels are coming under a lot of pressure. The estimate of a 50 percent rise in energy consumption in about 20 years may not appear impressive if looked at in isolation, but it should be remembered that the energy market is one of the most mature markets, as energy is one of the oldest requirements of mankind. The escalating demand for energy is driving explorers to venture increasingly into challenging terrains such as deep-sea beds and deeper terrestrial coal and oil deposits. These are areas that are costly to explore and tap and they are not always amenable to traditional approaches. Improved sensor technology is part of the solution to the problems that can arise in these new environments. For example, sensor arrays provide invaluable data in the form of accurate seismic

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profiles of the sea bottom; this technique, known as seabed seismic imaging, provides crucial inputs about the oil-producing potential. Seismic imaging is witnessing hectic innovation in the form of advances in the base materials, contactless feedback methodology and footprint-efficient designs. And although the cost of such sensors runs into several million dollars, the process cost benefits derived from these innovations can be as high as 50 percent. Also of importance is the tectonic shift in which oil companies are employing sensors to improve operational efficiencies in static installations such as refineries, rigs, platforms and dynamic assets such as tankers. The initial usage of sensors in oil exploration and rig management was largely restricted to recording of key metrics that provided an offline assessment of operation parameters. Advancement in sensor technologies coupled with the growing demand for increasing the efficiency and speed of exploration yield has resulted in sensors graduating from offline to realtime data in most installations. However, real-time is not good enough to avert disruptions and ensure smooth operations. The new generation of sensor infrastructure has now made forays into "predictive analy sis," wherein the data gathered by sensors is fed into models that simulate future behavioral patterns of installations in order to pre-empt disruptiv e scenarios and minimize the damage. These are just a few examples of how sensors are being used to improve the efficiency of the extraction of traditional fossil fuels; there are many other similar ones. In the energy sector sensors are, therefore, critical to optimizing the extraction and processing of the limited natural resources from which most energy is currently derived. Advancement in Energy Management Techniques There are also important opportunities for sensors in the management of almost energy source and at almost every level of the value chain. There is really nothing new in this; sensors have been used for cost optimization and for security applications for many years. However, with the general cost of energy rising and new kinds of energy emerging as important, significant new revenue potential for sensors in energy management will increasingly be found. Cost-driv en energy management and sensors: At the time of writing the price of crude oil was hovering around $120/barrel. Not that many months previously, the world was shocked as this price reached $70/barrel. There are now many varying estimates of how high prices for crude

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could go, but few expectations that it will ever go back to $70, except in a severe deflationary environment. While this is just one energy price, it is arguably the most important. And the price of most other sources of energy are also experiencing an upwards pressure. In addition, renewable energy sources typically exhibit costs which lead to energy prices even higher than today's fossil fuel costs. These alternative energy sources are being adopted for many reasons including government mandates, price stability and concerns about climate change. But for now they remain mostly highcost energy sources. A few alternativ e energy sources show significant opportunities for cost improvements—photovoltaics would be an obvious example here—but most don't. All of this suggests that high-cost energy is here to stay. And this makes energy management of vital importance. Energy management, of course, spans a wide array of techniques and processes. These include, but are not restricted to, power factor improvement, demand optimization, efficient lighting, soft-starting motors, recovery of waste heat and its utilization, cogeneration techniques among others. The need for better energy management is largely driv en by market forces, but is also impacted by government mandates. In the U.S., for example, proposed federal mandates have aimed at a goal of a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency in new cars and trucks. Considering that the U.S. accounts for close to a quarter of the global fuel consumption and automobiles are the primary consumers of fuel in the U.S. market, this move is extremely significant. More countries are likely to follow suit. Almost every kind of energy management makes extensiv e use of sensors, and while there is nothing new in this the new economics of energy places more strategic emphasis on the need for sensors and requires them to be more accurate and be more widely deployed. This in turn opens up new opportunities for sensor companies, especially those with technologies that can meet the more intense and enhanced requirements associated with the changed situation in traditional energy businesses. There are also a range of new opportunities for energy management sensors that are emerging as the energy business moves towards alternativ e fuels. For example, the importance of accurate fuel-profile flow measurement for biofuels cannot be overemphasized. Unsurprisingly , this is one of the most activ ely researched areas for sensor companies. Security-driven energy management and sensor: While scarcity and cost are the most obvious drivers for the use of sensors in energy management at the present time, security sensors

