Industrial Utility Efficiency

Compressor Controls

Egger Modernizes Its Compressed Air System for the ESG Era

By Graham Coats, Director of Strategic Product and Business Development, CMC

Wood-based materials manufacturing plant transformed its compressed air system from an invisible utility into a data-driven energy asset by deploying a modern, multi-zone monitoring and control platform. The upgrade delivered real-time transparency, ISO 50001- and ESG-ready reporting, and verified annual savings of 1.43 GWh, \$166,500 and 889 tons of CO2.

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Tier 1 Automotive Plant Saves $218,000 in Energy Costs

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

A Tier 1 automotive plant was spending \$364,259 annually on electricity to operate their compressed air system. This figure was expected to increase as electric rates were forecasted to rise from their current average of 7.16 cents per kWh. Our firm, Air Power USA, conducted a full supply and demand-side compressed air system assessment. The set of projects recommended by the assessment, would reduce these energy costs by \$218,670 or 60%.
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VSD Compressor Control

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge©, Edits by Bill Scales

“Compressed air systems with multiple compressors operating to supply demand requirements present unique challenges in compressed air system control schemes.”
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Three Demand-Side Projects at a Pharmaceutical Plant

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

This pharmaceutical plant spends \$265,100 annually on energy to operate the compressed air system at their facility. This figure will increase as electric rates are projected to be raised from their current average of 7.7 cents /kWh. The set of projects identified in the compressed air system assessment could reduce these energy costs by \$139,300 per year (52%).
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Real-World $mart Sequencer® Controls

By Rod Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices®

The \$mart Sequencer® is an air compressor control system designed to reduce a plant’s energy costs by continuously monitoring system demand and automatically selecting the most energy efficient combination of available air compressors.
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Compressed Air Controls

Excerpted and submitted by Ron Marshall and Bill Scales for the Compressed Air Challenge®

Compressed air system controls match the compressed air supply with system demand and are one of the most important determinants of overall system energy efficiency. This article discusses both individual compressor control and overall system control of plants with multiple compressors. Proper control is essential to efficient system operation and high performance.  
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Compressor Sequencer Problems and Solutions

Tim Dugan, P.E., President, Compression Engineering Corporation

The goals of this article are to show why sequencers often have problems, and to demonstrate how avoid problems by proper system integration and controls design.
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Starting a Long Distance Relationship with Your Compressed Air System

By: James Green, Product Marketing Manager and Jay Johnson, Portfolio Manager for Controls & Automation , Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies

When was the last time you visited your compressor room? A week ago? Several weeks ago? If you are like many, you went in for the last scheduled maintenance interval and have rarely been back since. Air compressors, dryers and other air system components have become more reliable and self sustaining from a maintenance standpoint with each generation, requiring less and less human intervention.
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Demand Versus Supply, Parts l and ll

By Scot Foss, Air’s a Gas Inc.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the cause and effect that can occur when you reduce demand with no supply changes and the alternative which will produce positive, long term results which you can take to the bank.
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Compressed Air Auditing 101

By Bob Baker, Sales & Marketing Training Manager, Atlas Copco Compressors

Since the cost of energy has dramatically increased during the past few years, it seems that energy audit companies have opened shop on more city street corners than coffee shops in Seattle.  In addition to the mass numbers and abundant varieties of these energy savings promoters, there have been an equal number of energy audit articles written for the engineering magazines.  
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Hospital Air System Savings

By Ron Marshall CET, CIM, for the Compressed Air Challenge®. Edited by Jan Zuercher and David Booth

Large hospitals often use compressed air for important operational related end uses. The systems that produce this air need to supply clean and dry compressed air with a high level of reliability. These systems are not immune to efficiency problems as is the case for any compressed air system.
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