Industrial Utility Efficiency

Air Compressors

When selecting an air compressor for your manufacturing operation, the common choice is the industry-standard rotary screw compressor. Known as the work horse of compressed air machinery, the rotary screw compressor comes in a multitude of sizes and power levels. However, centrifugal compressors have seen some exciting technological progress in recent years and offer a wide range of pressures, flow and turndown. Long known for their longevity and durability, they offer higher efficiency, even qualifying for energy rebate programs offered by local utilities and all, notably, produce Class 0 oil free air.

SHOW REPORT: The Inaugural BEST PRACTICES EXPO & Conference

Held September 16-19, 2018 in Chicago, the first-ever event drew 750 attendees who came together to learn and share ideas about the countless ways to achieve efficiencies with compressed air, blower, vacuum and cooling systems – and in the process – save energy and improve profitability.

Profile: Hertz Kompressoren USA

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Bob Groendyke, Vice President and General Manager, of Hertz Kompressoren USA.

Hertz Kompressoren USA is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. We’re a premium brand of the Dalgakiran Group Company, a leading international compressed air sales and service producer with a well-established worldwide network. Our parent company was founded in in Turkey more than 50 years ago and currently sells and services machines in 130 countries. Hertz Kompressoren has built a solid reputation by creating and manufacturing high-quality products offered at reasonable prices to satisfy our worldwide customer base.

Common System Issues Part 1 - Oil-Free Air Compressors Paired with Heatless Desiccant Dryers

Many food processing plants are already using oil-free compressed air at a low-pressure dewpoint. This has required the use of two-stage oil-free screw air compressors, centrifugal air compressors and other technologies, as well as regenerative dryers of one type or another. The most common oil-free air compressor in industry is the two-stage “dry screw” machine and the most common regenerative dryer type is the heatless type. These are combined in many food processing, pharmaceutical, and high-tech plants.

 

 

Measuring Performance of Installed Air Compressors

Measuring the Free Air Delivery (FAD) of an air compressor can be challenging. With a proper flow meter and some mathematics this task is manageable. This article sheds some light on how to select the flow meter and summarizes parameters to be considered in the FAD measurement task.

The Vital Role of Specialized Compressors in Helium Recovery

Helium is a precious noble gas that has become invaluable for leak detection, as well as cooling down magnets in medical equipment. This is why consumption of this essential industrial resource is increasing and its price is rising rapidly. To combat a looming shortage of this increasingly scarce resource, new methods of helium recovery are becoming more important than ever – as are specialized compressors for the same purpose.

Piping and Ventilation Guidelines for Proper Air Compressor Installations

In an ideal world, we would all have plenty of space, time and money to create the perfect compressed air system. In practice, we have to balance our ideals versus what we can actually accomplish. Compressed air systems take considerable forethought and planning to achieve a perfect install; however, we can use some key takeaways from this article even if we are ever faced a less than ideal installation. Remember to keep the compressors cool, minimize piping pressure drop and to allow sufficient room around the equipment for service.

The ITER Project Builds on Sauer Helium Compressors

A spectacular vision is gradually becoming reality in Cadarache in the south of France. Modeled on the sun, the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) fusion system uses nuclear fusion to generate energy in order to secure humanity’s supply of electricity. One of the biggest challenges is the high temperature inside the reactor. Technology by Sauer Compressors is a key factor in cooling the reactor. The manufacturer has supplied the world’s largest system for helium recovery.

Plastics Plant Saves 55% in Energy with VSD Air Compressor and Sequencer

The plant produces both molded and blow molded plastic parts on a 5 day per week, three shift schedule. Production and maintenance sometimes occurs on weekends, occasionally requiring the air compressors to run on a 24 x 7 basis so the practice was to leave the compressed air system always pressurized. The system consisted of three modulating lubricated screw compressors one sized at 150 hp and the others 125 hp (3 units), each controlled with their local compressor controllers.

Oil-Free Turbo Air Compressors from Finland

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Timo Pulkki (CEO), Hannu Heinonen (President, Tamturbo Inc.) and Mike Batchelor (Director of Sales Americas) from Tamturbo.

Since the 1960’s, the Tampere region in Finland has been a birthplace of several air compressor innovations – many of which involved Kimmo Laine, a co-founder of Tamturbo. Mr. Laine was a leader in R&D in the air compressor business for many years since the 1960s. This included bringing a high-speed turbo air compressor to market later at Tamturbo. Working together in the 1980’s in a division of Tamrock, called Tamrotor-where Hannu Heinonen also worked, Mr. Laine met a gentleman named Jaakko Säiläkivi.