Análisis del consumo de energía en ambientes interiores

Resumen

In a highly competitive environment, with increasing energy costs, efficiency and energy saving become critical factors, especially for mobile equipment and systems, considering that fuel must be transported by the own element, reducing the free space available and the maximum payload. Consequently, maritime transport is one of the primary international objectives for energy saving and pollution reduction, in such a way that in 2009, the International Maritime Organization, IMO, presented a complete strategy for the improvement of the energy efficiency in ships, the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP). In this sense, it must be highlighted that excluding the propulsion system, among the main energy consumption elements in a conventional vessel, arises the ventilation and air renovation of the engine room, which represent approximately between 3.5% and 5.5% of the overall power installed. Nevertheless, as frequently happens in complex installations, it is not enough to just install modern equipment and implement new control algorithms, being also necessary a complete study of the real needs of the ventilation system in order to establish the optimum operational conditions. In a first approach, the engine room is a highly complex environment, with a great number of elements and equipment, which generate a high amount of heat, exposing both the equipment as well as the people who work in the facility to extreme working conditions. Nevertheless, even when this environment is clearly related with different hazards at work, there is not an optimal standard solution to this problem due to the high number of parameters to be considered In this regard, it must be noted that although in the last years several standards and datasheets has been developed by international standardization organizations, they do not provide clear information about the suitable ambience conditions in the engine room in accordance with the tasks that must be developed. Most of the times, standards are simple theoretical approaches that do not converge with the real conditions on board, in such a way that seafarers usually must establish their own work and resting periods, typically prioritizing finish their tasks quickly, over their own safety, underestimating the risk of a prolonged exposure to extreme hazardous conditions...