5. Electricity-Based Cross-Section Processes

Electricity-based cross-section processes include the operation of compressed air systems, the operation of data centres and galvanic surface coating. The technical fundamentals are briefly described in each case to provide an understanding of the efficiency measures described in detail. For each cross-cutting topic, the findings are summarized in recommendations.

After describing the “simple” electricity-based basic technologies in Chap. 3, this chapter turns to the more complex cross-sectional processes. Compressed air (CA) systems (see Sect. 5.1) consist of electric drives, compressors, piping, storage, control equipment and heat recovery. Data centres (see Sect. 5.2) include not only the hardware, but also ventilation and refrigeration systems in their respective complexity, but also, for example, lighting and a secure uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In electroplating plants (see Sect. 5.3), a direct current supply by means of converters is necessary. In addition, ventilation and hydraulic components are required, for example, for thermal coupling of the baths at different temperatures or for heat recovery.