Energy partnership improves efficiency
An Energy Department program to improve companies' energy efficiency includes a Honeywell/Ember project to develop wireless networking applications.
A national program to improve energy efficiency in U.S. industry, co-funded by the Energy Department, includes a partnership between Honeywell International Inc. and Ember Corp. to develop wireless mesh networking applications.
The two companies plan to create a wireless architecture that minimizes power consumption in industrial facilities. These applications will be earmarked for facilities in fields that are designated "industries of the future" by DOE.
Thiry-two projects will be included in the energy program, which was initiated in November and will have more than 150 commercial partners. The purpose is to improve efficiency in strategic industries such as petrochemicals, electric power and manufacturing.
DOE will invest $61 million, while the industrial partners will contribute more than $54 million during the three-year program. The Honeywell-Ember project will receive $10 million in funding. The team plans to develop monitoring applications to gauge energy loss. Honeywell officials estimate that wireless mesh network monitoring applications can save up to 192 trillion British thermal units of energy per year.
Ember will collaborate with Honeywell's Automation and Control Solutions to provide the embedded wireless networking solutions to connect sensor, radio communications and security technologies.
"This highly collaborative project is a bold step toward capturing the potential in emerging wireless and sensing technologies to serve the needs of manufacturers across several industries," said Dan Sheflin, vice president and chief technology officer of Honeywell's Automation and Control Solutions.
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