Industrial Utility Efficiency

Compressor Controls

Egger Modernizes Its Compressed Air System for the ESG Era

By Graham Coats, Director of Strategic Product and Business Development, CMC

Wood-based materials manufacturing plant transformed its compressed air system from an invisible utility into a data-driven energy asset by deploying a modern, multi-zone monitoring and control platform. The upgrade delivered real-time transparency, ISO 50001- and ESG-ready reporting, and verified annual savings of 1.43 GWh, $166,500 and 889 tons of CO2.

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Engineering Sales Associates Maintains Production with Preventive Maintenance

By Arthur Pue, President, Engineering Sales Associates 

Preventive maintenance is seldom newsworthy inside manufacturing facilities. By design, preventive maintenance should be a non-event. Production keeps running, shifts continue to change, trucks are reloaded and unloaded and work goes on. The reliability of a compressed air system requires focus, attention and discipline: paying attention to variables, detecting patterns and knowing when something seems amiss. Looking deeper into system performance turns routine maintenance into a strategic tool for improving reliability and production stability.
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Thought Leaders on System Optimization Past & Future

Edited by Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

We asked a hand-selected list of original equipment manufacturers, independent compressed air system sales and service companies, manufacturing plants and independent system auditors to share their thoughts, highlighting the changes they’ve seen over the past 20 years, then predicting what the next 20 years will bring.
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20 Years of Case Studies: Plants Sharing Best Practices

Edited by Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® 

For 20 years, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine has published articles focused on helping manufacturers reduce power demand, lower water consumption, and improve the performance of compressed air, cooling, blower and industrial vacuum systems. In this article, we highlight a sampling of those stories across the following industries: Plastics and Packaging Food and Beverage Automotive and Transportation Cement, Building Materials, and Mining Metals, Pulp, and Paper Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, and Research Wastewater Treatment
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After the Energy Audit, What’s Next?

By Michael Younis, CEM, Principal, Dove Energy Services

After an energy audit is performed, how much value has been created? The answer is zero. It's the work done after the audit that makes the difference between a binder on a shelf gathering dust and an executed energy conservation measure creating value. Your management wants results, not reports.
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The Effect of Increased Storage Capacity on Load/No Load Air Compressors

By Frank A. Melch, Vice President of Sales & Marketing (ret.), Zorn Compressor & Equipment

Fixed speed, lubricated, rotary screw air compressors offer three different part-load control methods: inlet modulation, load/no load and variable displacement. Over the years, load/no load has become the predominant control method offered by fixed-speed air compressor manufacturers.
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Optimizing Positive Displacement Air Compressors for Energy Efficiency

By Andrew Smith-Carrier, Founder, SMARTCAir

This article explores the importance of understanding the key system parameters driving the overall efficiency of positive displacement air compressor systems. We will also review two case studies to illustrate how low-tech, low-cost system improvements can lead to significant energy savings and performance improvements.
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The Benefits of Compressed Air System Audits

By John Molnar P.E., Air System Audit Manager, Rogers Machinery Company

Industrial plants have long used sensors and gauges to monitor and record data critical to plant operation. Sensors were installed permanently and integrated with complex SCATA, MODBUS and other plant-wide systems using computer servers and control rooms for monitoring. These systems provide critical data. However, after the system is installed, adding additional sensors for secondary energy analysis or troubleshooting of smaller systems, such as compressed air systems, can be cost-prohibitive.
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How IoT and AI Transform Compressed Air System Management

By Jayme Leonard, Atlas Copco Compressors

In the rapidly evolving landscape of industrial automation, the integration of internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping production and utility management. Compressed air system management stands out as an area undergoing significant transformation. Compressed air systems are critical in many industries, serving as a power source for tools, machinery and various processes.
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Hitting the Gas on Efficient Compressed Air Delivery at Hitachi Astemo

By Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Hitachi Astemo’s efficiency gains will turn into significant cost savings. In this article we outline the savings reported by the client since the changeover was complete. It shows a sizeable reduction in energy costs, air compressor energy costs and maintenance costs to the tune of 21.95%, 24.14% and 24.14%, respectively. Total operating costs to date have dropped from $1,277,394 to $941,959 with the new system a decrease of 26.25%.
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In the Spirit of Improvement - Nation’s oldest distiller takes practical approach to compressed air system upgrade

By Brian Keelen, Vice President, Air & Gas Technologies and Brian Sorbello, Northeast Region Manager, Rogers Machinery

Laird & Company has been pioneering and perfecting Applejack brandy for 325 years. In 1698, William Laird immigrated from County Fyfe, Scotland to Monmouth County, New Jersey, bringing nothing but the distillation skills of his homeland with him. Keen to experiment with the ingredients of the New World, William began to dabble in the distillation of the most abundant crop in the area – apples.
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Growing Dairy Product Processor Improves Uptime with Compressed Air Audit

By Don Van Ormer, Senior Auditor, APenergy

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.
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Small Piston Air Motors Save Big Energy While Ensuring Safety

By Jerry Zolkowski, Industrial Energy Management Principal Engineer, Consumers Energy Business Energy Efficiency Programs

