An ASHRAE 90.1 discussion and the Women in Compressed Air Networking Breakfast helped fill the day with purpose
Day 2 of the Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference began with high-level learning sessions. For some attendees, the most important session of the conference was the expert panel on designing compressed air systems compliant with the ASHRAE 90.1 standard, which now includes compressed air systems.
One attendee from Virginia posed the question on many people’s minds when he said considering the ASHRAE 90.1 standard isn’t a federal regulation, “Does this mean squat?” Yes, it definitely matters, panelists from Kaeser Compressors, Compression Engineering Corporation and CS Instruments assured him. The standard is currently a requirement in at least two states as well as for the federal government. More states will certainly make it a requirement.
“We’re trying to help you avoid a train wreck with your code compliance,” said Tim Dugan, PE, President, Compression Engineering Corporation.
Tim Dugan, PE presenting at the ASHRAE 90.1 standard expert panel.
For more on the ASHRAE 90.1 standard, see our May feature, “ASHRAE 90.1 Brings New Requirements to Compressed Air System Design.”
Women’s Breakfast Delivers Learning, Support and Fellowship
The Women in Compressed Air, Vacuum & Cooling Networking Group held its 2nd annual in-person meeting with a catered breakfast sponsored by Ingersoll Rand and Hitachi Global Air Power. Women of all job roles in the compressed air, industrial vacuum and cooling industries gathered to make connections, share stories and support one another.
Women in the compressed air, vacuum and cooling industries gathered for the annual in-person meeting of the WCVC Networking Group.
Keynote speaker Charlene Vance, APU General Manager, Thermo King, opened up about her experiences during her presentation “Purpose, Passion, Focus: Winning for You and Your Team,” and encouraged the group to work toward their goals and win their personal championships.
Cooling Towers, Compressed Air Systems, Roller Coasters!
Learning continued with plenary session presentations on cooling tower specification, reducing greenhouse gas and carbon emissions and compressed air in the amusement park industry. The Plenary Session was available to all EXPO and conference attendees.
Compressed air is everywhere, attendees learned, including their favorite amusement park. Sean Ferris, Senior Manager Ride/Show – Facility Interface, Universal Creative, noted his company’s Orlando, FL, parks use over 200 air compressors to power roller coasters, water rides, animated figures, show effects and more. Ferris is now working on Universal’s upcoming Epic Universe theme park.
Sean Ferris, presenting “Compressed Air Systems in the Amusement Park Industry – The Importance of Air Quality.”
Ferris shared examples of compressed air challenges at the parks to demonstrate the need for regular air testing, permanent solutions and holding the right people accountable for system maintenance.
“Our customers expect good quality. Say we have a broader issue in one of our air lines: We want to be able to establish where it is to make a fix as soon as possible,” Ferris said.
Compressed Air Is a Food Ingredient, So Keep it Safe
Leaders from Ingersoll Rand, Grab Food Safety Consulting, SUTO iTEC, MarTech Systems and Trace Analytics held a session on verifying food-safe compressed air and cooling systems.
Presenter Nikki Smith, Air Quality Leader, Trace Analytics, said “Just about every standard is going to see a need to do some sort of risk analysis or hazard analysis. There's a lot of different words used, but it all points back to the manufacturer needing to assess their own risk for their own products.”
Food-safe compressed air risk assessments start with the basics, including identifying hazards, establishing critical control points and taking preventive measures. However, they then go a step further in understanding what the limits are and what risk is actually being posed.
More Attendees Means More Chances at Treasure
Conference attendees once again explored the bustling EXPO floor, visiting booths and meeting with exhibitors to earn stamps on their raffle cards for the Daily EXPO \$1,000 Energy Treasure Hunt Raffle.
ADG Concepts sent several employees to the conference, and the move paid off when two won prizes. Wednesday winners included Dylon Pogue, ADG Concepts (\$500), Ivan Suslaev, ADG Concepts (\$250) and Oscar G. Torres, Baxter Healthcare (\$250).
Two members of the ADG Concepts team brought home prizes.
Manufacturing Plants Shop the EXPO
As with Day 1, Day 2 of the EXPO saw several of the country’s largest manufacturing plants touring booths to help plan their next compressed air system.
The EXPO floor was the center of activity.
“We’ve talked to Bobcat, Kaeser, Ace Compressor. We’ve talked to a lot of different vendors on instrumentation,” said Chris Rohman, Utilities Building Maintenance Tech, Bio Products, Archer Daniels Midland Company. “We look forward to going back and getting a few more contacts.”
“We’re getting connections, people who can do air audits and that type of thing,” said Bill Mellott, Principal Project Electrical Engineer, Ball Corporation. “We are definitely in the market to purchase some things and we’re looking for opportunities.”
The Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference concluded Thursday afternoon at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. This year’s conference set a record for both manufacturing plants and overall attendees.
Read Day 1 Highlights here: https://www.airbestpractices.com/technology/air-compressors/best-practices-2024-expo-conference-day-1-highlights.
