There has been a radical shift in air compressor technology over the last few years. A lot of the drawbacks of the previous generation of air compressors have been completely eliminated simply by switching to Gardner Denver’s Quantima™ air compressors.
The problems with traditional air compressors are – they are expensive to run, need continual maintenance to ensure you don’t end up with a very costly repair bill and aren’t particularly efficient compared to what they could be.
Gardner Denver is confident that by using their new Quantima™ Air Compressors you can easily slash 25% of the total cost of ownership compared to other air compressors on the market. Quantima™ air compressors use Variable rate technology to match output to requirement minimizing off-load running and have the lowest off-load power, just 2.5% of full load power. (That’s 7kW for a 300kW compressor).
The Quantima™ range has only a single moving part contained in a magnetic field – so it has no wear and tear. There is no gearbox and no contact parts which cause the bulk of the maintenance issues with a conventional compressor.
Simplification means less maintenance and greater reliability. Compare a screw air compressor to a Quantima™ – see how much less can go wrong.
| Component | Quantima™ | Standard Screw Technology |
| Gears | 0 | 7 |
| Bearings | 4 | 19 |
| Seals | 2 | 19 |
| Oil System | 0 | 1 |
Going Green As A Bonus
Using a Quantima™ also means:-
You know that energy is by far the biggest cost associated with your compressed air system. Quantima™ can deliver significant power savings in your compressed air generation, but so too can improvements in your compressed air distribution and use.
A Comprehensive measurement and analysis of your compressed air systems can tell you exactly what compressed air is costing you, and figure out the savings for switching. Contact Pye Barker on 404-363-6000 or email us at sales@pyebarker.com to see just how much you can save on your compressed air system.
If you are looking to replace or install an Oil Free Air Compressor, there are several critical factors that need to be assessed when you are evaluating each model. Not sure if you need an oil free compressor? Learn the differences with our oiled vs. oilless air compressor guide now.
For those in the know about oil free air compressors – you probably know that not all ‘oil free’ air compressors are 100% oil free. Many traditional makes of oil free air compressors are not actually oil free. They often contain some lubricating oil somewhere… Where there is oil – it can end up in your compressed air…
So to be certain to avoid the risk of oil contaminated air:-
You need to be sure your Oil Free Compressor is actually completely oil free.
How’s The Performance?
Partly because of perception there is a belief with some segments of the market that oil free compressors represent a downgrade in performance compared to their traditionally designed counterparts.
Be sure that the oil free air compressor you are looking for will actually meet the performance demands of your air system.
There are now plenty oil-free air compressors on the market that have fantastic performance.
Total Cost Of Ownership
Power consumption of your air compressor is going to be the most expensive part about owning one. The single biggest saving you can make is finding the most efficient Air Compressor that suits your needs.
Always get a compressor that is properly sized for your needs with a variable speed drive. The energy savings from having it tick along at about 70% of load can represent a 25% reduction in your energy bill over a fixed speed compressor.
Ease of Maintenance
Many buyers neglect the true cost of downtime when a machine goes down. If your air system is mission critical, then every moment your compressors are down for maintenance or repair is very expensive.
So be sure that routine maintenance can be carried out efficiently – air compressor units are not all designed equally. What can be a quick job in one can take an hour or longer in another.
If you are looking for an air compressor that is 100% oil free compliant with ISO Class: 0 and is silicone free as well, consider a Gardner Denver EnviroAire Compressor. It offers industry leading performance and has been used successfully in diverse industries such as Food and Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Electronics, Chemical, Textile and Utilities.
The EnviroAire Compressor also has been designed to make servicing as fast and simple as possible.
To get a more information on the Gardner Denver EnviroAire series call 404-363-6000 or email sales@pyebarker.com and we can discuss your needs and provide you with the information you need.
Some of our clients keep their compressed air systems in pristine condition. Others would be horrified if they shut down their workspace for 12 hours and went around listening for leaks. Others could do that and their team would shrug.
I hope you and I are on the same page about this – we can’t really afford to be wasting money in this day and age. Competition is fiercer than ever and every cent wasted in inefficient operation could be the difference between life and death.
Some of our clients waste thousands of dollars a year with an inefficient air system
With that in mind I thought I’d share with you just what can be done to improve your air compressor’s efficiency so that you can free up some more money and either put it in the bank or use it to make your operation even more efficient.
Fix Your Leaks.
Honestly, I can’t stress this enough. If your air system is leaking it is money down the toilet. To make it more real – go to the bank take out $1,000. Go to the nearest bathroom, rip up the money drop it in the bowl and flush.
You wouldn’t do that. So why wouldn’t you fix the leaks?
70% of the total lifetime costs of your air compressor is electricity and in a typical industrial installation up to 30% of the energy consumed is wasted – it sounds expensive and it is.
The cost of a single of your compressed air, that you just spent electricity to produce, can run between $200 and $2,000 per year.
Get Your Drains Right.
