Industrial Utility Efficiency

Technology

ASHRAE 90.1 Brings New Requirements to Compressed Air System Design

By Troy Dreier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Word is beginning to filter out about the 2022 changes to the ASHRAE 90.1 energy efficiency standard, and the changes it promises to bring to how compressed air systems are specified, commissioned and maintained. More specifically, the industry is learning about section 10.4.6 of 90.1, which is the first time the standard has included a section on compressed air. 

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The Titus Company Customizes Nitrogen Generation and Petrochemical Plant Applications

By Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

In our discussions with Stephen Titus and James Bowers, National Sales Manager of Titus Air Systems, we talked about several examples of how The Titus Company provided custom-engineered solutions to various customers. The diversity and complexity of these jobs exemplify how The Titus Company has grown from a small distributorship operating out of a townhome to a thriving compressed air and gas solutions provider capable of tackling highly nuanced applications.
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Centrifugal Air Compressor Basics: Deciphering Manufacturer Performance Curves

By Hank van Ormer, APenergy

In general, this article focuses on the operating principles of centrifugal air compressors, discussing them in simple terms to provide an understanding of application limitations and opportunities. One primary goal is to define often-confusing terminology, such as “rise to surge,” stonewall and surge,” “mass flow,” and “dynamic compression.” This article is not intended to be an engineering discussion of the various types and designs of centrifugal and other air compressors, but rather, a guideline for deciphering operating curves and understanding general performance.
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From Dehumidification to Siloxane: Parker Biogas Purification - The Importance of Removing Contaminants from Biogas

By Parker Hiross Zander Filtration Division

Biogas is an extremely valuable energy source. Originating from biomass, sewage, plants and landfill sites, it is gaining ever-increasing worldwide recognition as a premium source of renewable energy. It is also making a major contribution to the global energy supply mix by replacing existing fossil-fuel sources such as coal, oil and conventional natural gas.
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Go with the Flow: How Flow Meters Can Help Improve Plant Efficiency

By Scott A. Williams, Contributing Editor

Plug an electrical device into an outlet. Does it work? Great! For some people that’s all that matters. When it comes to compressed air, many manufacturing plants operate the same way. As long as there is enough air, that’s all that matters. But what if cost control also matters to your company? Smart compressed air users may already know how much air they’re producing, but they also want to know how much air they’re using—and whether they’re using it productively. To find out, they’re taking accurate, real-time measurements using flow meters.  
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11 Key Considerations For Selecting a PET Air Compressor System

By Pete Rhoten

In 1979 I received a call from a business friend that had just purchased his first single-stage base cup blow machine. He was surprised to find out that he actually needed something more than 100 psi of plant air to blow bottles. This was my entry into engineering a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) compressor system. Since then, I have engineered and delivered over 350 systems—from Tobago to Tibet—and many locations in between.
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Acrylon Plastics Optimizes Compressed Air Supply

By Ron Marshall for Compressed Air Challenge®

Acrylon Plastics located in Winkler, Manitoba, Canada manufactures an extensive variety of custom plastic parts for a wide range of end use applications. Years ago changes to their production volumes increased the compressed air flows to above what their compressed air system could deliver. As a result the plant pressure would fall to low levels during production peak demands, which negatively affected sensitive compressed air powered machines. In addition to this during light plant loading conditions the air compressors would run inefficiently. Plant personnel tried a variety of strategies to deal with the plant peaks, with the most efficient solution coming as a result of installing VSD style compressors and pressure/flow control.
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Sidel and Krones Blow Molders Stretch Conservation Potential

By Neal Lorenzi, Contributing Editor

The beverage industry has been using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 2-liter plastic bottles primarily for packaging carbonated soft drinks since the 1970s. As that market has grown to encompass bottled drinking water, stretch blow-molding machines continue to produce those plastic bottles. The concept is simple: A pre-form plug is inserted into the blow molding machine heated, and compressed air is injected, “blowing” into the pre-form to create the bottle.
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Sullair Celebrates 50 Years of Air Compressor Excellence

By Neal Lorenzi

A culture change is in the air at Sullair, a pioneer in air compressor technology, as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary. A global manufacturer of rotary screw air compressors used to power air-driven industrial equipment and tools used in manufacturing as well as the energy, mining and chemicals industries, Sullair operates five manufacturing facilities worldwide.
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Special Engineering Meets Speed at Parker's Finite Airtek Filtration Division (FAF)

Compressed Air Best Practices® spoke with Ted Silva (Division Sales & Marketing Manager), Allan Hoerner (Division Product Manager), Ron Nelson (Division Lean Manager), Marvin Walsh (Division Quality Manager) from Parker Hannifin’s Finite Airtek Filtration Division (FAF).

This is a 130,000 square foot manufacturing, warehousing, application engineering, new product development and customer service center all dedicated to Parker compressed air treatment and chiller technologies. We have 70,000 square feet dedicated to manufacturing, 30,000 square feet to warehousing and shipping, and 30,000 square feet for customer service and application engineering.
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Quality Compressed Air Services Is True to Its Name

By Neal Lorenzi

QCAS provides service, sales, parts and rental solutions for plant air systems, medical air systems, compressed air treatment and nitrogen generating systems. The company prides itself on being client-focused with a commitment to respond to service needs 24/7. “Our relationship with clients involves more than us just selling equipment, parts and maintenance. We provide system auditing, training, testing and information about innovations in our industry,” says Michael McCulley, president.
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Air Compressors

Why a Centrifugal Air Compressor May Be the Better Choice
When selecting an air compressor for your manufacturing operation, the common choice is the
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Air Treatment/N2

Selecting a Reliable and Efficient Nitrogen Generation System
PSA nitrogen generators are fed compressed air which goes to two vessels alternately. One vessel
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Blowers

Fayetteville Wastewater Treatment Plant Lowers Operational Costs, Increases Efficiencies
The plant upgrades, in combination with a progressive management strategy, allows the plant to
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Compressor Controls

Hitting the Gas on Efficient Compressed Air Delivery at Hitachi Astemo
Hitachi Astemo’s efficiency gains will turn into significant cost savings. In this article we
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Instrumentation

Improve Process Efficiency and Reduce Energy Use with Compressed Air Monitoring
Without compressed air monitoring, up to 30% of the compressed air generated goes to waste. This
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Pneumatics

Improving the Efficiency of Pumping Systems through Pump System Optimization
The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2002 Motor Market Assessment established that pumping systems offer
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Vacuum

Advanced Vacuum Generation Reduces Maintenance
Industrial ceramics have been produced in Hermsdorf, near Jena, since 1890. In the past, high-
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Cooling Systems

The AIM Act’s Impact on HFC Gases
The AIM (American Innovation and Manufacturing) Act was finalized by the US government at the end
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