A Price-Based Demand Response Scheme for Discrete Manufacturing in Smart Grids

Abstract

Demand response (DR) is a key technique in smart grid (SG) technologies for reducing energy costs and maintaining the stability of electrical grids. Since manufacturing is one of the major consumers of electrical energy, implementing DR in factory energy management systems (FEMSs) provides an effective way to manage energy in manufacturing processes. Although previous studies have investigated DR applications in process manufacturing, they were not conducted for discrete manufacturing. In this study, the state-task network (STN) model is implemented to represent a discrete manufacturing system. On this basis, a DR scheme with a specific DR algorithm is applied to a typical discrete manufacturing—automobile manufacturing—and operational scenarios are established for the stamping process of the automobile production line. The DR scheme determines the optimal operating points for the stamping process using mixed integer linear programming (MILP). The results show that parts of the electricity demand can be shifted from peak to off-peak periods, reducing a significant overall energy costs without degrading production processes.

Keywords

• demand response (DR)
• factory energy management system (FEMS)
• state-task network (STN) model
• mixed integer linear programming (MILP)
• discrete manufacturing
• automobile manufacturing