Industrial Utility Efficiency
There were two situations brought to our attention. The first was that production at times was having to slow down, or even stop, due to compressed air system pressure falling below the required levels. The second reason was due to reports, from plant personnel, of compressed air moisture problems negatively affecting the bag life of the dryer baghouses.
The NPE2009 international plastics showcase was held June 22-26 in Chicago’s McCormick Place. While attendance was down from NPE2006, the preliminary total of visitor registrations numbered 44,000. Sustainability and energy efficiency was a prominent topic in the booths of exhibitors. Manufacturers of compressed air and injection molding equipment had many developments with Sustainability to show the visitors to NPE2009.
The next time you sit down for dinner, take a good look at your food. There’s a very good chance compressed air played an essential role in preparing your meal for consumption.
Cleanliness is often considered to be a virtue. In the beverage packaging industry, however, cleanliness is an absolute necessity.
Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine spoke with Mr. Ed McGovern (VP Sales & Business Development) of PIAB North America.
This facility processes bulk food ingredients into finished packaged food products. The factory belongs to a division of a large corporation and was spending \$732,342 annually on energy to operate their compressed air system. This system assessment detailed twelve (12) project areas where yearly energy savings totaling \$214,907 could be found with a minimal investment of \$68,350. Due to space constraints, this article will detail only the higher impact project areas. The over-all strategy for improving this air system centers on improving specific power performance of the #3 centrifugal air compressor and reducing over-all demand with compressed air savings projects.
Industry standards serve a very important purpose for the end users of compressed air equipment. If the standards are well written, they can help to promote the equipment that they govern, as long as the equipment manufacturers properly apply and promote the standards.
