Seven Strategic Ways to Reduce Expenses from Compressed Air
Kaishan USA | February 14, 2024 | Uncategorized
Repairing leaks in the last thirty feet before end use— your air distribution system’s “dirty 30”—is an essential part of any expense-reduction strategy.
Over the years, many suppliers of compressed air systems have developed laundry lists of tactics proposing ways to reduce expenditures. And if you need some tactics, plenty of choices exist.
However, the best long-term approach is not to give you a checklist of tasks to complete that may or may not address your issues. Rather, we want to help you formulate an expense-reduction program that will help you identify the issues you are having with your compressed air system. And develop a plan to address those concerns long term. And keep expenses under control.
We start by identifying your pain points.
1. Establish History
The best place to start in developing a cost-reduction strategy is with your recent history. That usually begins with a discussion of three key issues—power, maintenance and downtime.
What has been the trend for each of those factors? Is the level of expense rising rapidly? Unexpectedly? If so, we need to dive deeper into each one.
Increases in power consumption or maintenance, for instance, may indicate your system is experiencing leaks, while an increase in downtime may point to a mismatch between your compressor and your demand. We address these issues in the following sections.
2. Recognize That Things Change
One of the most critical steps in improving your energy efficiency is to adapt to change.
Unfortunately, we’ve found that many companies buy air compressors and run them the same way for years. Even decades.
They might add new equipment and remove other uses. They might expand or renovate their plant. They might change their processes. They might even keep the same type of air tool or process, but upgrade to a new, more efficient model or system.
Those things impact your compressed air system. If you’ve added a lot of new tools, you may be experiencing pressure drops or lack of flow.
Alternatively, your compressed air demand could be declining. That might mean your compressor is now too large, or you are over-pressurizing your system, increasing electricity usage and maintenance costs and decreasing system reliability and longevity.
Adapt Current Machines to Current Operations
As a result, one of the most valuable steps you can take is to adjust your air compressor output settings to match current operation demands. That will help with maintenance and will allow you to reduce power consumption, both of which will help cut expenses.
You’re not really changing your machine. You’re matching its functioning to your current needs. And, most likely, you’re reducing the waste of energy.
Look for Changes in Regulations
In addition to changes in your compressed air demand, there can be regulatory changes shaking up your entire industry.
For example, your original use may have allowed you to use food-grade lubricants. And you switched to traditional lubricants along the way.
You’ll want to closely monitor changing regulations, like the FDA standards for the food and beverage industry.
Or you may also have added new functionality that requires a higher level of air quality like the FDA mandates for the food and beverage industry. So, you may need to upgrade to an oil-free machine like Kaishan’s KROF oil-free, two-stage rotary screw air compressor. Or, conversely, you originally went with an oil-free machine and found that level was not required.
No matter what the reason for the change, there are quite a few scenarios where a change in machine might save you money, especially if a machine has been in place for a long time.
Kaishan’s new oil-free, two-stage rotary screw air compressor, the KROF, is an excellent choice when you need uncontaminated, highly efficient, reliable air.
3. Pay Attention to Pressure
A key part of adjusting compressor output is setting the header pressure as low as possible. Many operators set the system pressure to the level required by the tool or tools needing the most pressure. In many cases, however, the high-pressure applications make up only a fraction of the system’s capacity, resulting in significant over-pressurization and energy loss through the remaining applications. And many of these point-of-use tools have regulators installed ahead of them which reduce the pressure.
Over the years, we’ve recommended splitting off high-pressure applications from the main system and serving them with a separate compressor.
The rule of thumb is that for every 2 PSIG increase in pressure, energy consumption goes up by 1%.
4. Make Sure You Have the Right Equipment
Once again, things may have changed. A reduction in compressed air use may mean your compressor is oversized for your facility. This leads to inefficient operations and, if it leads to rapid cycling, can cause equipment failures and resulting downtime.
