Industries

Energy Management at Saint-Gobain

Compressed Air Best Practices® interviewed Mr. Brad Runda, Manager-Energy, Saint-Gobain Corporation.

Congratulations on Saint-Gobain being named a 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is the second year in a row you’ve won the award. Why was this award received?

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Paper Mill Upgrades Air Dryer and Cooling System

By Rich Whitmore

This article reviews two major processes in paper mills: compressed air quality and air compressor cooling. The central air compressor room was expanded and relocated at the largest privately owned paper mill in Canada. The compressor space was required by a plant expansion, which would occupy the original compressor space for increased production.

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Batch Transport Conveyor System Audit Saves Energy

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

A compressed air system assessment saved this building materials manufacturer over \$518,000 per year in energy costs, with a simple ROI of 11 months.

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Distribution Piping: Understanding Pressure Drop

By the Compressed Air Challenge®

The Compressed Air Challenge® (CAC) is a voluntary collaboration of industrial users; manufacturers, distributors and their associations; consultants; state research and development agencies; energy efficiency organizations; and utilities. This group has one purpose in mind - helping you enjoy the benefits of improved performance of your compressed air system. The mission of the Compressed Air Challenge (CAC) is to provide resources that educate industrial users about optimizing their compressed air systems.

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Inappropriate-Use Assessment Saves 1,881 scfm

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

This factory currently spends \$735,757 annually on the electricity required to operate the compressed air system at its plant. The group of projects recommended in the system assessment will reduce these energy costs by an estimated \$364,211 (49% of current use). Estimated costs for completing the recommended projects total \$435,800. This figure represents a simple payback period of 14.4 months.

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Why Do Steam Traps Fail?

By Bruce Gorelick, Enercheck Systems and Alan Bandes, UE Systems, Inc.

Properly functioning steam traps open to release condensate and automatically close when steam is present. Failed traps waste fuel, reduce efficiency, increase production costs and compromise the overall integrity of the steam and condensate systems. Traps should be tested on a regular basis -- or the neglect may be quite costly.

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Food Industry Expertise at Parker domnick hunter

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine spoke with the Parker PDF (Purification, Dehydration, and Filtration) Division.

Compressed Air Best Practices spoke with the Parker PDF (Purification, Dehydration, and Filtration) Division.

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Grimmway Farms Implements System Automation

Patricia Boyd, Ecos Air

This article presents a case study of Grimmway Farms; a carrot growing and packing firm located in California’s Central Valley that was able to improve its compressed air system efficiency after implementing system automation and making relatively small equipment and piping changes.

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Snack Food Manufacturer Saves 50%

Ron Marshall, CET, CIM, Manitoba Hydro

The snack food facility is running with two normally separated compressed air production systems: the main plant system and the nitrogen system.

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Bottling System Air Recovery at NPE 2009

Compressed Air Best Practices

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.

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