International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE) ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-5, January 2020 827 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: C6701098319 /2020©BEIESP DOI:10.35940/ijrte.C6701.018520 Abstract: The reported research explains energy saving opportunity in welding process dominated industry carried out for different small and medium scale enterprises that produce components for agricultural applications. The study concentrates the energy audit on the agricultural implements and tractor trailer industries as the agriculture is the main occupation of India. A total number of 15 small and medium scale industries are considered for the energy audit. The investigations revealed welding operation as a major energy consumer in agriculture implement industries contributing to about 84% of the total energy consumption. The welding machine efficiency varies from 35% to 50% in the considered industrial clusters. Based on the results it is suggested that the energy saving can be increased by 40% - 45% by adoption of inverter arc welding technology. Keywords: About four key words or phrases in alphabetical order, separated by commas. I. INTRODUCTION small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are recognized as the backbone or engine to economic development of any country as they generate employment and wealth [1]. Growth of SMEs is a means to attain equitable development of nation. Even with their vital contributions to the nation, SMEs face the closure threat on account of the higher energy consumption that in turn leads to environment degradation. It is in this context that it was identified to be important to study the present energy consumption pattern in the SMEs to suggest or for the adaptation of new/modern technology for efficient energy techniques and for the cleaner production. Energy is essential to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives of the sustainable human development [2]. The relationship between use of energy and economic growth has been a subject of inquiry as it is considered to be one of the important driving forces of economic growth in developed and developing countries [1]. For any country, the supply and appropriate use of effective energy is a primary condition for economic development [3]. One of the main pillars of modern industry is uninterrupted Revised Manuscript Received on January 15, 2020 * Correspondence Author Shankara Naik *, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Haveri, Karnataka, India. Mallur S B, Department of Studies in Mechanical Engineering, University B.D.T. college of Engineering, Davangere, India. Virupaxi Bagodi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Talakal, Koppal District, Karnataka, India. Laxmana Naik L, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MCE, Hassan. Karnataka, India. P P Revankar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BVBCET, Hubli, India. supply of energy at a reasonable price [4]. The various forms of energy used in Indian Industry include electrical energy, thermal energy and natural gas energy. The electricity is main source of energy for the small scale industries (SSI) that are found consume around 76% of total energy consumption. Subramanian [5] conducted survey of SSI units in Karnataka and their analysis assert that the energy saving potential in SSI can be increased up to an extent of 32%. Schulze et al. [6] reviewed the previous findings on energy management in industries and reported that energy management leads to large energy savings which remains untapped. Energy management is the combination of energy efficiency activities, techniques and management of related processes [7]. Energy management helps achieve competitiveness in industries [8]. Anisimova [9] analysed the energy management in the Russian enterprises and noted that there is a lack of information on positive effects of the application of energy management system. Further, researchers assert that the management is merely interested in obtaining the certification From the aforementioned literature, it is clear that the energy management is more important in economic and technical issues which are varied out effectively by energy audits. Authors found that there are very limited studies on energy audit of jeans garments, agriculture implements and tractor trailers, food products, and coir and coir products clusters. The present study concentrates on the energy audit of agricultural industries which mainly uses the electrical energy as the main source of energy for different processes. For this purpose a total 15 SMEs are selected for the investigation of energy losses occurring at the various sections of the industries and the consumption of energy by the different sections in the industry is reported. Based on the results a possible alternative method to minimize the energy loss is suggested. Further, contribution of alternative technique on the emission rate is also highlighted II. METHODOLOGY The present study involves the systematic auditing of SMEs involved in manufacture of agriculture equipment in the area covering Hubli-Dharwad industrial cluster in Karnataka state of India. The present work explains the selection of industries, pre energy audit phase and detailed energy audit phase. In the pre audit phase the details of machine, equipment and appliances used in the industry is collected and finally identified the measuring instruments required for conducting the energy audit. The detail audit involves the estimation of energy consumption and losses for each and every Energy Management in Welding Intensive Industrial Cluster: Energy Saving opportunity Shankara Naik, Mallur S B, Virupaxi Bagodi, Laxmana Naik L, P P Revankar