A compressor that had reached near the end of its useful life was retained as a spare compressor. The unit sat on standby but rarely ran, except during maintenance periods. Years ago, a compressed air auditor placed thermal mass flow meters on each of the facilities four compressors. The flow on the standby compressor did […]
Air Preparation
Does post monitoring work for compressed air systems?
An important part of any energy efficiency project is verification of the project post installation. Checking out the baseline of the new system and comparing it with the old consumption proves the savings … and gives you the confidence that everything is working okay. The chart shown at right shows a real system with a […]
Compressed air fail: Mighty duct tape
Duct Tape (also called duck tape) has been around since the 1940s, when it was designed to be easily used to make quick repairs on things (see Wikipedia). Over the years, it seems many strange and wonderful uses have been found for this handy adhesive tape, including its incorrect use on compressed air systems. The […]
Is my compressed air leak tag system working?
Leakage is usually a significant add-on to the cost of operating a compressed air system. Almost every factory employee knows there are air leaks, and often can identify where the big ones are, but follow through on this knowledge is often a problem. This is where a good system of leakage detection and repair comes […]
What is compressed air shrinkage?
A common problem in tracking inventory in a business is shrinkage. Products or merchandize will disappear before being sold. This could be by theft or some sort of accounting problem, but the effect is the same, the effort, energy or money spent in making the product is wasted, with no real return on this effort. In […]
Compressed air fail: Reciprocating to screw conversion
A large trade school replaced their older reciprocating compressor with a newer lubricated screw compressor. The staff was tired of the noise of the piston compressor, hammering away during daytime activities. The newer and quieter screw compressor was an easy replacement — just drop it in and turn it on! It purred like a kitten. […]
How important is it to vent the compressor intake and exhaust to outside?
Question: In a manufacturing facility, and especially with a VFD (which I understand likes cleaner air), how important is it to vent the intake and exhaust of the compressor to outside? I can’t see air up on the roof being much cooler than inside the plant in the hot summer and in the winter you would […]
Can spare dryers be energy wasters?
Often, for extra reliability, a main and spare compressor exist in a compressor room. The spare may be an old unit that has recently been replaced, turned off, but waiting to be fired up if the new compressor shuts down or is taken out of service for maintenance. This spare compressor consumes no power if […]
Compressed air fail: Dryer surprise
By Ron Marshall A metal products manufacturer installed a desiccant dryer about 10 years ago to protect a special laser costing almost $1 million. The dryer worked perfectly, or so it seemed — it could be heard blowing off and switching sides as dual tower heatless desiccant dryers do. As part of a compressed air […]
How do you check the health of your compressed air system?
With a little bit of imagination, we can relate a compressed air system to the circulatory system of a human body. We have the heart of the system, the air compressors, pumping out the life blood of the plant through the piping system, something we might relate to veins and arteries A healthy system is […]