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 one that operates efficiently, with an efficient heart and a system free of high pressure, blockages, leakage.
We all know the negative effects of high blood pressure, heart attack, or aneurism, something that can cause dire consequences to our well-being. Similar to this is the effect of such things on our compressed air system.
High pressure stresses the system air compressors and piping systems, increasing energy costs, overloading motors, and causing increased wasted flow through leakage. Compressor failure, or lack of capacity, can reduce pressure, causing our plant machines to grind to a halt, killing our productivity. Pipeline restrictions and leakage lead to starving our critical plant components of much needed compressed air power, causing paralysis of our production output.
The key to a reliable and efficient system is to keep it healthy by ensuring compressed air production equipment is well maintained and running in a trouble free manner. Piping system and filters should be designed to ensure restrictions are kept to a minimum, and that the piping sizes are large enough to cause minimal pressure loss, at the heart of the system, and that they reduce appropriately as the compressed air enters the plant. And it is important to ensure waste and leakage is kept to a minimum by addressing problems as they come up, just as you would with your own human health.
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