Industrial Utility Efficiency

Instrumentation

Pressure Dew Point Monitoring: The Key to ISO 8573-1 Compliance

By Simon Gleissner, Managing Director, SUTO iTEC

The ISO 8573-1 standard defines clear limits for various compressed air quality parameters. This helps users classify their systems consistently, compare results across applications and set the right requirements for specific processes. This article explains the key points of the ISO 8573 standard and guides you through the correct way to measure and classify pressure dew point for compliance.

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Using KPI’s for Peak Efficiency

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge®

For many industrial sites the only indicator of compressed air performance is the big old pressure gauge right outside the maintenance manager’s office. Over the years someone may have penciled a red line on the gauge, and if the pressure falls below the line the manager will start shouting. This is an example of the saying “ What gets measured, gets managed”, definitely the plant pressure in a facility is a very important indicator of adequate compressed air system operation, but is it the only parameter that needs to be monitored? This article explores some important compressed air KPI’s and provides some examples of how they can be collected and used.
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Stop Operating Blind – Use a Flowmeter

By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge®

To gain about one horsepower of mechanical energy from a compressed air powered motor it costs seven times as much at the input of the air compressor. And surprisingly between 20 and 30 percent of this valuable power is lost even before it gets to the end use. Further to this another 10 percent is lost to artificial demand caused by higher than required pressure, and to top that all off, another 10 percent is wasted by equipment that is either inappropriately supplied with compressed air or left to consume air even when the associated production machine has been turned off.  
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Measuring Energy Savings at Verallia

By Rod Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Gregory Rhames, Asset Reliability Manager/Energy Manager at Verallia. As background, Verallia is the packaging division of Saint-Gobain. Verallia employs 15,500 people globally and makes about 25 billion glass bottles and jars each year. We employ 350 people at Madera where we produce about 1 million wine, champagne and sake bottles per day.
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BEKO Hydrocarbon Removal and Measurement Systems

Compressed Air Best Practices® interviewed Tilo Fruth, President, of BEKO Technologies Corporation.

Production and quality engineers in industries like the food & beverage, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and chemical sectors have established internal specifications for oil-free compressed air. The product spoilage and safety issues at risk make oil-free compressed air an absolute necessity in certain processes.
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Concentrating on Attainable Efficiency Gains

By Kirk Edwards, Exair Corporation

Many times, the hierarchy of making improvements in your compressed air system will begin with the larger equipment. If your compressor is outdated, inefficient or sized improperly for your plant, the cost of replacing it may scare you away from proceeding down the efficiency path. It is also typical to first concentrate on updating the controls of a compressor to best match peak demands and lulls in the need for air and, while this is a very good step to take in your overall plan of attack, it can also burden your budget.  
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Talking Dewpoint

Compressed Air Best Practices® discussed dewpoint with Steve Jiroutek (Application Engineer) of Vaisala Inc.

Dewpoint is defined as the temperature to which a gas (e.g. air) must be cooled, at constant pressure, for water vapor to begin to condense to liquid water. In other words, when the dewpoint temperature has been reached, the gas is fully saturated with water vapor.
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Air Storage Receiver Helps Dense-Phase System

By Brent Ehrlich

Sitting on his desk the day Brian began his new job as Plant Engineer for Carbo Ceramics’ McIntyre, GA facility was a proposal to purchase a new 150 HP air compressor as a backup machine. The facility already had six of these machines and, yes, all six ran almost continuously.
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Ultrasound Leak Tests on Heat Exchangers

By: Alan S. Bandes Vice President, UE Systems, Inc.

The secret to success is to understand the nature of what type of leak produces a detectible ultrasound and what does not, along with the techniques that can be used for effective leak identification.
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Troubleshooting Compressed Air Systems

By Chris Rayburn, Marketing Manager, Fluke Corporation

Most facilities don’t prioritize the cost of operating compressed air systems—they just want to get the job done. A recent market study1 found that only 17 percent of compressed air users valued efficiency as a compressed air system management goal. Nine percent were concerned with containing energy costs. Seventy one percent simply wanted to deliver a consistent, reliable air supply.  
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Bottling System Air Recovery at NPE 2009

Compressed Air Best Practices

The NPE2009 international plastics showcase was held June 22-26 in Chicago’s McCormick Place. While attendance was down from NPE2006, the preliminary total of visitor registrations numbered 44,000. Sustainability and energy efficiency was a prominent topic in the booths of exhibitors. Manufacturers of compressed air and injection molding equipment had many developments with Sustainability to show the visitors to NPE2009.
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