Countries around the world are encouraging the development of renewable energy sources to help reduce carbon emissions that contribute to harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to promote energy security by lessening their dependence on imported fossil fuels. From wind and solar energy to hydropower, biomass and biofuels, Emerson provides a wide range of technology solutions that enable these energy providers to operate their facilities for maximum efficiency, performance and safety.
Wind
Emissions-free wind power is being used to generate electricity for an increasing number of businesses and homes around the world – and the market continues to grow. Emerson provides several key technologies to wind power manufacturers in Europe, North America and Asia.
In China, local Emerson engineers leveraged our expertise in uninterruptible power supply systems and variable frequency drives to design the power converters that China’s growing wind turbine manufacturers wanted to efficiently convert wind to power. Emerson is now working with three of China’s largest wind turbine companies.
Other Emerson technologies used in wind turbines include our Jaure couplings and Leroy-Somer double-fed generators that make it possible for turbines to harness the power of the wind and convert it to electricity that can be integrated onto a power grid. Emerson Process Management offers wide-area data gathering solutions that allow operators to remotely manage and monitor wind farms.
Emerson’s portfolio of technologies for the wind-power industry has been further enhanced by the company’s recent acquisition of SSB Wind Systems, a leading manufacturer of pitch control and positioning drives that optimize a wind turbine’s blade position to ensure the highest energy generation potential.
Solar
The sun’s robust rays are a powerful source of clean electrical power in parts of the world where sunshine is abundant. Emerson technologies, including our highly efficient grid-tie inverters, transform solar energy captured by photovoltaic energy systems into grid-ready AC electricity. Emerson’s Control Techniques drives and matched motors can be incorporated into solar tracking systems that ensure solar panel arrays are positioned for maximum exposure to the sun. Emerson’s Ovation™ technology is used to monitor and control mirrors, heat exchange, thermal oil and molten salt storage, steam turbine operation and balance of plant processes for solar plants. In fact, eight of the 11 concentrating solar plants in the United States as well as in more than 50 percent of Spain’s concentrating solar power plants rely on Emerson’s Ovation control technology.
For telecom cell sites that require little power, Emerson Network Power has developed special small solar arrays that can power a remote site. These solar arrays have controllers programmed to switch between solar power, utility power or even gen-set power depending on which is most efficient for that particular site.
Hydro
Traditional hydroelectric plants and new hydrokinetic plants (which use the energy of ocean waves and currents) require technology solutions that are durable, reliable and provide maximum energy-to-power generation. Emerson’s PlantWeb™ digital automation and Ovation™ control technologies help hydro facilities manage their operations for efficiency through intelligent field devices, predictive diagnostics, machinery health maintenance, and remote access and information integration. In addition, Emerson’s alternators, generators and energy-efficient motors work behind the scenes to support the mechanics of hydro plants.
Among initiatives to drive further innovation in the hydro sector, Emerson, through its Leroy-Somer business, has collaborated on the development of an integrated, completely submersible generator-and-drive solution for a tidal turbine prototype being tested off the coast of Scotland.
Biofuels and Biomass Energy
For decades, Emerson has supplied traditional energy providers with automation and control solutions that support more efficient and safe processing and refining. Today, Emerson is applying this same expertise to alternative energy producers. Using Emerson’s PlantWeb™ digital automation architecture, Range Fuels is on track to meet its annual goal of producing more than 100 million gallons of ethanol and methanol from wood and timber chips. This same “smart” technology is being applied at Dynamic Fuels to convert animal fat into high-grade synthetic diesel and, eventually, high-efficiency jet fuel.
Similarly, ethanol producers are turning to plant automation solutions from Emerson Process Management and fluid-automation solutions from Emerson Industrial Automation’s ASCO Numatics to more efficiently convert biomass to energy during the fermentation, distillation and dehydration processes.
Even Emerson’s InSinkErator food waste disposers are contributing to the biofuel movement. In Milwaukee (USA) and other communities around the world, the use of food waste disposers helps raise the biomass content in wastewater systems that are equipped with methane gas capture technology that can be used for power generation.
Related Information
Wind
Emerson purchases SSB Wind Systems
Hydroelectric
Emerson to install Ovation™ expert control system at Korean power plants
Biofuels
Emerson helps Range Fuels bring U.S. biofuels plant into commercial production
Solar
Emerson’s Ovation™ selected for automation of solar power plants in Spain