Industrial Utility Efficiency
The current cost to operate the compressed air system is \$139,100 annually, and the proposed measures will reduce it by \$50,700 annually. The proposed cost to complete the measures is $47,600 providing a simple payback of 11 months. The cost included in the Action Plan includes engineering, project assistance, services to maintain the gains, and a 10% contingency.
Compressed air optimization measures adopted by PTMSB have reduced the consumption of compressed air by 31 percent resulting in savings of about 3,761,000 kWh per year in energy consumption. The monetary savings are MYR 1,090,627 per year (\$255,000 USD). The CO2 reduction is estimated at 2,735 ton per year.
As a result of compressed air awareness training and a focus on energy management, two facilities in different parts of the world have reduced their compressed air demand substantially by removing vortex style cabinet coolers from some of their electrical panels and reworking the cooling systems. These facilities were previously unaware of the high cost of compressed air and how much could be saved if other methods of cooling were used. This article describes some of their efforts in demand reduction.
In aerospace manufacturing, tiny details matter most. For instance, if proper torque is not applied to the screws and bolts fastening an aircraft fuselage, catastrophic failures can result. Compressed air is used to power the tools needed to apply that torque, making the compressed air system a critical part of the facility, though it largely stays behind the scene.
A trio of stationary compressors produce 630,000 m3/hr of air for the oxygen plant at Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic. The oxygen is used by its autoclave processing facility to treat roughly 24,000 tons per day of refractory ore for the 60/40 joint venture between Barrick and Goldcorp Inc., operated by Barrick as Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation.
Insufficient focus at the design phase will kill a project. In one aerospace project, insufficient detail was paid to the physical size of the air compressor. The compressor didn’t fit in the allocated space—requiring the extension of the building, and costing tens of thousands of unbudgeted dollars. That had a significant, negative impact on the project return.
Imagine a dairy farm. Do pictures of idyllic pastures populated by grazing, happy cows come to mind? What about the not-so-idyllic image of farmers milking cows by hand? Modern dairy farms work a little differently. Darigold, a farmer-owned dairy co-op located in the Pacific Northwest, has the happy cows, but production is more sophisticated. The company has eleven state-of-the-art production facilities churning out high-quality dairy products at mind-boggling rates. Milk, for instance, is produced to the tune of 2.6 million gallons per day. To maintain efficient production at scale, Darigold also has an innovative energy management program in place.
To produce healthy, high-quality cooking oil, this food processing company crushes and processes oil seeds shipped in from local farms. The oil produced is thought to be the healthiest cooking oil available, because it is low in saturated fat, high in monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), like omega-3 fatty acids. To increase the energy efficiency of its oil seed crushing and processing facility, the company optimized its compressed air system by combining three separate systems into one. Some end-use optimization was done to correct low pressure, particularly caused by some critical high-flow, short-duration events.
According to the Compressed Air and Gas Institute (CAGI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the three major contaminants in compressed air are solid particles, water, and oil. CAGI promotes proper use of air compressors with various educational tools, while ISO 8573 is directed at the very specific areas of compressed air purity and test methods, which this article will address. Microorganisms are also considered a major contaminant by CAGI, but will not be discussed in this article.
In the food and beverage industry, the moment a product leaves the production line, the clock starts ticking down to when that product will no longer be viable for sale or consumption. To combat the clock, modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) techniques are used to help maintain product freshness and increase shelf life. Nitrogen is the most cost effective, efficient and widely used industry solution for a company’s packaging needs—whether it is for manufacturing cheese, coffee, dried snack foods, or fresh and ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. MAP also helps to decrease chances of contamination or spoiling, keeping products on the market for longer and ultimately increasing the reach of distribution.
Health and safety issues are a major concern in the food industry. Not only can contaminated food products endanger consumers, but they also can cause significant damage to a company’s reputation and bottom line. Contamination can come from many sources—industrial lubricants among them. With the abundance of lubricated machinery used in the food industry, lubricant dripping from a chain or escaping through a leak in a component can prove catastrophic. Even with the most prudent maintenance and operating procedures, along with a strict HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) plan, contamination may still occur.
