System Assessment

The facility generates compressed air with six (6) air compressors of various sizes located in three different compressor rooms. In recent years, the entire system converted to desiccant air dryers. Available equipment from other facilities has been utilized. The following is the layout of the facility showing the locations of the compressor rooms.

The Compressed Air Challenge® Fundamentals and Advanced training discuss the benefits of using central controllers to efficiently control system compressors. These systems are called “System Master” controls. Modern day System Master Controls use advanced technologies to network air compressors in a preprogrammed sequence. A properly configured network with the right size and type of trim compressor can typically hold the supply air pressure in a tight band of +/- 2 psi. Because of this capability, many users feel the application of System Master Control negates the benefit of applying Pressure-Flow Control to stabilize the plant air pressure.

Stretch blow molding equipment requires a significant amount of energy—both compressed air and electrical—to produce bottles. Creating an effective and efficient process, as well as monitoring and maintaining optimal process settings, can result in significant energy cost reduction. These efforts will also help produce containers that meet all of the required quality standards.

International Wire Group, Inc. (IWG) headquartered in Camden, NY is the largest bare copper wire and copper wire products manufacturer in the United States with expanding operations in Europe. Products include a broad line of copper wire configurations and gauges with a variety of electrical and conductive characteristics , which are utilized by a wide variety of customers primarily in the industrial and energy, electronics, data communications, aerospace and defense, medical electronics and devices, automotive, and consumer and appliance industries.

“Instead of adding supply equipment, we fix air leaks and incorporate high-efficiency air nozzles, blower packages and point-of-use receivers.” These demand-side actions stabilize compressed air system pressure and this ultimately increases production output, reduces production down-time and spoilage costs, and decreases the power costs of the compressed air system.

Currently, and for good reason, much attention is being focused on the conservation of energy. Compressed air, like electricity and gas, is an energy resource. It has often been referred to as the third utility. As with all energy sources, our global environment demands that it be conserved and used wisely.

Every municipality and utility is facing the reality of rising energy costs. In 2010, the Town of Billerica, MA, which is located 22 miles northwest of Boston with a population of just under 40,000 residents, engaged Process Energy Services and Woodard & Curran to conduct an energy evaluation of the Town’s Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) and pump station systems sponsored by National Grid. The objective of the evaluation was to provide an overview of each facility system to determine how electrical energy and natural gas were being used at the facility and to identify and develop potential costsaving projects.