• 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
    • Electro-Pneumatic Regulator & Flow Controller Design
    • Hydraulic Cylinders
    • Hydraulic Filtration
    • Hydraulic Hose Assembly
    • Hydraulic Pumps
    • Pneumatic Actuators
    • Pressure Gauges
  • Videos
You are here: Home / Air Preparation / Compressed air fail: Wasted heat

Compressed air fail: Wasted heat

February 6, 2015 By Paul Heney 1 Comment

Share

PrintBy Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge

An automotive parts manufacturer had an audit done on their compressed air system. The auditor placed data loggers on their system and did careful site observations of conditions in the compressor room and the plant.

The processing equipment in the plant created a very dusty environment, so much so the dust would clog the air compressor intake filter and coolers if allowed into the compressor room. As a result, the compressor room was carefully sealed off from the plant and used 100% outside air for compressor cooling.

The plant is located in a part of the continent that reaches very cold temperatures in winter and requires heating 6 months of the year. Because the intake air was so cold, something had to be done to prevent the air compressors from freezing up in colder temperatures.

Because the room had a 20 kW electric heater, the unit temperature was turned up and the fan directed towards the compressors. Even with this change, the temperatures in the room reached very low temperatures. The cost of operation for this heater was equivalent to about $7,000 per year at 10 cents per kWh.

The auditor did his calculations and found that the air compressors were consuming an average of about 30 kW—about 24 of which was recoverable to building heat. The auditor noticed that the compressor ducting was directing the heat outdoors rather than into the room.

A heating contractor was hired to change the ducting to direct some compressor heat into the room to temper the cold inlet air. An electronically controlled mixing damper system was installed to maintain constant temperature without having to manually adjust the dampers. This heat is free to use and was more than enough to shut down the electric heater, saving significant electrical costs!

Learn more about heat recovery in our next Compressed Air Challenge seminar in your area. Visit www.compressedairchallenge.org for more information.

Filed Under: Air Preparation, Blog, Featured

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Savings Potential as Far as Your Eye Can See | says:
    June 3, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    […] Marshall recently posted an article on PneumaticTips.com about an automotive parts manufacturer that was able to reap the benefits of annual electrical […]

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