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of various kinds are also important and are very diverse in both traditional and emerging energy sectors. As far as the traditional energy sector is concerned there are almost too many examples to single out any particular one and many are fairly prosaic. For example, sensors are used to detect unsafe levels of gas in coal mines as gas explosions are said to account for a majority of mishaps in coal mines. Ultrasonic flow meters are used to measure the quantity of flare gases resulting from the scheduled and unscheduled burning of unwanted gases in coal refineries. Safety uses for sensors in alternative energy applications are less well known and present more growth opportunities. For example, sensors are also used to detect the concentration levels of ethanol and other biofuels in refineries and they are also used to detect dangerous build ups of hydrogen in fuel cells. Again, in this area we see both market and regulatory forces at work. For example, in the U.S., pipeline companies are integrating their cathodic protection monitoring devices with SCADA in a tighter manner to counter corrosion and ensure cathodic protection. While regulation is a major thrust for this activity, its virtue can be appreciated better when the investment protection angle is considered, as many of the pipelines are more than 80 years old. The special case of nuclear energy: Finally, nuclear energy has been touted recently as the cleanest and the most cost-efficient source of energy, even by some respected environmentalists. Many others would disagree with this description and would point to the catastrophic consequences that can incur in cases of accidental mishap or a terrorist incident. Different countries rely to dif ferent degrees on nuclear power. In the U.S., the nuclear power industry has been moribund since the minor accident at Three Mile Island. In France nuclear technology remains a major part of the country's energy supply. However, wherever and whenever nuclear plants are built, sensors play a critical role in maintaining the safety of nuclear reactors. Radiation detectors based on ionization chambers and counters are the obvious examples. Sensors in the form of power range detectors, probes, resistance temperature detectors, thermocouple probes and coolant measurers also perform the key function of temperature monitoring and regulation in boiling water reactors (BWR) and other nuclear installations.

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Nuclear energy is probably the most regulated energy source. No discussion of sensors in the energy sector would be complete without mentioning the usage of sensors in ensuring that the nuclear reactor is used only for the generation for electricity and not for production of nuclear weapons. Sensors that use the spectroscopic responses of materials to identif y potentially explosive material are used for this purpose. Gamma ray sensors using optically stimulated luminescent material and solid-state photo devices are employed for detecting nuclear particles. Challenging Demands Posed by Regulatory Constraints A politically sensitive subject such as energy inevitably has governments and regulators interested and no more so than at the present time. In some countries, governments own considerable parts of the energy infrastructure and almost everywhere there are government mandates that govern extraction, distribution and to a large extent consumption of fuels. Various regulations are being enacted to ensure that these processes inflict minimal damage on the environment, leading to an overhaul in methodologies across the energy management chain. As such—whatever the retarding influence these regulatory demands may have on the energy sector itself—they often act as stimulants for the demand for the need for sensors in the energy sector. Legislation, regulation, energy mandates and other governmental actions that may be seen by the energy sector as drags on business may be very good news for sensor firms. Key Technology and Materials Development in the Sensor Business The sensor industry has witnessed multi-pronged advances on the materials and technology fronts. Among the most important developments include the use of nanomaterials, sensors more responsive or lower in cost, MEMS sensors, printed sensors and photonic sensors. These advancements are all likely to find commercial applications in the energy sector to varying degrees. For example, the use of nanomaterials and optical sensors can enhance the performance of sensors in line with the requirements that have already been set out above. The use of printed sensors can help reduce the cost of sensors, enabling their use to spread to new areas such as consumer markets. Yet another potential way that new sensor materials can open up new opportunities is in making sensors more resilient in the harsh conditions that are so often found in the energy sector, which is

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characterized by processes performed in the most demanding conditions with respect to geography and ambient parameters such as temperature, humidity, altitude (depth), precipitation and others. Finally, these new technologies may serve as enablers for new energy sources. Hydrogen sensors are a good example here. Better hydrogen sensors have been seen as important to the adoption of fuel cells and to hydrogen as a fuel more generally. Few of the new technologies impacting the sensor sector were designed with the energy sector in mind, but most of them have important consequences for "energy sensing," to expand markets, to increase performance or to enable the deployment of alternative/renewable energy markets. Abundance of Applications The sensor industry is inherently diverse and fragmented. It can be segmented up by technology (MEMS, organic, etc.,) by application (motion, thermal, etc.) or by industry. Even within the context of the energy sector there is an abundance of applications stemming from the demands placed on sensors. Sensors play a pivotal role in increasing the efficiency and efficacy of energy consumption, generation and distribution. And all this means that the energy sector presents a large revenue opportunity going forward for sensor firms. However, although the energy sector presents a diverse group of applications, these applications are served by common value chains and the applications fall into well-defined classes, as is suggested by the analy sis in the earlier part of this chapter.  

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