• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Pneumatic Tips

Tips, Trends, Resources, News and Information

  • Pneumatics Blog
  • Industry News
  • Air Preparation
  • Engineering Basics
  • Equipment
    • Actuators
    • Cylinders
    • Fittings
    • Gears
    • Grippers
    • Pumps
    • Air Compressors
    • Tubing
    • Vacuums
    • Valves
  • Pressure Sensing
  • Design Guides
    • Design Guide Library
    • Hydraulic Valves
    • Electro-Pneumatic Regulators
    • Hydraulic Cylinders
    • Hydraulic Hose Assembly
    • Hydraulic Pumps
    • Pneumatic Actuators
  • Videos
You are here: Home / Air Preparation / Compressed air fail: Startling discovery

Compressed air fail: Startling discovery

August 16, 2021 By Paul Heney Leave a Comment

Share

Here is a question from a past (and possibly future) client of a compressed air auditor.

Fig. 1: These very expensive lubricant free machines were installed to solve an air pressure problem due to overloading of the previous compressors. One or more of these may not have been needed.

Q: I managed to get a co-op student to help with compressed air leaks management/audit for the summer and we were also lucky to have had an opportunity to do the test you recommended a couple of years ago with full plant down.

Unfortunately, test results were quite disturbing in terms of how much flow we measured when every single machine and process was down — it turned out that one full air compressor is working just for leaks/non-process related air consumption.

Given this discovery I was wondering if you could weigh in on that and see if this could warrant a formal compressed air audit?

A: Congratulations on measuring your non-productive flow. Many plants never do this, so what you have done is out of ordinary. Considering that your compressors are 350 hp in size, produce 1,500 cfm, and consume 288 kW when fully loaded, the non-productive load is costing you an estimated 2.3 million kW hours of electricity consumption. This is worth about $230,000 per year in electricity costs.

Considering that detailed compressed air assessments usually find from 30% to 50% savings, I would suspect it would be very economical to have one conducted — especially since the power utility will support such a study with a funding grant.

You might also consider installing permanent flow meters and energy monitors on all your compressors, so you can evaluate your system efficiency and off hours load in the future without having to hire anyone or do any special study.

A side note: Even if you have a small system, it usually pays if you measure your system, as many surprises can await!

 

You may also like:


  • Compressed air fail: Locked on

  • Compressed air fail: Compressor response

  • Compressed air fail: Dryer dewpoint controls

  • Why are compressed air thermal readings important?

Filed Under: Air Preparation

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Fluid Power World Digital Edition

Fluid Power World Digital EditionBrowse the most current issue of Fluid Power World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading design engineering magazine today.

RSS Featured White Papers

  • eBook: Practical Guide to Pneumatics
  • Saving energy and service cost with electric linear systems
  • White Paper-How to Design Efficient Pneumatic Systems!
Subscribe Today
Hose Assembly Tips

Follow Paul on Twitter

Tweets by @DW_Editor

Follow Mary on Twitter

Tweets by @DW_MaryGannon

Footer

Pneumatic Tips

Fluid Power World Network

  • Fluid Power World
  • Hose Assembly Tips
  • Mobile Hydraulic Tips
  • Sealing and Contamination Tips
  • Fluid Power Distributor Lookup

PNEUMATIC TIPS

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • About us
Follow us on Twitter  Add us on Facebook  Follow us on LinkedIn  Follow us on YouTube  Follow us on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy