Up until very recently there have been two very good reasons why compressed air systems weren’t monitored beyond temperature and pressure.
Thankfully, technology has come to the rescue and there are now lots of inexpensive instruments that are very accurate. Which means there is no excuse not to measure how your compressed air system performs – it pays to be tracking flow, power energy, dew point and key temperatures over time but this is very rarely done.
Stop and think about it for a second – here is a vital system to your operation. When your compressed air system goes down for planned or unplanned maintenance, the whole plant grinds to a halt or at best you’ve got a fraction of the productivity when it’s running.
On top of this – you are talking about one of your largest single energy cost centers in your plant. Surely you’d like to know if it is running efficiently or you are literally flushing perfectly good money down the toilet, as it runs inefficiently hour after hour, day after day.
All that needs to be done is logging of your data. Which is quite straight forward nowadays too.
“If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Improve It.”
Lord Kelvin.
The main purpose of measuring and recording data is so that you can improve performance. If we have a baseline we can see if the system is at least holding steady or if it is becoming less efficient i.e. its specific power is rising.
Having access to logged data over time will give you access to performance trends and valuable feedback when you make changes – did it make your system for efficient?
Identify Maintenance Issues
Just because the compressor controls say ‘everything functioning properly’ doesn’t mean they should be taken as gospel. Having a measuring system in place it means you can verify that what your compressor controls say is true.
Ensuring Pressure Stability
One of the common goals of a compressed air system is to provide a steady supply of compressed air at the right pressure – again, this is hard to monitor without data logging. Compressed air systems can take some wild swings in pressure. Some are just part and parcel of life and some have underlying causes. With data it can be possible to identify reoccurring pressure problems and pinpoint the causes.
Troubleshoot Problems.
When you have a problem, the best thing you can do is go back and review the actual data of what happened rather than rely on the memories of those involved. It’s easier to correct what actually went wrong rather than what you think may have gone wrong.
Verify Your Savings
If senior management is going to spend money improving your equipment they generally want proof that your project is going to pay off. Data logging systems give you that proof. Unfortunately it can mean that if your project fails you’ve got proof of that too. But we know you’re smarter than to recommend a project that won’t improve the operation.
Sizing Equipment
Data on the performance of your compressed air system is a big benefit when working with vendors. Firstly, it means they can’t sell you an over-specked system by exploiting your ignorance. Secondly it means you can have a more informed discussion based on hard data about what you can do to actually reach your goals for your system – be it around energy efficiency, flow rates, or air quality.
It also means you’ll know very fast if your investment was the right one or it wasn’t.
If you’d like to start monitoring the performance of your compressed air system the best thing to do is start with a compressed air audit. As part of the audit Pye-Barker’s team of engineers can design up a robust and inexpensive data monitoring system to suit your compressed air system. To get the process started call 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com
Many businesses using bottled nitrogen could actually produce their own nitrogen at a fraction of the cost that they buy it.
There are three underlying reasons for this:
Cryogenic distilled nitrogen produced through this process can attain a purity of 99.99% or higher – which is needed for certain applications. 99.99% and higher purity is only necessary in a handful of electronic assembly functions – Pharmaceuticals and food and beverage applications don’t even need 99.99% purity as a rule of thumb.
In many cases nitrogen in cylinders from a commercial gas company is the most expensive option. Costs are slightly lower for liquid nitrogen in a Dewar or bulk tank.
On-site nitrogen generators can be used to create on-demand gaseous nitrogen at purity's up to 99.999%.
What’s important to note is that you can inexpensively produce 95% to 98% pure nitrogen (5%-2% oxygen) which is suitable for a majority of applications – rather than over-paying for higher purity nitrogen from a commercial supplier. The choice of generator largely depends on the purity of nitrogen needed. Whatever purity you need, the level of O2 can be adjusted to your required purity level.
As a rule applications that need nitrogen of 95 to 98% purity, I’d recommend using membrane generators which produce nitrogen at the lowest cost per cubic foot.
Applications such as the blanketing of oxygen sensitive compounds, specialty chemicals and pharmaceutical processing need a high purity stream that requires the use of Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) generators.
What Are The Costs To Generate On-Site Nitrogen?
On-site PSA and membrane systems are energy efficient and cost effective, requiring only enough energy to power the air compressor that supplies air to the system. Gas industry sources indicate that an air separation plant uses 1976 kJ of electricity per kilogram of nitrogen at 99.9% purity.
