A research study submitted in the Selinus University presented a unique approach for Improved Efficiency in Power Stations. The study at first points out the problems posed to the power stations in terms of efficiency and goes on to discuss the solution and an alternative of Gathering Electric Data.
In recent times, power plants are rapidly facing the challenge of meeting the ever-increasing demand for energy consumption in the world. These plants have complex systems that are characterized by reliability and maintenance policy. The most prevalent problems associated with this situation have increased costs of generating electricity and a rise in the environmental effect. These issues have compelled most of the power plants to focus on continuous developments with the aim of improving their energy efficiency. This step has been necessary because the increase in efficiency can tremendously bring about the reduction of the overall costs of electricity generation and the environmental effect caused by the power plants. There is a need to have a model that can help in the analysis of the electric generation in the power plants, which must derive from the data that is gathered on electricity.
Power plants play a crucial in the production of energy that meets the market demands in alignment with the energy regulatory requirements. Energy generation refers to the total amount of primary energy generated in the country’s economy, whose measurement is taken before the transformation or consumption. Despite these efforts, there has been a significant potential for measures of energy efficiency that are economically beneficial in power generating plants. Power companies around the world have started seeing the need to collect reliable and compressive data on different aspects of electricity to help in monitoring the efficiency and seek to improve this crucial parameter.
One such example is Australia where all the major power plants are. The shift to new energy production and efficiency is crucial for Australia it intends to remain competitive in the global and regional energy industry. In Australia, there are numerous wind and other renewable power plant projects aimed at improving the efficiency of the power generation in years to come, fueled by the scheme of Renewable Energy Target (RET). The Australian government developed a new standard of energy efficiency, known as generator efficiency standard (GES) to ensure that power plants operated at the desired efficiencies. The function of GES is to regulate greenhouse emissions from power stations, which covers all kinds of power plants that operate on diverse types of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas (Mahlia et al., 2018). Audit or reviews are done at least once a time in every five years to see to it that the desired performance in power plant efficiency is attained. Non-compliance power plants that take part in these standards attract a penalty.
The main objective of the study is to investigate how to gather data on electricity to help in enhancing efficiency in power plants. However, the study also aims to determine the different types of electric data that can be collected in the power plant and to investigate the different methods that can be used to collect the electricity information to help in the improvement of the power plant system. The study will also recommend the best electric data collection technique for enhancing the efficiency in the power plant.
Through the study, different questions which have been posed towards the inefficiency of the power plant will be resolved. The study will answer questions like, “What are the different types of electric data that can be collected in the power plant?”, “What are the different methods that can be used to collect the electricity information to help in the improvement of the power plant system?”, “Which Data collecting technique is the best for improving the efficiency in the power plant?”
The study has utilized a descriptive research approach. A systematic review of the literature was employed discussing the several methods of electing data gathering in the power plants for improved efficiency. The variables include the type of electric data and data collection system as independent variables and efficiency as an independent variable in this study. This research design was chosen based on the research problems in connection with the theoretical framework for this research. Hence this research was suitable since the intention was to collect detailed information concerning the different methods or systems of gathering electric data in power plants.
The significance of this study is that it provides insights on how to collect electricity data that can help our plans improve their energy efficiencies is important since the results can be extrapolated and replicated to other power plants the study can also be used by researchers in their future study as a source of information concerning the best method of gathering information electricity for the enhancement of efficiency in power generation facilities.
The study is not void of flaws either as it has several limitations that the researcher had to consider. The first limitation was that the study relied on secondary data from the studies that were published in the past it was only reliable because of the approaches utilized in the estimation of the impact in every primary study. The second limitation was that the research method used for this study could not rectify biases because of selective publication. This situation encouraged the studies that reported dramatic impacts to have higher chances of being spotted, summarized, and systematically reviewed as opposed to other publications.
To conclude the research study, the collection of electric data presents a prime target for improvements of efficiency in a power plant. There are several sections of the plans where data gathering systems and methods need to be employed for example which comprises power generation, transmission, and distribution, and consumption points. These areas require the collection of a set of data on electricity to help the determination of efficiency. The major three types of efficiencies that need to be improved in a power system include energy more power efficiency, cost efficiency, and operational efficiency. The data which are collected for this purpose indicates the need for the power plans to have better and advanced methods and systems for gathering the data to help in pointing where deficiency is poor within the power plant and seek to improve it. However, as mentioned before this research study also has limitations that relate to the secondary data. Hence in the near future, there is a need for a researcher who uses primary data, and which has to be collected using a survey method to make the study results valid and reliable.
