Industrial Utility Efficiency

Pressure

High-Altitude Mining and Steel Production in Peru

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Before CAGI data sheets were created, air compressor distributors and their customers could only go by the manufacturers’ claims. He found there wasn’t any uniformity to the numbers manufacturers put out, so making comparisons was challenging. Some compressed air manufacturers measured capacity from the bare airend, while others measured from the air compressor’s outlet.

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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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Compressed Air Pressure Loss Solutions for the Last 30 Feet

By Carlo Gatti, Product Manager, Prevost

The significance of material quality used within air compressor rooms and main distribution networks has been increasingly recognized, leading to advancements in energy conservation. However, this focus on material enhancements has not always translated to the last 30 feet of the compressed air system, an area notorious for its loss in efficiency. Here, 30 to 40% of a compressed air system's total energy losses can occur.
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Sizing Air Compressors for Spray Finishing

By Shane Vrankin, Service Consultant, C.H. Reed

Achieving a high-quality finish on a coated product, whether it’s painted or powder coated, is dependent on a variety of variables that impact coating quality before material ever comes out of a spray gun. For example, it’s essential to have the proper paint agitators, paint pumps, spray guns, hoses, line sizes and pump cycle rates. But an even bigger requirement is a properly sized compressed air system to effectively operate the pneumatic painting and powder coating equipment.
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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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Plastics Plant Audit Improves VSD Air Compressor Arrangement

By Ron Marshall, Chief Auditor, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

Estimates based on the captured data show 567,000 kWh costing $23,375 per year, while feeding an average of 240 cfm to the plant. Estimated savings for upgrading the VSD air compressor to higher efficiency and higher capacity, converting failing desiccant compressed air dryers to cycling refrigerated compressed air dryers and reducing wasted demand total $9,160 per year, resulting in 39% lower energy use.
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Compressed Air Audit Uncovers Waste at a Plywood Plant

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A comprehensive compressed air assessment was conducted at a Canadian plywood facility. The purpose was to determine the proper size of any new air compressors and to look for ways to improve the system. Analysis of the data and a demand-side audit finds significant energy savings could be gained if the system is upgraded through air compressor replacements and demand-side reductions.
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Compressed Air System Optimized at Cheese Packaging Plant

By Hank Van Ormer, Technical Director, APenergy

This assessment identifies a path to reduce the energy consumption from $85,000 to $51,000 per year. This can be done with little capital by fixing poppet-valve control problems on the air compressors and reducing flow and pressure requirements. Due to article space limitations, this article does not provide detail on the flow reduction projects. It focuses only on the impact these projects have on the air compressors and provides readers with a template on the information they should have on their units, by shift.
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When Three Air Compressors Are Better Than One (or Two)

By Derrick Taylor, PneuTech 

During Dealer Week, they needed enough compressed air to power multiple machines at a time all day long. Keeping simultaneous demos running for all their top machines required airflow of up to 400 cubic feet per minute (CFM). However, outside of Dealer Week, their compressed air demands were quite modest. On a typical day, they only needed 20 CFM to power their dust collection system and pneumatic tools for their dock and warehouse crating areas.
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What is CFM in Compressed Air? How Much Do I Have? How Much Do I Need?

By Hank van Ormer, Technical Director, AP Energy

Do the questions in the title seem like simple questions? There are many things that confuse the issue including air compressor condition, controls as applied, interconnecting pipe size and configuration and effective storage. All of these have been covered in many technical compressed air papers and articles. The topic many don’t use or understand is how to calculate the actual value of these initial questions at the operating sites and conditions.
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Eagle Mine Redesigns Compressed Air System for Uptime Gains

By Mike Grennier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

When the design capabilities of an installed compressed air system didn’t align with real-world production needs at its ore processing mill in northern Michigan, Eagle Mine decided to move beyond theoretical compressed air concepts and deal in reality. After thorough analyses of its compressed air challenges and implementing a variety of solutions, the team at the mill bolstered the operation’s ability to efficiently mill approximately 2,200 metric tons of ore per day.
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Compressed Air Assessment at Grundfos Finds Big Savings

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

Analysis of the pressure data logging showed that, while the variable speed drive compressor maintained a constant discharge pressure near 120 psi, the pressure at various critical points fell to as low as 85 psi during peak production operations. General pressure in the plants, especially Plant 2, fluctuated between 102 and 112 psi, showing that the pressure/flow control valve was not regulating properly, and that Plant 2 lacked enough general storage volume to support transient flows.
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The Gentex Journey to Reliable Energy Conservation - 3 Levels of Compressed Air Systems

By John Bilsky, Facilities Maintenance, Gentex Corporation

The information contained in this article, will help the operator to assess his/her systems, and identify where these systems fall within a three-level category. There are many ways, and opportunities to make a compressed air system produce reliable and good quality air. The three levels discussed here could also be characterized as a “continuous improvement plan” which can be achieved over the course of time, and with the occasional investment of money.
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Efficiently Controlling Huge Flow Variations in Sandblasting Compressed Air System