At a purity of 98 percent, the energy required for in-house nitrogen consumes 62 percent less energy.
Even for those applications requiring 99.9% purity, generating nitrogen in-house on-demand with a PSA system will use 28 percent less electrically compared to power costs for a third-party produced bulk nitrogen.
If you are looking to end your reliance on third party Nitrogen suppliers, we can help you with a nitrogen generation system that produces the purity you need in the quantities you need for a fraction of the cost of buying Nitrogen in. Call the team at Pye-Barker 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com and we can help you design your nitrogen system, supply it and install it.
When you’ve grown up around air compressors – literally in my case, it means that the jargon is second nature. However I know I often forget this when speaking to clients and often there is confusion when a couple of different terms get blurred.
So I thought I’d take the time to remind you of those easy to confuse definitions.
Capacity is the quantity of air the compressor can pump out. Capacity is rated at based on the conditions of pressure, temperature and moisture content existing at the compressor inlet flange.
Mass flow (lb/min or kg/hr) Compressor performance is specified by a curve of delivery pressure against a mass flow rate for a constant velocity:
CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) (M3/min) is a volumetric measurement not dependent on inlet conditions such as temperature, pressure and humidity.
ACFM (Actual Cubic Feet per Minute) (M3/min) represents ‘useful air’ and is independent of the seal losses through the machine. The commonly used value for seal losses with carbon seals is about 1%. Some centrifugal compressors may have other air losses between the inlet and discharge flanges.
ICFM (Inlet Cubic Feet per Minute) (or M3/hr) is a measure of the air entering the compressor. ICFM is the most common method of determining centrifugal compressor selection.
FAD (Free Air Delivered) indicates delivered air at inlet conditions. FAD is read before the inlet filter and inlet piping thus not taking into account this pressure drop which is normally anywhere from .2 to .5 PSIA with a relatively clean filter. This can be misleading because performance is calculated on an inlet pressure that is higher than the actual air volume entering the unit resulting in lower output than expected.
ICFM, ACFM and FAD are used interchangeably to reference delivered air. When using published data to run operating performance comparisons it is important to use ICFM or ACFM or FAD consistently. Be clear if inlet pressure is being acquired or estimated.
What is SCFM? SCFM (Standard Cubic Feet per Minute) (Nm3/hr) is the CFM at normal inlet conditions of 14.5 PSIA(1 bar), 68° F (20°C), and 0% relative humidity. SCFM can be based on inlet or discharge and it should be specified one way or the other. The most common use is inlet flange measurement.
Operating comparisons should only be evaluated at the same inlet temperature, pressure, relative humidity and cooling water conditions, as well as the same discharge pressure.
A good supplier will want you to specify worst case conditions, i.e. warmest conditions to insure the compressor is capable of meeting the desired output. If you don’t you’ll get the standard design conditions of:
Compressor Pressure Definitions
PSI is a pressure rating which means pounds per square inch.
PSIG is gauge pressure which reads the psi above the ambient or barometric pressure:
PSIA is ambient barometric pressure that varies with the altitude and the weather. This is a very important value when evaluating or estimating any compressor performance; particularly, centrifugal compressors. PSIA is needed to convert ICFM or ACFM to SCFM (M3/hr to Nm3/hr).
Understanding Horsepower and power cost
Motor horsepower – references the nameplate horsepower.
(BHP) Brake Horsepower is the input power required at the compressor input shaft to drive compressor at rated flow and rated pressure.
Input Motor Power in kW – (can be measured or calculated) that generates kWh – the amount of power consumed which drives the power bill. Input motor power is affected by such factors as motor efficiency, power factor, motor conditions, starter and disconnect conditions, power quality and many more.
Specific Power
SCFM (Nm3/hr) is typically the flow rating (projected or measured) for an input kW. With this data, each unit’s specific power in SCFM or Nm3/hr/kW input is calculated. (Note that many manufacturers use BHP/100 cfm.)
BHP/100 cfm does not include the actual operating energy requirement (such as other losses in the couplings, main drive, and controls which increase the projected operating up to 20%).
I hope this guide has explained some of the subtle differences between different air compressor performance measures. If you need help assessing your needs for a new air SCFM air compressor or having trouble with the performance of an existing unit then give the team at Pye-Barker a call on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com and we will take care of you.
