Industrial Utility Efficiency

Air Compressors

Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference Show Report

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, and Brooke Jones, Digital Content Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 

From October 29-31, 2024, professionals who operate, maintain and design industrial compressed air, vacuum, blower, nitrogen generation, process cooling and HVAC systems gathered at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, for the 6th annual Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference. The event featured two tracks of conference presentations and panels.

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The Business Case for Air Compressor Rentals and Air-Over-the-Fence

By Matt Piedmonte, Vice President and General Manager, Americas, Aerzen Rental Solutions

There is no single right approach to putting the necessary volume and pressure of air in the pipe to meet production needs. There is a place for purchasing assets, there is a place for renting assets and there is a place for an AOF contract. Just as the business models around these assets change, so do the needs of an industrial plant. This article aims to explore these options and explore some of the pros and cons associated with different methods. 
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Maple Leaf Foods Saves with Compressed Air and Heat Recovery Upgrade

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

One existing air compressor was a rental and not fully integrated into our compressed air system. We upgraded the desiccant compressed air dryer to improve operational efficiency, reduce energy consumption and save on the combined cfm. We save close to 900,000 kWh of electricity, and about 704 cfm every weekday.
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Trust Through Testing: Inside the CAGI Performance Verification Program

By Jayme Leonard, Digital Marketing Specialist, Atlas Copco Compressors 

To further support transparency and confidence in compressed air system equipment performance, CAGI established the Performance Verification Program. This third-party testing initiative verifies that participating manufacturers’ published performance data, such as energy consumption, flow rate and efficiency, are accurate and consistent with industry standards.
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Texas Recycling Plant Saves Water with Air-Cooled Air Compressors

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

There are multiple compressed air applications in a waste management facility. This new recycling center uses laser-guided optical sorters to divide waste, with no human involvement on the sorting line. Laser optics determine what type of material each scrap is, then compressed air jets maneuver each piece to its collection area. Compressed air also powers handheld blow guns used for cleaning, as well as the bundling and packaging system. 
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Air Compressor Design Considerations for a Successful Compressed Gas Mixing Project

By Chris Ahnen, Director of Engineering, EnviroMix

Compressed Gas Mixing provides uniform mixing of water or wastewater tank contents by firing programmed, short-duration, high-intensity bursts of compressed air through engineered nozzles located near the tank floor. Mixing parameters – including pressure, sequence, duration and frequency – may be adjusted, either through operator input or automatic process feedback, to optimize power use and deliver ideally mixed conditions. 
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The Industrial Sustainability 2025 Best Practices EXPO & Conference Show Report

By Bill Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine launched its first event in Europe, the Industrial Sustainability Best Practices EXPO & Conference, in June 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Designed to educate and connect factories and specifying engineers on the optimization of industrial compressed air, vacuum and cooling water systems, the event featured 12 hours of conference sessions, exhibits and the first Compressed Air Challenge training to take place in Europe. 
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The 2025 AICD Show Report

By Bill Smith, Regional Sales Manager, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

The Association of Independent Compressor Distributors held its annual trade show in Louisville, KY, April 27-29, 2025. Participating distributor members and guests enjoyed the AICD trade show, guest speakers, a golf tournament and a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. This report presents a sampling of the trade show exhibits (by technology, alphabetically) to share company and technology news. 
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Danmar Industries Custom Engineers for Oil and Gas

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

The items included three 550 horsepower (hp), oil-flooded, water-cooled, single-stage air compressors with inlet valve modulation capable of providing 1,540 scfm at 165 psi (11.4 bar), two heatless desiccant, 3,138 cfm, 165 psi (11.4 bar) compressed air dryers, and two nitrogen generators for the main station, as well as two smaller air compressors and heatless desiccant compressed air dryers for each of three smaller facilities. Air compressor packages typically meet API 619, but the customer did not request that in this case. The motors, however, need to meet API 547. Air compressor system piping needed to be carbon steel built to ASME B31.3. 
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The Case For Low Horsepower, Two-Stage Rotary Screw Air Compressors

By Ed Maxwell, CEO, Eastern States Associates

The isentropic efficiency of single-stage rotary screw air compressors, as reported by CAGI data, typically falls between 65% and 75%. Since isentropic efficiency is the ratio of ideal work to actual work, this range suggests these air compressors consume roughly 33% to 54% more power than the theoretical minimum for the given air pressure output. Much of the discussion in this article is theoretical since low-horsepower two-stage air compressors are new to the U.S. market. 
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Blue Mountain Reins in a Sprawling Compressed Air System

By Ken Morris, Service and Sales Consultant, Blue Mountain Air Compressor Services

The plant was intermittently operating a staggering 11 air compressors scattered across its facility. Its system was a patchwork of different air compressor sizes and technologies, including two 25 hp fixed-speed rotary screw air compressors, one 30 hp fixed-speed rotary screw air compressor and one 100 hp fixed-speed rotary screw air compressor as its primary air compressors. It also kept several 15 to 50 hp reciprocating air compressors on standby, turning to them when primary units were down for maintenance. 
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