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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Control Strategies for Efficiently Operating Multiple VFD Air Compressors

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

By far the most important development in the world of screw type air compressors has been the introduction of variable speed control using electronic variable frequency drives (VFD’s). Systems that run with at least one air compressor at part load can almost always operate more efficiently if a well-controlled VFD is added to the system. But what if a system has two or more VFD units? This article discusses the challenges in controlling multiple VFD air compressors with some suggested solutions.
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Use Baseline Measurements to Improve Compressed Air Supply Performance

By Tom Taranto, Data Power Services, LLC.

Baseline measurements include flow, power, pressure, production output, and other relevant variables impacting compressed air use. These data evaluate trending averages to develop Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and Energy Performance Indicator (EnPI) parameters and establish base‑year performance. The focus of this article is the application, evaluation, and analysis of baseline measurements to provide information necessary to improve Compressed Air Supply Efficiency.
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A Case for KPI Measurement in Compressed Air Management

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

All industrial facilities use some form of compressed air, and in most, the air compressors consume a significant amount of the total energy bill. A facility with a good energy management system is likely to identify their compressed air system as a significant energy user (SEU). If the facility were using an energy management standard, such as ISO 50001, they would be required to assess and track the energy consumption of all their SEU’s. In the case of the metal processing facility, they were measuring the output of more than 250 devices within the plant, including building heaters, RTU’s, dust collectors, and also tracking the consumption of their electricity, natural gas and water. 
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Leveraging Data Acquisition to Drive Actionable Intelligence

By Sparks Dynamics

In most industrial plants, data is everywhere. It resides in flow through pipes, pressure in tanks, vibration on rotating equipment, temperatures in heat exchangers, and electrical energy power consumption in motors. If we can acquire this data and make sense out of the patterns we can take actions to make our plants more efficient and reliable.
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Controls Upgrade in 10 Plants Saves $977,093 Annually in Energy Costs

By Stephen Parry, Bay Controls

To address a mandate for cutting operations energy usage at facilities by 25 percent without major capital expenditures, a major manufacturing company set its sights on better control of its compressed air systems.  The project, implemented at 10 manufacturing plants over the course of three years, saves the company \$977,093 annually in energy costs – and was completed with zero out-of-pocket costs.
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Assessment Reveals Air Compressor Control Gap Issues

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A food processor in Western Canada hired an auditor to assess the energy efficiency of its compressed air system. The results revealed surprises about the operation of some important elements of the system, and detected that the air compressors were having control gap problems. Additionally, the audit led to initial energy savings of \$20,000 – and identified the potential to achieve overall operational savings of 45%. The following details some of the audit findings and results.
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University of Manitoba Bannatyne Medical Campus Saves 15% Annually in Energy Costs

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

The University of Manitoba Bannatyne Campus, Canada, upgraded its compressed air system to include variable speed drive (VSD) air compressors and the use of internal heat-of-compression (HOC) drying, replacing oil-free air compressors and refrigerated dryers that reached the end of useful life. In doing so, the campus reduced annual energy consumption by 15%, improved the quality of the compressed air to modern day instrument air standards and gained additional compressed-air capacity. The local utility also awarded the medical campus an incentive of \$13,500, offsetting the cost of the initiative.  
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From Wastewater Agitation to Air Compressor Controls-Food Processor Finds 74% Savings Potential

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

As many well know, system measurement is essential to ensuring a compressed air system is running efficiently and effectively, with good air quality and adequate pressure.  This is also well understood by a multi-national food company (name has been withheld to protect the innocent) who started a focused effort to measure and improve their compressed air systems in their many processing plants worldwide. 
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