Manufacturing and processing has seen a boom in compressed air usage over the last decade or so. Devices and controls have become more sophisticated and in turn less tolerant of damp compressed air.
Traditionally, moisture in compressed air was simply tolerated. Despite the fact it can cause trouble in pneumatic systems, solenoid valves and air powered motor
Moisture can also:
How Does Wet Air Affect Different Components of My Compressed Air Systems
The Plant Wide Air System – Dirt, water and oil in your compressed air lines and the inner surfaces of pipes and fittings, can cause an increase in pressure drop resulting in reduced efficiency and higher costs.
Water condenses out of the air and builds up in the system accelerating corrosion and shortening the useful life of equipment. Corrosion particles can accumulate in plug valves, fittings and instrument control lines.
Valves and Cylinders – experience a build-up of sludge which consists of dirt, water and oil in the compressed air. The sludge acts as a drag on pneumatic cylinders so that the seals and bearings need more frequent maintenance intervals. Moisture dilutes the oil required for the head and rod of an air cylinder and can corrode the walls and slows response. Moisture flowing to rubber diaphragms in valves can cause these parts, to stiffen and rupture.
Air Powered Tools – Dirty and wet air will result in sluggish operation, more frequent repair and replacement of parts due to sticking, jamming and rusting of wearing parts. Water also will wash out the required oils, resulting in excessive wear. A decrease in pressure at the tool caused by restricted or plugged lines or parts reduces each tool’s efficiency and effectiveness.
These tools are designed to run on high grade compressed air – make sure your air matches the tool manufacturer’s specifications.
Instrument Air – A small amount of moisture passing through an orifice can cause malfunction of the instrument and the process it controls. Corrosion particles in the air system also can cause damage to instruments and plug their supply airlines.
Instruments and pneumatic controllers in power plants, sewage treatment plants, chemical and petrochemical plants, textile mills and general manufacturing plants, all need clean, dry air for efficient operation.
Preservation of Products – When used to mix, stir, move or clean a product, air must be clean and dry. Otherwise you risk damaging or contaminating the product. Moisture in control line air can cause the wrong mixture of ingredients in a bakery, the incorrect blend in liquor, waterlogged paint, or ruined food products.
As you can see moisture contamination in your compressed air can lead to all sorts of problems for your compressed air system. Getting the right dryer(s) installed can go a LONG way towards minimizing your down time and maximizing the length and quality of life of your compressed air processed and equipment.
If you are experiencing too much down time, intolerably high maintenance bills or just think you might be paying too much for your compressed air then give the team at Pye-Barker a call on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com. We can guide you through cutting your compressed air costs in any number of ways.
Last month I shared with you six mistakes that could be shortening the life of your pumps. In this follow up article I’ll share with you another six mistakes that could be shortening the life of your pumps.
Not Minimizing Radial Force
Industry statistics indicate that the biggest reason centrifugal pumps are pulled from service is the failure of bearings and/or mechanical seals. Bearings and seals wear and tear give you a good idea of what is happening inside the pumping system.
To minimize radial force run your pump at its Best Efficiency Point (BEP). At its BEP, by design pumps will experience the lowest amount of radial force. High radial force and shaft deflection are a killer of mechanical seals and a contributing factor to bearing life reduction.
Not Changing Your Oil On Schedule.
For ball bearings, more than 85 percent of bearing failures result from contamination, either dirt and foreign material or water. Just 250 parts per million (ppm) of water will reduce bearing life by a factor of four.
Operating a pump can be similar to operating a car continuously at 60 miles per hour… Driving 24 hours per day, seven days a week, puts plenty of ‘miles on the clock’ —1,440 miles per day, 10,080 miles per week, or if you will 524,160 miles per year. You’d be checking your car’s oil regularly if you were doing those sorts of miles wouldn’t you? Why not check your pump’s oil regularly too?
Not Reducing The Risk of Cavitation.
Cavitation will create damage to the pump impeller, and resultant vibrations will affect the seals and bearings. Cavitation is minimized by having a large margin between net positive suction head available (NPSHA) and the net positive suction head required (NPSHRR).