Vane motors can run at much higher speeds (2000 rpm and up), but piston motors tend to turn much slower – less than 1000 rpm. For slower speed applications, vane motors are mated with a gear reducer and called a gearmotor. The gearmotor can produce the higher torque and slower speed needed for some applications, but the gear reducer can add some drivetrain loss. While a piston air motor may not be able to replace a vane motor where high speed is needed, it can be a good choice for high torque/low speed applications.
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Cleaning Products Plant Innovates and Saves

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting and Greg Good, EcoPlant

As part of its ongoing corporate initiative to find ways to reduce its energy bills, and the costly impact on the bottom line, a cleaning products plant, located southwest of Chicago, recently focused on improving their compressed air system operation. This company is a global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. This article discussed their efforts to improve the operation of their compressed air system by implementing an innovative compressed air monitoring and control system.
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Remote Monitoring Takes Off for Aerospace Manufacturer

By Nicolas De Deken, President, ENERGAIR

In the absence of the control system, the air compressors were loading and unloading according to pre-set pressure bands, which forced the system to operate at higher pressures and run inefficient combinations of compressors in order to effectively match air demand. When switched on, irrespective of air demand, the control system was able to control all compressors on a single, tight pressure band and efficiently match output with demand.
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AZEK Compressed Air Project Enhances Reliability While Saving Energy

By Airleader North America, and Dave Suder, Industrial Air Centers

The AZEK Company is a producer of durable and low maintenance building materials, and like many manufacturers, it found its compressed air system to be time consuming and expensive to keep maintained. But that changed after the company replaced its outdated and faulty compressed air system with a new design that includes technically advanced air compressors, dryers, receiver tanks – as well as controls to provide better control of the entire system and achieve optimal performance.
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Networked Air Compressors Operate in Harmony at Automotive Manufacturer

By Stephen Parry, Bay Controls

When an automotive company added a new 200-horsepower (hp) rotary screw air compressor and accompanying dryer to a satellite building at its Chicago-area assembly plant, it needed a cost-effective way to integrate the equipment into its existing compressed air network. Doing so would allow plant personnel to easily monitor the air compressor’s performance and ensure it operates in harmony with the plant’s centrifugal air compressors. Importantly, it would contribute to efficient and reliable air compressor operation at all times.
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How to Manage Compressed Air Systems During High-Demand Events

By Neil Mehltretter, Kaeser Compressors, Inc.

One of the challenges with compressed air system design is dealing with periodic large flow demands. Food and beverage manufacturers are among those process industries that often face these events. Adding in the compressed air demands of onsite packaging further adds to the task.
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Dutch Glass Container Plant Compressed Air System Makeover Increases Uptime and Energy Savings

By Mike Grennier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

To improve the delivery of compressed air at the plant, which is supplied by low-pressure and high-pressure compressed air systems, the manufacturer took an important first step by using airflow meters to monitor and measure the performance of both systems. Subsequent planning based on actionable data led to a unique compressed air system upgrade that increases the plant’s ability to maintain peak production of high quality glass bottles and containers at all times – while saving $150,000 per year in energy costs. The project also delivered a payback of less than two years.
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Is Your Controller a Blast From the Past?

By the Compressed Air & Gas Institute

Advances in phone technology dramatically improve their function and our experience. More storage, faster speeds, enhanced communication options, bigger and brighter display….and so on. As a result, today’s phones are significantly more powerful – improving our productivity and changing our lives. As for the technology laggards, obsolescence eventually prompts change. Repairing or replacing parts and accessories on the old phones is an increasing challenge. Eventually they have to succumb to technology.
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Compressed Air Guidelines for Varying Production Levels

By Paul Humphreys, Atlas Copco Compressors LLC.

Companies will experience periods of increased production, as well as periods of slower or stopped production. It’s the nature of being in business. Understanding the implications of these business shifts for compressed-air installations (the powerhouse behind a facility’s production) is key for ensuring that air compressors remain functional and efficient. Here are guidelines to ensure your facility’s compressed-air system operates at top performance, no matter the speed of production.
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Tier 1 Automotive Supplier Saves Energy Upgrading Centrifugal Air Compressor Controls

By Stephen Parry, Bay Controls

A Tier 1 automotive supplier was concerned its compressed air system was not operating as efficiently as it could be. The situation called for a site visit and metering and evaluation of the company’s air compressors to generate a representative data sample that accurately captured the compressed air needs during typical production and non-production periods.
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Winpak Reduces Demand by 33% and Switches to Oil-Free Air Compressors

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

By making changes primarily focused on compressed air uses, Winpak, an international plastics products manufacturer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, increased compressed air production capacity and reduced annual energy consumption by 33%. These benefits have been accomplished while the company was making the switch to lubricant-free compressed air to support product quality goals. This article discusses some of these changes and addresses measures that could be implemented in any compressed air system.
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How to Avoid Control Gap with VFD Rotary Screw Air Compressors

By Tim Dugan, P.E., Compression Engineering Corporation

Air compressors need to be matched to load effectively and efficiently. If the air compressors’ range of variation can’t be matched to the system variation, instability and/or inefficiency can result. This article discusses the problem when it isn’t matched, which is called “control gap” and what to do to avoid it.
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