To combat rapid cycling, we often propose modulation that adjusts the inlet valve to a partially open position. Variable-speed drives are a more energy-efficient way to address this issue, but they cost more upfront. While some experts say modulation is a waste of money and energy, VSDs may be cost-prohibitive for some users. Either choice, however, outweighs the negatives of rapid cycling. The key is to evaluate your options, balancing the pros and cons of each.
Neither modulation nor VSDs, however, take the place of an appropriately sized compressor and storage tank. It’s a best practice to have both wet and dry storage tanks to remove moisture and maintain stable header pressure.
You may even modify your layout to better serve your existing end-use functions. For more on configuring your air compressor system to prevent downtime and optimize reliability, see our blog post, “Four Reasons Your Plant Needs a Backup Air Compressor.”
5. Eliminate Unnecessary Uses and Artificial Demand
When systems are over-pressurized (as mentioned above), the increased pressure causes more leaks (or expands existing ones). That creates more ways for compressed air to escape from your system.
It’s a condition known as “artificial demand,” with higher pressure increasing the flow of air through existing leaks. It’s very costly, and it’s a great incentive to set system pressure at the lowest level needed.
In addition, many companies use compressed air for tasks where it is not cost-effective. Examples include cleaning, dust removal and other non-essential tasks.
6. Repair Leaks
No program of cost reduction would be complete without addressing leaks. The typical compressed air system loses 30-50% of its volume to air compressor leaks. And, the total runs as high as 80% for poorly maintained systems. (For more information, visit our recent blog post on the topic, “Air Compressor Leaking? How to Find and Stop Leaks”.
The good news is that some leaks are easy to locate because they emit a notorious, hard-to-ignore hissing sound. The bad news is that most don’t make any sound—80% are inaudible.
Leaks can occur for any number of reasons. Like improper installation. Poor sealing or materials. Pipes, valves, fittings or connectors damaged by accidents or misuse. Plus, workers can make mistakes, bypassing a drain or increasing pressure when installing or even maintaining your compressed air system.
Adding insult to injury, workers often employ temporary fixes or workarounds to deal with these leaks. Those solutions usually don’t work long-term, and many worsen the problems.
More than 80% of leaks happen in the compressed air distribution system. What air compressor pros call “the dirty 30”—the last 30 feet before the end-use application.
That means hoses, reels, filters, regulators or lubricators on the piping connecting the air supply to your machinery. Plus, even end-use tools can have internal leaks, especially if they are old or poorly maintained.
You’ll want to focus on these last 30 feet connecting to the end use.
Ultrasonic leak-detection devices can help pinpoint sources of leaks in your compressed air system. Newer equipment even helps visually highlight leaks and documents the cost associated with each one. Most professional air compressor consultants use these advanced leak-detection systems in their audits.
You can even prevent leaks by keeping pipes throughout your plant clean and dry. And ensuring filters and drains are clean.
One of the most important steps in launching your expense-reduction strategy is choosing a compressed air professional to help you.
7. The Not-So-Hidden Agenda: Hire an Auditor
An audit by an air compressor professional is a great place to start your expense-reduction program. Most of the issues mentioned above, including adjusting to current operations, picking the right compressor, setting the pressure at the correct level, eliminating unnecessary uses and repairing leaks, would benefit from the advice of a compressed air professional.
We’ve worked with a variety of customers to conduct audits of their facilities, helping them save time and money, improve reliability and deliver high-quality air.
Members of Kaishan’s nationwide network of independent distributors, have the skills and the equipment needed to conduct a comprehensive audit of your compressed air system. They have experienced technicians on staff who are skilled in analyzing your system and using leak-detection technology to identify leaks.
Key Takeaways
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- Establish your system’s history.
- Recognize that things change.
- Pay attention to pressure.
- Make sure you have the right equipment.
- Eliminate unnecessary uses and artificial demand.
- Repair leaks.
- Hire an auditor.
Let Us Help
Reducing expenses in your compressed air system is critical to the ongoing success of your operation. If you need help in getting compressed air costs under control, we can help. Contact the experts at Kaishan today.
BENCH STRENGTH
Over the years, many suppliers of compressed air systems have developed laundry lists of tactics proposing ways to reduce expenditure