Running Your Pump At High Speeds
A 3600-rpm pump will wear out faster than a 1800-rpm pump by a factor of 4-to-8. So if you’ve got to run a pump at high RPMs, when it does finally wear out be sure to look for a pump that can move the same volume of material while running at a lower speed.
Unbalanced Impellers
I recommend that impellers be balanced to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 1940 grade 6.3 standards at a minimum. If the impeller is trimmed for any reason, it must be re-balanced.
An unbalanced impeller on an overhung pump or on some vertical designs can cause a condition known as shaft whip, which deflects the shaft just as a radial force does when the pump operates away from the BEP. Radial deflection and whip can occur at the same time.
Too Many Casing Penetrations
Many end users want the casing drilled and tapped for drains, vents, gauge ports or instrumentation. The problem is pump casing penetrations shorten pump life. Every penetration is primed for corrosion and stress risers. It’s a trade-off.
If you find yourself frustrated with pumps being continuously offline for unscheduled maintenance or need to increase the life of your pumps give the team at Pye-Barker a call at 404-363-6000 or drop us a line at sales@pyebarker.com we will advise you on your best options to increase your pump life.
One of the hardest things for a rep to do is to read the client’s mind. The team here at Pye-Barker often gets asked to advise if vacuum A or vacuum B is better for the client. The truth is, there is no one size fits all answer.
In order for you to be clear on what you need and also give the rep all the information they need to be able to give you a good answer. Here are seven questions you need to be able to answer for yourself.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 1: Are there space considerations?
Before we even get to performance it’s important to know how much space we have to work with – and any logistical concerns getting the unit to its new home (e.g. narrow doors). Space restrictions cut down the options. That said, there are plenty of units that give you a high flow from a small unit.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 2: What’s the required pressure?
Sometimes we see buyers of replacement units confuse the required operating pressure with the ultimate pressure on the specs. It pays to be very clear about what your required operating pressure is or you could end up with a pump that isn’t perfect for your needs.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 3: What is the required flow?
When specifying your vacuum flow make sure that you use either Actual Cubic Feet Per Minute (ACFM) or Standard Cubic Feet Per Minute (SCFM). Mixing these up when specifying your vacuum could mean a unit that is oversized or undersized.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 4: What is your evacuation time and pressure parameters?
Whether you need a two second or 10 second evacuation time depends on the application. Vacuum pumps used in chemical applications can have completely different time and pressure parameters to vacuums used by the food industry.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 5: What contaminants are in the environment?
Contamination (regardless of type) of the vacuum could cause unit to need additional repairs, have a shorter life or just not perform at your specified standards. Understanding all the potential sources of contamination will allow our team to recommend the right protections for your new vacuum.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 6: Any Other Environmental Considerations?
Is your vacuum working in a wet/dry process? What ambient temperature will it be operating in?
Not selecting a pump designed to operate in your specific environment will lead to more repairs, higher maintenance bills and more downtime than you would otherwise expect.
Vacuum Pump Buyer’s Question 7: What do you want your investment profile to look like?
Generally you can keep capital costs down by buying a unit that has less upfront costs but may cost more to maintain and operate. Or if you need to keep operating costs down you can invest extra in smarter system controls that will provide you with monitoring data which can ultimately lower running costs.
The choice is yours if you know what you want.
Need a new Vacuum Pump? Well when you can answer these seven questions then by all means give the team at Pye-Barker a call on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com. And if you can’t answer these questions give us a call anyway and we can help you work thru the specifics and get the right vacuum for your application.
As the saying goes nothing lasts forever. But a good pump that is well maintained can last you a VERY long time. An ANSI pump can be expected to operate for 15-20 years although many last longer than 25 years. We have had Viking Internal Gear pumps in the field for 40 years or more.
However, time and time again we see best practice being ignored which will shorten the lives of pumps considerably. Although that might sound like it is good business for us it really isn’t. It makes our products seem like they can’t last as long as we promise our clients they can.
Here are 6 common causes of reduced pump life.
Pipe Geometry
How the suction side piping is designed will have a huge effect on the life of a pump. For example designing pipes to keep the flow below 10 feet per second on the suction side makes a big difference to pump life.
As will designing your pipes so that fluid is loaded into the pump correctly makes a huge difference to both performance and longevity.
Pipe Strain
Pipe strain is caused when your suction and discharge pipes don’t line up with your pump flanges. It can cause flow problems which leads to vibration, casing distortion and damage to bearings seals and gears.
