Sankey diagrams

A Sankey diagram gives a visual illustration of an input/output situation. It is drawn to

scale - there are lots of variations as to how they are drawn - only thing they have in
common is that the width of the 'arms' represents the energy transferred but the length of
the 'arms' does not!
Sankey diagrams allow us to visualize flow through a process or system more easily than
a table of numerical data can.
They show not only the energy transfers involved but also the quantitative distribution of
values in the transfers.

Sankey diagrams do add an 'indisputable expressive power to mathematical rendering of a

system'. When constructed properly, Sankey diagrams represent flow in a manner that can
be perceived by anyone, instantly.
However, Sankey diagrams can be difficult, time-consuming, and uninteresting to produce
by hand - very tedious to draw! The benefits of being able to generate these diagrams
automatically, anytime, are obvious to anyone who has tried to draw one and commercial
computer packages for their production are available.
They are used not only in physics and engineering to demonstate how energy is distributed
but also for cash flow in businesses.
In the AQA GCSE there is a specific way in which the Sankey diagrams is to be drawn.

The input is from the left of the diagram.

The wanted (useful) output is to the right.

All unwanted (wasted) output is made to go vertically down.

Remember the total input always equals the total output - but an efficient system will
have a high percentage of useful output.

Case study: THE CUSUM TECHNIQUE

We collected data on energy production and
consumption of a plant during a period of 24
months. In the 12th month, the company
implemented a heat recovery system.
Objective case
Using monthly data from the plant, estimate
or calculate the savings achieved by the heat
recovery system installed. The plant data
given in the following table:
Table

3:

Month

wise

energy consumption.

production

with

* toe= tonne of oil equivalent.

Steps for CUSUM analysis

1.
Plot the energy/production graph for
the first 12 months.
2.

Draw the best straight line.

3.

Derive the equation line.

4.

Extract the equation of the line.

5.
Calculate
the
expected
energy
consumption based on the equation.
6.
Calculate the difference between the
current and expected consumption.
7.

Calculate the CUSUM.

8.

Plot the CUSUM graph.

9.
Estimate the savings accumulate from
the use of the heat recovery system.
Table 4: CUSUM

Source: Aliter EIN. 2010

* E (act) = Actual energy consumption.
* E (calc) = Calculate energy consumption.

Figure 10: CUSUM.

In

the

Figure

cumulative

10

sum

we

see

(CUSUM)

that

the

oscillates

around the zero line is around zero

degrees for the first fourteen months and
then it begins to drop sharply from that
month. This is because the heat recovery
system, installed at the plant, took about
two

months

to

get

proper

working

conditions and from that moment it began

to get the expected savings.
To sum up, the CUSUM method is a quite
simple but extremely important, allowing
statistical data, which highlights small

differences
performance.

in

energy

efficiency