3 Ways to Save Money On Compressed Air
What if you knew that your compressed air system was completely optimized… running happily day after day.
No more waste of money and electricity…
Because let's face it: wasting thousands of dollars per year on electricity, without you knowing it, sucks.
What if you knew that your compressed air system was completely optimized… running happily day after day.
No more waste of money and electricity…
Because let's face it: wasting thousands of dollars per year on electricity, without you knowing it, sucks.
Want to optimize your compressed air system?
It's impossible to share the complete step-by-step system in an email, but I can get you started on the right path.
It's impossible to share the complete step-by-step system in an email, but I can get you started on the right path.
Compressed air optimization #1: Air leaks
As discusses in our previous blog: fix those leaks!
Compressed air leaks are the number one energy wasters!
The biggest, most rewarding, leaks will be easy to find. For the smaller leaks, you might have to do some extra work, but it will pay off!
But more importantly, once you fixed most of the leaks, put a system in place to continually check for and repair new compressed air leaks.
You can also use some stealth tactics like dividing your compressed air network in zones and shutting of those zones that are not in use (during the night, during the weekend, during low season).
Or create an award system where employees get a price for finding and fixing leaks. It will pay off!
I have to stop here or we could be here all day talking about compressed air leaks!
Condensate drains… they remove condensate water from out compressed air, which is a good thing.
But, there are two problems with condensate drains:
A 'zero loss' drain is a drain that only discharges water, not air.
You see, many simple drains work by a timer. The drain just opens for 10 seconds every 5 minutes. Every 5 minutes, even if there is no water to discharge.
Smarter drains only discharge when they sense that there is water to discharge. But the discharge time is a fixed setting, for example 10 seconds.
These drains still waste compressed air, because all the water might be already discharged after 2 seconds… wasting 8 seconds of compressed air!
Zero loss drains only discharge the water. When all the water is discharged, they close immediately.
Realize that compressed air is very expensive. Any waste of compressed air should be avoided. Those simple drains could cost you hundreds to thousands dollars per year in wasted compressed air!
It's like a ghost in your compressed air system sometimes.
One moment it's there, the next it's gone.
Pressure drops are created when the compressed air flows through a restriction. It's the difference in pressure before and after the restriction.
The restriction could be anything: a filter, a bend in the pipe, a valve, a pipe with a smaller diameter… in fact, each and every part in your compressed air system introduces a pressure drop.
But notice that I said '… when compressed air flows through..".
Pressure drops are only created when the compressed air flows through your system.
If you shut down the air consumers and you don't use compressed air, there is no pressure drop.
The higher the flow, the larger the pressure drop.
That's why it's best to measure pressure drop when all your machinery and tools are running.
The total pressure drop in your system is the difference between the pressure at the consumer (machine, actuator, etc) and the pressure in your compressor room.
For example: the pressure at your machine is 6.5 bar. At the same time, the pressure gauge in your compressor room reads 7.3 bar.
Is one of the gauges broken? No! You have a pressure drop of 7.3 – 6.5 = 0.8 bar in your system.
Why is pressure drop bad?
If your equipment needs a minimum of 6.5 bar in the above example. You need to set your compressor at 7.3 bar, to account for the pressure drop.
Say you could reduce the pressure drop from 0.8 to 0.1 bar. Now you can lower your compressors pressure to 6.5 + 0.1 = 6.6 bar. A reduction of 0.7 bar
That 0.7 can save you thousands to tens of thousands per year (depending on the size and number of air compressors you have).
Compressed air leaks are the number one energy wasters!
The biggest, most rewarding, leaks will be easy to find. For the smaller leaks, you might have to do some extra work, but it will pay off!
But more importantly, once you fixed most of the leaks, put a system in place to continually check for and repair new compressed air leaks.
You can also use some stealth tactics like dividing your compressed air network in zones and shutting of those zones that are not in use (during the night, during the weekend, during low season).
Or create an award system where employees get a price for finding and fixing leaks. It will pay off!
I have to stop here or we could be here all day talking about compressed air leaks!
Compressed air optimization #2: Drains
Condensate drains… they remove condensate water from out compressed air, which is a good thing.
But, there are two problems with condensate drains:
- They often leak, especially the older mechanical types. These leaks should be treated as any other leak: they should be fixed as soon as possible!
- They use a lot of compressed air when discharging condensate (water).
Always go for a 'zero loss' drain.
A 'zero loss' drain is a drain that only discharges water, not air.
You see, many simple drains work by a timer. The drain just opens for 10 seconds every 5 minutes. Every 5 minutes, even if there is no water to discharge.
Smarter drains only discharge when they sense that there is water to discharge. But the discharge time is a fixed setting, for example 10 seconds.
These drains still waste compressed air, because all the water might be already discharged after 2 seconds… wasting 8 seconds of compressed air!
Zero loss drains only discharge the water. When all the water is discharged, they close immediately.
Realize that compressed air is very expensive. Any waste of compressed air should be avoided. Those simple drains could cost you hundreds to thousands dollars per year in wasted compressed air!
Compressed air optimization #3: eliminate pressure loss
Pressure loss or pressure drops. What is it?It's like a ghost in your compressed air system sometimes.
One moment it's there, the next it's gone.
Pressure drops are created when the compressed air flows through a restriction. It's the difference in pressure before and after the restriction.
The restriction could be anything: a filter, a bend in the pipe, a valve, a pipe with a smaller diameter… in fact, each and every part in your compressed air system introduces a pressure drop.
But notice that I said '… when compressed air flows through..".
Pressure drops are only created when the compressed air flows through your system.
If you shut down the air consumers and you don't use compressed air, there is no pressure drop.
The higher the flow, the larger the pressure drop.
That's why it's best to measure pressure drop when all your machinery and tools are running.
The total pressure drop in your system is the difference between the pressure at the consumer (machine, actuator, etc) and the pressure in your compressor room.
For example: the pressure at your machine is 6.5 bar. At the same time, the pressure gauge in your compressor room reads 7.3 bar.
Is one of the gauges broken? No! You have a pressure drop of 7.3 – 6.5 = 0.8 bar in your system.
Why is pressure drop bad?
Always remember that compressing air takes energy (electricity). Compressing air to a higher pressure costs you more energy.
If your equipment needs a minimum of 6.5 bar in the above example. You need to set your compressor at 7.3 bar, to account for the pressure drop.
Say you could reduce the pressure drop from 0.8 to 0.1 bar. Now you can lower your compressors pressure to 6.5 + 0.1 = 6.6 bar. A reduction of 0.7 bar
That 0.7 can save you thousands to tens of thousands per year (depending on the size and number of air compressors you have).
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