If you are still using the older condensate drains – especially the mechanical types – remember they are going to leak. And leaks should be fixed. They often end up discharging a lot of compressed air when they discharge the condensate.
Smarter drains discharge on a timer. They open for 10 seconds every 5 minutes. But the problem is that they do this even if there is no water to discharge (or not enough water to discharge for the full 10 seconds). If there is air coming out, it’s a leak – costing you money.
Compressed air is expensive and both mechanical drains & ‘smart’ drains leak. Think about the number of drains in your system.
It’s time to switch to “zero loss” drains. They only discharge water. The capital cost to put these in is fractional compared to the costs of air leaks.
Eliminate Pressure Drops
Pressure drops are when compressed air flows through a restriction in your system and is the difference in pressure before and after the restriction. They only occur when air is flowing through your system.
You can measure your pressure drops only when your air is flowing; the more air flowing the more obvious the pressure drop. You need a measurement of air pressure at your air compressor and at your end use machine(s).
If you can reduce the pressure drop by one psi, in many systems that could be a savings of $100’s of dollars per year depending on the size and number of air compressors you are running.
If you need some help identifying how you can optimize your compressed air system, give the team at Pye-Barker a call on 404-363-6000 or email sales@pyebarker.com we’ll conduct a no cost no obligation analysis of your system.
While the vast majority of our customers are looking for a direct replacement for an existing blower, or have engineers designing their new system who have made the calculations to determine the flow and pressure/vacuum required so then all we have to do is match the specs… we still get enough instances where a customer/engineering firm will pick a blower from a catalogue, order it and then complain to us about the results.
If you want to avoid being disappointed with a blower unit you’ve purchased then here are the three most common rookie mistakes:
Picking the Wrong Sized Blower
These clients will often select the smallest blower to provide the flow and pressure they require. This is often at the top end of the flow and pressure curves, and not the optimum performance point.
This results in higher than necessary power consumption and a shorter life for the blower. We are all too familiar with trying to save a little bit of money upfront and then it costs us over the long term with higher running costs, higher maintenance costs and lost productivity due to downtime.
We try to select a blower at approximately 85% of its maximum. This is the “sweet spot” for performance, life span of the blower and energy efficiency.
Someone Messed Up Their Calculations
We do see errors in the system calculations that can result in selecting the wrong blower. Failing to account for line losses in piping would be an example.
While there isn’t much you can do to after the horse has bolted except get in a blower that can do the job. You can always double-check your work and also double check your measurements, and also explain to us how you came up with your specifications so we can double check them for you.
When the Blower Doesn’t Do What It Says in the Brochure
We also see that clients forget to adjust their blower specifications for atmospheric conditions (elevation/atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity) when selecting the blower. Remember, the manufacturer’s literature show performance based on standard conditions (14.7 PSIA, 68 deg F, and 36% humidity).
For the record: At elevation you can use a smaller blower; at lower temps you can use a smaller blower; at lower humidity the air the blower has to push against is less dense so it can move more air.
Whatever happens we can help you by double checking your calculations and specifications before we recommend a blower for your system. Call 404-363-6000 or drop us a line at sales@pyebarker.com and we can review everything so that you don’t get short with your next blower purchase.
A couple of months back I shared with you three all too common mistakes I see our clients’ maintenance teams make that damage their pumps and shorten their lives, leading to costly repairs, more downtime and unnecessary replacement.
So if you have budget to burn and really want to give us the money to prematurely replace your pumps then by all means do the OPPOSITE of what I’m advising you to do here.
Otherwise – if you want to minimize your downtime and maintenance costs while maximizing the life of your pump then I suggest you avoid these pump ruining ‘tricks:’
Letting Your Pump Run Dry
Don’t do it. When your pump runs dry it can quickly cause pump cavitation and mechanical seal damage – Mechanical seals can get so hot when a pump is running dry that it can shatter in about 30 seconds.
So if a pump is running dry for any reason - shut it off as soon as possible - but RIGHT NOW would be better.
Blocked Balance Holes and Vanes
When solids that are too big get pulled into the pump they can block up your balance holes and vanes. When this happens your pump is at risk of having unequal pressure which creates and an impeller imbalance.
You’ll see priming issues and high vibration. If this goes untreated you’ll eventually sustain bearing and seal damage to your pump.
Regular maintenance and proper filtration of your fluids will keep the risk of this happening to a minimum.
Using the Wrong Sized Impeller
I don’t know why this happens but I’ve seen pumps that have had the wrong sized impeller put back in them during a routine service. We provide the impeller when we install or supply our pumps, for a reason:
Optimal efficiency.
If you’ve replaced the specified impeller with one that is too big, the pump will begin to work harder to pump your fluids – causing premature burnout.
If the new impeller is too small then it will probably not generate the flow or head you need for your system. That sounds frustrating doesn’t it?
If you’ve got a pump that is consistently down for maintenance or not lasting like you expected it to then there may be an opportunity for improvement. You can get some help just by giving one of the team here at Pye-Barker a call at 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com.