Driver Misalignment
Not making the effort to precisely line up your pump and motor can overload the pump’s radial bearings. A small misalignment of just 0.060 inches, could see a bearing or coupling issues in as little as three to five months of operation. Compare that to a 0.001 inch of misalignment, the same pump will likely operate for more than 90 months.
Fluid Properties
The Ph, viscosity and specific gravity of the fluid being pumped are all key factors in the life of your pump. Add to this the amount and abrasive qualities of any solids present in the fluid and you have a recipe to shorten your pump life.
Service
If you want your pump to run a long time without trouble, don’t start it and stop it. I’ve heard about pumps that were started and stopped every few seconds. In cases like that you are better off redesigning your system than searching for a pump that can put up with that sort of wear and tear.
Operating Temperature
Make sure your pump is rated to operate at the ambient temperatures it will be operating in. Be sure to winterize and summarize each pump accordingly. More important, however, is the rate of temperature change. Keep the rate of change to less than 2 F per minute. Different materials expand and contract at different rates, which can affect clearances and stresses – which in turn can shorten your pump’s life.
If you are having trouble with a pump that is always breaking down or isn’t lasting as long as you’d expect give the team at Pye-Barker a call on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com and we’ll help you get to the bottom of your troubles.
Nobody likes a leaky pump and the unscheduled downtime and increased maintenance needs. When these pumps are moving aggressive acids and slurries, they can leak faster and when they do leak they create an unsafe work environment.
Obviously, the biggest contributor to this problem is how quickly mechanical seals in conventional pumps wear out in these kinds of environments.
An often overlooked alternative is the Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pump (AODD). This is because AODD chemical pumps can vary in both quality and effectiveness for this application across the market. However, there are AODD pumps on the market which are ideally suited for pumping hazardous materials.
Why Use an AODD Pump?
AODD pumps use bolts to secure the pump and create their seal – so there is no mechanical seal that will need regular replacement – saving money over electric pumps. As their name suggest plastic pumps can be made of a plastic that doesn’t react with the materials you are pumping – which gives it a longer life compared to other options.
Unlike electric pumps, AODD pumps can run dry and deadhead without the risk of burning, seizing, or harming their components. Finally AODD pumps are gentler than electric pumps – with hazardous materials being fragile – mild turbulence from passing through an electric pump prevents damage to the material.
What Can Cause Leaks In AODD Pumps?
We all know that safety is the number one concern when dealing with hazardous materials. In order to use AODD pumps in your facility to move hazardous materials it’s a good idea to understand the common causes of leakage and how to remedy it.
For moving hazardous materials the most common AODD pumps used are plastic and the most common cause of leakage in a plastic pump is creep and cold flow.
Creep is when a pump deforms (permanently) under load.
Cold flow is when the pump is subjected to continuous loads at a fluctuating temperature – this can cause the different plastic parts to expand and/or contract at different rates which causes deformation of the pump.
Creep occurs over the life of any pump. It is just a more common cause of failure in plastic pumps because they don’t corrode the way metal pumps do. You can expect a good 10 years’ service out of the right AODD plastic pump for your application.
Is it time to replace your hazardous materials pumps?
If your hazardous materials pumps have a corroded pump exterior, leaks around the manifolds, worn internal fluid bowls and discoloration on the floor caused by severe leakage, it might be time to look at replacing that pump. Get in touch with the team at Pye-Barker at 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com and we can explore your options for replacing that pump.
Contamination of products, disrupted manufacturing processes… physical erosion of your compressed air system. Any of these can reduce the profitability of your plant. A steady supply of ‘commercially dry’ compressed air is vital to keeping quality of products high, maintenance costs as low as possible and preventing lost productivity through downtime.
Within the dryer market there are four categories – Chemical, Refrigerated, Membrane and Regenerative Desiccant.
Regenerative desiccant dryers use adsorbents to take moisture out of the compressed air when at pressure, then once they are full the adsorbent is regenerated at low pressure. Once regenerated the adsorbent media is ready for its next use in the dryer.
This article looks at the four different types of Regenerative Desiccant Dryers, one of the more common types of dryer on the market.
Pressure Swing Regenerative Dryers.
