Industrial Utility Efficiency

End Uses

Improve Process Efficiency and Reduce Energy Use with Compressed Air Monitoring

By Hendrik Priemer, Product Manager IIoT Applications, Machine Automation, Emerson 

Without compressed air monitoring, up to 30% of the compressed air generated goes to waste. This waste occurs for several reasons, including leaks caused by failures at joints and tubes, exposure to vibration and normal component wear, and the suboptimization of machines and devices. Continuous monitoring capabilities allow operators to detect leaks and other anomalies in their early stages. By addressing pneumatic issues before they can grow, companies can reduce compressed air use by 20% to 30%. 
 

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Success Stories at BC Hydro

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge®

BC Hydro is a sponsor of Compressed Air Challenge and one of two Canadian utilities represented on the Board of Directors. BC Hydro’s Power Smart Compressed Air Optimization program helps customers assess how their air system is working, helps with project implementation costs and provides for onsite training of plant personnel. The following profiles tell how two of their customers discovered excellent savings through the application of low cost measures.
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PET Bottle Blowing Efficiency

Compressed Air Best Practices® Interviewed Dean Smith, iZ Systems.

The PET industry is in a state of flux right now. A number of new bottle blowing facilities are being brought on-line. They are in the “discovery” phase right now as they realize how challenging the required compressed air systems are to manage – from an energy efficiency standpoint. The average high-volume stretch blow molder (SBM) working with PET usually has 2,000 to 4,000 horsepower of installed air compressors with the related energy costs running between \$1 to \$4 million per year. This typically represents 35-40% of the facilities’ total energy bill.
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Measuring Energy Savings at Verallia

By Rod Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Gregory Rhames, Asset Reliability Manager/Energy Manager at Verallia. As background, Verallia is the packaging division of Saint-Gobain. Verallia employs 15,500 people globally and makes about 25 billion glass bottles and jars each year. We employ 350 people at Madera where we produce about 1 million wine, champagne and sake bottles per day.
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Bottler Best Practices in California

By Creg Fenwick and Kyle Harris, Accurate Air Engineering

Bottling companies and breweries, in California, are benefiting from a three-step system assessment process aimed at reducing the electrical consumption of their compressed air systems. The three-step process reduces compressed air demand in bottling lines by focusing on open blowing and idle equipment, and then improves the specic power (reducing the energy consumption) of the air compressors.
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Energy-Savings at Milk, Cheese, and Ice Cream Plants

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge®

Compressed air system refinements have cut operating costs at a Milk Plant located in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada by 62%, for annual savings of nearly \$30 000. The improvements were made following a compressed air audit that recommended consolidating two compressed air systems into one, installing a variable speed drive compressor, and making a handful of additional basic improvements.
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Kellogg’s Eggo Decreases Energy Consumption by over 675,000 kWh

By Patricia Boyd, Ecos Air

This article describes a compressed air retrofit project implemented at Kellogg’s Eggo factory located in San Jose, California. Kellogg’s continues to realize both annual energy savings and quality improvements because of the upgrade. In addition, Kellogg’s received a substantial utility incentive from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which was based on the achieved energy savings.
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New AODD Pump Controls Reduce Compressed Air Consumption

By Mark McCourt and Dean Thornberry, IDEX AODD

Air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps are known for their positive attributes of handling fluids that are heavily laden with solids, abrasive materials, shear sensitive liquids (paints and coatings) and the ability to pump soft solids without damaging the product. They are also popular because they are lightweight, portable and easy to use due to their pneumatic power.
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Three Demand-Side Projects at a Pharmaceutical Plant

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

This pharmaceutical plant spends \$265,100 annually on energy to operate the compressed air system at their facility. This figure will increase as electric rates are projected to be raised from their current average of 7.7 cents /kWh. The set of projects identified in the compressed air system assessment could reduce these energy costs by \$139,300 per year (52%).
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Industrial Sandblasting – Where Does All the Air Go?

By Don van Ormer & Scott van Ormer, Air Power USA

“Sandblasting” is one of the oldest and most used methods of metal treatment. Various abrasive materials may be loaded manually or by a vacuum system pulling the “grit” from a storage tank. A control valve then operates with the compressed air (bypassing the vacuum pump), being forced into the tank pressurizing the receiver. When the high pressure compressed air goes out the discharge line, it pulls the appropriate amount of grit with it to effectively impinge against the targeted metal surface.
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