System Assessments

The Compressed Air Challenge® (CAC) is a voluntary collaboration of industrial users; manufacturers, distributors and their associations; consultants; state research and development agencies; energy efficiency organizations; and utilities. This group has one purpose in mind - helping you enjoy the benefits of improved performance of your compressed air system. The mission of the Compressed Air Challenge (CAC) is to provide resources that educate industrial users about optimizing their compressed air systems.

This refinery currently spends \$735,757 annually on the electricity required to operate the compressed air system at its plant. The group of projects recommended in the system assessment will reduce these energy costs by an estimated \$364,211 (49% of current use). Estimated costs for completing the recommended projects total \$435,800. This figure represents a simple payback period of 14.4 months. The firm also reduced compressed air demand by 732 scfm allowing them to save \$441,544 by down-sizing the back-up rental diesel air compressors.

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Mr. John Malinowski, Senior Product Manager-AC Motors, Baldor Electric Company.

This factory currently spends \$735,757 annually on the electricity required to operate the compressed air system at its plant. The group of projects recommended in the system assessment will reduce these energy costs by an estimated \$364,211 (49% of current use). Estimated costs for completing the recommended projects total \$435,800. This figure represents a simple payback period of 14.4 months.

Compressed Air Best Practices spoke with the Parker PDF (Purification, Dehydration, and Filtration) Division.

Compressed air leaks - every system has them.  Is a leak identification and control program economically rewarding and/or necessary? Upper management sometimes doesn’t recognize the true cost of not repairing air leaks.  Knowing the high cost of compressed air, why wouldn’t every facility with a compressed air piping system implement a continuous leak identification and repair program?

We are finding significant changes in industry with regards to which managers are involved with our discussions.

Productivity and profits are very directly linked to the compressed air system, as is waste elimination. High performance central compressed air management systems can respond quickly to even extreme system fluctuations, improving productivity and minimizing energy waste.  This is accomplished with modern software systems analyzing and processing appropriate data and triggering proactive actions - before the dynamics effect the compressed air production system.

Easy-to-implement master control and monitoring systems provide crucial system information including the key performance indicators required to manage air compressors and their associated energy costs.

In today’s world, where “green” is “gold”, the efficient operation of multiple air compressors has taken on a new sense of urgency. In an era where giant manufacturing campuses with huge compressed air systems are fast disappearing, the emphasis shifts now to improving the efficiency of the higher numbers of installed small and medium size air compressors.