Industrial Utility Efficiency

System Assessments

Given that compressed air leak management programs are meant to save energy, reduce CO2 emissions, and generate ROI, DENSO’s Maryville, Tennessee, manufacturing facility can definitively say it has scored a trifecta when it comes to results – and reaped benefits beyond hard numbers alone.

Low-Pressure Air Compressors Deliver Savings for Lafarge Cement Distribution

The Lafarge Cement Distribution terminal located in Winnipeg, Canada has significantly reduced the site electrical demand and energy charges by changing the way they transport their cement.  Two new low-pressure rotary screw air compressors have replaced two large high-pressure air compressors that previously powered their dense phase transport system.  The resulting power reduction has saved the company 46 percent in transport operating costs.

Plastic Extruder Optimizes Blow-Offs for Cooling

At a Midwest window manufacturing plant, the cooling process for the plastic frame pieces, after leaving the extruder, was critical to process productivity and quality. Too much cooling air (or not enough cooling air) would generate scrap and rejected product. The plants’ 17 extruders and 55 separate blow-offs in these lines had similar cooling stations at the cooling boxes. They consisted of about three hoses at each exit frame angled down to the extruded piece moving past it. The compressed air flow was controlled by a manual control valve set by an operator. The operator used his experience to control the flow delivered and thereby control the product quality.

Australian Company Focuses on Compressed Air Waste & Quality

A small Australian company, Basil V.R. Greatrex (BVRG), is shaking up the compressed air industry in Australia. While other companies focus on the sale of more and bigger compressed air production equipment, BVRG is helping customers reduce their compressed air system size and lower system flow by attacking waste, inappropriate use, and at the same time improving air quality.

Compressed Air System Commissioning Part 2: Measurement and Data Plots

Facility managers, how would you like the peace of mind from knowing the system you had installed or modified is thoroughly tested - to the same degree as a new production line?  How would you like to be confident that the money you spent is still paying back benefits, year after year? 

Poultry Plant Reduces Compressed Air Use by 44%

A major poultry processor and packager spends an estimated \$96,374 annually on energy to operate the compressed air system at its plant located in a southern U.S. state.  The current average electric rate, at this plant, is 8 cents per kWh.

Compressed Air System Commissioning Part 1: Why do it?

“Retro-Commissioning” (ReCX) of compressed air systems has become a trendy activity with many utility demand-side-management programs emerging in the last 5-10 years.  This is intended to be the process of “tuning up” a compressed air system, getting low cost savings from mostly adjustments and repairs.  The term was borrowed from the building/HVAC industry, where it means to get a system operating as it was originally “commissioned”. 

Kaeser’s Uniform Focus on System Specific Power Benefits UniFirst

UniFirst is one of North America’s largest workwear and textile service companies. They outfit nearly two million workers in clean uniforms and protective clothing each workday. Founded in an eight-stall garage in 1936, the Company has grown to 240 customer servicing locations throughout the U.S. and Canada servicing 300,000 business customer locations. The subject of this article is an energy-saving Air Demand Analysis (ADA), conducted by Kaeser Compressors, at UniFirst’s centralized 320,000 square foot hub Distribution Center located in Owensboro, Kentucky.

CAC Training Leads to Savings at Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Canada

MHPSC Canada is a large facility specializing in machining and manufacturing large pieces for power generation (gas turbines, large hydro, wind) and deep sea oil and gas operations.  Smaller machining and manufacturing are also done in the facility, as well as welding and piping fabrication. MHPSC purchased flow meters for two systems, the Large and Small Machine Shops, to measure the total compressed air production.  Since the two systems have piping that is physically close together, it was felt that there was an opportunity to tie the two systems together to save energy.  The readings showed that the compressed air demand was indeed low enough in the two systems to enable a 100 hp VFD compressor to feed the combined systems.

Compressed Air System Costs Meet the Real World

There is an often-quoted ratio of 7.5 hp input to one horsepower output used to illustrate the inefficiency of the energy transfer in compressed air systems.  What this is saying is that you receive the benefit of only 13 percent of the energy you put into your air compressors as mechanical output at the shaft of a typical compressed air powered tool. While this ratio is generally true for compressed air system awareness discussion purposes, you should understand that in the real world compressed air efficiency is usually much lower.

Four Principles for Sustaining Energy Savings

When Compressed Air Consultants was starting, in 2003, we were approached by a company experiencing significant problems with their compressed air system.  They had compressed air pressure problems causing production interruptions.  They had moisture issues causing all kinds of havoc throughout the facility and appeared to be using far too many air compressors for what they wanted to accomplish. 

Compressor Controls

As part of its ongoing corporate initiative to find ways to reduce its energy bills, and the costly

Piping Storage

Blowing a jet of compressed air at an object is a common but “poor” use of compressed air. Often

End Uses

In this article, we will provide detail on the characteristics of the baseline system and then

Pressure

During Dealer Week, they needed enough compressed air to power multiple machines at a time all day

Air Treatment/N2

Over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase of manufacturing facilities

Leaks

Given that compressed air leak management programs are meant to save energy, reduce CO2 emissions,

Pneumatics

If there was ever a place where manufacturers can save energy using compressed air and make

Vacuum/Blowers

A ‘Process’ application, is one where it’s all about controlling the contents of a vessel, pipeline