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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The Systems Approach. What are Your Demands?

By the Compressed Air Challenge®

A basic element in the Compressed Air Challenge® (CAC) philosophy is that compressed air system optimization should be addressed using the “Systems Approach”. This method recognizes that improving and maintaining peak compressed air system performance requires addressing both the supply and the demand sides of a system and understanding how the two interact. “The road to energy efficiency involves more than just fixing the leaks,” says Ross Orr, an experienced auditor with Scales Industrial Technologies and a certified CAC instructor.
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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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Compressed Air Leaks: Fact vs. Myth

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

Compressed air leaks - every system has them.  Is a leak identification and control program economically rewarding and/or necessary? Upper management sometimes doesn’t recognize the true cost of not repairing air leaks.  Knowing the high cost of compressed air, why wouldn’t every facility with a compressed air piping system implement a continuous leak identification and repair program?
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Printing Facility Reduces Air Demand

Ron Marshall, CET, CIM, Manitoba Hydro

This article will focus on a compressed air system assessment done at a printing facility in Canada. The energy costs at the time, in Manitoba, were \$0.025 per kWh and the installation was of just 65 horsepower of air compressors.
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Sustainability at RR Donnelley

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Michael D. Manzella. Mr. Manzella is a Senior Vice President, Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality (EH&S), and also the Chief Sustainability Officer for RR Donnelley (RRD).

Sustainability at RRD starts with a philosophy. It is then executed through a global policy and objectives. RRD’s philosophy does not see sustainability as making a choice between being cost-effective and improving environmental impacts. On the contrary, sustainability represents integrating these two factors. This philosophy guides our sustainability objectives and strategies.
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Chrysler Finds Vacuum Savings of $400,000 per Plant

By Josef Karbassi, PIAB

A recent comparative vacuum technology study performed by Dr. Kingman Yee, as part of a Chrysler Summer Intern Professors Program, found that air consumption could be reduced by 98% when equipping a robot’s end-of-arm tooling with COAX® technology and a Vacustat™ check valve.
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An Automotive System Assessment

By Bill Scales P.E., Scales Industrial Technologies

This stamping plant is a 2.5 million-square-foot facility with over two thousand employees.  At the time of the assessment, the plant was processing approximately 1,600 tons of steel per day into automotive vehicle components and parts such as body parts.
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