The simplest type of dryer. Pressure swing dryers have multiple vessels where the pressure swings between the different vessels so that while one vessel is being used to dry the air the remaining vessels are regenerating their adsorbent.
No attempt is made to retain the heat of adsorption within the desiccant bed. The dryers work on short cycles of between 5 to 10 minutes before the vessels are switched. The heat adsorbed is used to desorb the moisture in the regeneration phase.
High Pressure Swing Dryers.
At higher pressures air density allows these dryers to dissipate the heat of adsorption before the end of the drying process. In High Pressure Swing Dryers, no attempt is made to retain the heat so it can be used in the regeneration process. These dryers typically operate on a 30 to 60 minute cycle time.
Unheated purge air provides the energy to regenerate the desiccant bed and we see exhaust temperatures as much as 100°F lower than the inlet temperature.
Internally Heated Regenerative Dryers.
Heaters are either clamped to the shells of the desiccant vessels or heating elements are run through the desiccant beds in this class of dryer. These dryers typically operate on four hour cycles. The only problem with internally heated regenerative dryers is desiccant must be changed-out frequently because of the hydro-thermal destruction of the adsorbent at elevated temperatures in moist environments.
Externally Heated Regenerative Dryers.
Externally heated dryers rely on the indirect heating of the wet adsorbent. In this design regeneration can be achieved at either line or atmospheric pressure. Obviously atmospheric pressure is more efficient.
Regenerative desiccant air dryers can be designed and manufactured to almost any service conditions. Before ordering make sure you review the performance of your dryer against your original design spec in partnership with your provider of choice. Nobody wants wet air!
To learn more about the various types of dryers available for your operations, click here.
If you need to upgrade your dryer or install a new compressed air system call the team at Pye-Barker on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com
There are really only two ways to make a profit in business. Reduce your costs of production or Sell more of your products. The president of your company and your CFO are not doubt admonishing you to cut costs as much as you can.
I’m sure you’ve shared the same mission with your team. One of the biggest opportunities to cut costs is to reduce power consumption. And one of the biggest power users of power in most production plants is:
Your Compressed Air System
Compressed Air System design is a matter of not how much you have but how well you use it. It wouldn’t be uncommon for a business to be able to cut their compressed air demands by 20% just by eliminating leaks.
Beyond that there are opportunities to get the same production for a less costs. (Or create the capacity to scale up and keep your costs constant). Here’s how you can do that
Make Sure Each Piece Of Machinery Is Receiving The Right Pressure.
Unfortunately – when individual pieces of machinery aren’t getting enough air pressure, the maintenance team often just jacks up the air pressure until the complaints go away.
With only a couple of machinery operators complaining, if maintenance increases the system pressure – then it’s a given that a lot of other machinery is going to be receiving too much air.
Best practice to avoid this problem is to divide your compressed air system into zones and use regulators so that the pressure delivered to each zone matches the demand of the machinery. Depending on the complexity of your compressed air system you might want to engage an external compressed auditor (like Pye-Barker) to help guide you through this process.
After you’ve started to manage your air flow more systematically you’ll reduce your compressed air consumption – slashing your power bills by producing less compressed air.
Invest In Storage
Most compressed air systems like to be running at a constant speed, rather than whipsawing between full-load and unloaded every couple of minutes. Depending on the size of your compressor and the storage capacity of your current system this may not be possible.
When your compressors are flip-flopping between loaded or unloaded they consume a lot of power, and incur a lot of wear and tear. If that is the case it is wise to increase the storage capacity of your system to reduce power bills and break down.
You can do this with either dedicated storage, secondary storage or even offline high pressure storage.
Optimize Air Usage
Bearing in mind that it takes between 7 and 8 horsepower to deliver one pneumatic horsepower, it might pay to switch some of your air driven machinery out for more energy efficient options and use less compressed air. For example you might be able to:-
In the end the cost of a unit of compressed air is relatively static. The value you get from your investment in your compressed air is determined by how efficiently you use the air your produce. This is why compressed air auditing is essential for any business running complex compressed air systems. This advice goes double if you are considering adding more compressors to your system to accommodate ‘increased demand.’
There are always opportunities to improve your compressed air system and bring your costs into line with best practices. If you are considering investing in more air compressors or are looking to cut costs I’d recommend starting with an AirInsite compressed air audit. To arrange yours call 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com and we can get the ball rolling.