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

Most industrial systems like compressed air have essentially random demand if you look at the long-term life cycle of the system. Hundreds, even thousands of independent small and large subsystems require constant or varying flow. These demands are typically not timed or synchronized with each other, so they aggregate to a fairly random flow profile, within a range. That range changes significantly when production processes change. Certainly a 2-week audit might show some patterns that appear predictable for demand A (“production”) and demand B (“non-production”) or day type, but they change over time as the plant adapts to new production systems and removes old ones. If demand was that profile forever, a lesser experienced auditor might be tempted to size one set of compressors that work perfectly for that profile but not for alternates.
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Compressed Air System Drawings: A Picture Can Save Tens of Thousands of Dollars

By Paul Edwards, Compressed Air Consultants, Inc.

There are some fundamentals when it comes to compressed air system improvements. One strategy that is overlooked is just drawing the details of whatever aspect of a system you are looking at. It is fairly common to see a misdiagnosis of some particular technical issue that would have been obvious should someone have created the drawing to describe the problem.
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Milk Products Plant Finds 52 Percent Potential Savings

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A food processor was having compressed air problems, so they invited a compressed air auditor into their plant for an assessment and to help them size future permanent air compressors. The plant was experiencing low air pressure and detecting water in the compressed air lines despite having a desiccant air dryer. The auditor thoroughly analyzed the compressed air system production equipment and did end-use assessment and leakage detection. This article discusses the findings leading to a potential cost savings of 52% of the current level.
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Eliminate the Cost of Artificial Demand with Proper Storage and Piping

By Hank van Ormer, Air Power USA

This article reviews the benefits and design considerations of controlling system pressure from the air compressor room to the production headers and selected production processes and areas. Over the last several decades, the phrase “demand-side control” has become the generic term to describe establishing a “flat line” header pressure using proper storage and an appropriate pressure regulator, or “pressure flow controller.” Use of a demand-side controller to control pressure and flow can be implemented at the entry to the production area header(s) and at selected production areas or processes.
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Use Baseline Measurements to Improve Compressed Air Supply Performance

By Tom Taranto, Data Power Services, LLC.

Baseline measurements include flow, power, pressure, production output, and other relevant variables impacting compressed air use. These data evaluate trending averages to develop Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and Energy Performance Indicator (EnPI) parameters and establish base‑year performance. The focus of this article is the application, evaluation, and analysis of baseline measurements to provide information necessary to improve Compressed Air Supply Efficiency.
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Chemical Packaging Plant Shaves 41% Off Annual Electric Bill with Compressed Air Energy-Saving Measures

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A chemical packaging facility had done everything right when they last upgraded their compressed air system a few years ago. They installed a Variable Speed Drive (VSD) air compressor and implemented other energy efficiency measures, but plant expansions caused increased system demand, which exceeded the capacity of the system. The packaging lines were now seeing low pressure, causing shut downs in production. And projections showed plant demand would increase even further.
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Instrument Air and Breathing Air at a Pharmaceutical Plant

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A pharmaceutical plant, has had a compressed air assessment performed on two plant systems. The studies uncovered poor compressed air production efficiency, high air dryer loss, and problems with high flow compressed air uses negatively affecting plant pressure. The plant implemented energy efficiency measures, on the two compressed air systems, saving 46 and 64 percent in energy costs respectively.
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Low-Pressure Air Compressors Deliver Savings for Lafarge Cement Distribution

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

The Lafarge Cement Distribution terminal located in Winnipeg, Canada has significantly reduced the site electrical demand and energy charges by changing the way they transport their cement. Two new low-pressure rotary screw air compressors have replaced two large high-pressure air compressors that previously powered their dense phase transport system. The resulting power reduction has saved the company 46 percent in transport operating costs.
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Four Principles for Sustaining Energy Savings

By Paul Edwards, Compressed Air Consultants

When Compressed Air Consultants was starting, in 2003, we were approached by a company experiencing significant problems with their compressed air system. They had compressed air pressure problems causing production interruptions. They had moisture issues causing all kinds of havoc throughout the facility and appeared to be using far too many air compressors for what they wanted to accomplish.
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Managing Pressure Regulator Artificial Demand, Part 1

By Murray Nottle, Working Air System Engineer, The Carnot Group

Pressure regulators are everywhere compressed air is used. These simple devices, essential for safe and steady equipment operation, can be a big waster of compressed air. This article shows how with proper regulator selection, installation and setting management you can save compressed air and lower system pressures. This article looks at regulators on production equipment not central regulators or Process Flow Controllers.
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Systems Approach Cuts Fabric Mill Energy Costs

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge®

A large fabric mill has implemented an energy management system based on the ISO 50001 standard to track their compressed air system efficiency. As a result of information gained from this system, and measures learned in some recent compressed air training, the company has reduced their compressed air system costs while at the same time achieving increased fabric production output. The savings were gained by not only optimizing the supply side of the system, but by also addressing the end uses.
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