A methodology for energy analysis of escalators

Escalators are a common method of transportation for people in commercial and residential buildings, for this reason its energy efficiency is usually a matter of concern. Typically, the design of energy saving systems to be used in them involves the control of their speed. In this situation, in order to estimate the achievable energy savings it is necessary to evaluate the escalator's behaviour in terms of traffic (e.g. people per hour, loaded and unloaded periods of time, etc.). In this paper, a method to analyze this behaviour using only electrical measurements is proposed. As a result from the proposed approach, the energy saving obtained using the common two-speed control is also analyzed using data from real escalators.

► Energy behaviour of escalators related to traffic is analyzed.
► An approach using only electrical measurements is proposed.
► The energy savings in escalators with a two-speed control has been estimated.
► The behaviour of real escalators has been analyzed using the proposed approach.