ENMAP 2003

COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEM ENERGY SAVINGS: BACK TO BASICS Speaker: Vicente Perez Sales Engineer Ingersoll-Rand Philippines.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Compressed Air is the 4th largest utility used in industrial facilities. Compressed Air accounts for a major portion of the consumed electricity in your average industrial plant. It is estimated that in the Philippines alone, there is well in excess of 100,000kW of power installed only for compressed air.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
There is a potential for savings of 20% or more, for most of the Compressed Air Installations.
Therefore taking 5 peso per kW/hr, we have the following:

100,000kW x 0.20 = 20,000kW to be saved 20,000kW x 6000hours x 5 peso = 600 Million peso savings per annum. Hard to believe? OK, lets take a look of how and why?
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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Why? Traditionally Compressed Air systems were built up over time, For e.g. whenever production was increased or a new line was added, so was a new compressor added.

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Compressed Air must be treated as a system

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
However little attention was paid attention to the total compressed air system,
(System Dynamics).

Management of multiple compressors,

(Master control)

Pipe Network, (Sizing, Pressure Drop, Capacitance) Artificial loading, (Leaks, Over-pressure, poor control).
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
How? Because the additional pieces of equipment were tacked on, with every increase in compressed capacity so to was the increase in inefficiency. No one had time to sit down and think about the system as an integrated whole, only as individual pieces.

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Management of multiple compressors,
(Master control & flow controllers)

Pipe Network, (Sizing, Pressure Drop, Capacitance) Artificial loading, (Leaks, Over-pressure, poor control).

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Management of multiple compressors,
Master control, to ensure only the compressors necessary compressors are running to satisfy demand. Shut down compressors not needed. For example 3 x 75kW compressors running at 60% load = 135kW of compressed air required, this equals only 2 x 75kW compressors at 90% load. 3 compressors @ 60% load = 162kW 2 compressors @ 90% load = 139kW
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Management of multiple compressors,
This is caused by having many local controllers that do not communicate with each other and will load & unload according to their own individual pressure reading. The problem is individual pressure readings will vary according to where they are situated in the pipe network and to the accuracy of the sensor
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Management of multiple compressors,
This can be compared to having a whole lot of workers with no boss, to give clear instructions for a common goal. Advantages, single reference point for pressure. Reduced pressure differential band, which equates to reduced pressure, reduced power.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Pipe Network: Sizing, Pressure Drop. Incorrect pipe network sizing equates to pressure drop. For e.g. rule of thumb experience tells us that for every 2PSI increase in pressure equates to 1% of system power.

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
If we reduced Pressure Drop 10PSI, (not impossible), and taking our previous slide 162kW, we could save; 8kW per hour, annual saving 243,000 peso

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Pipe Network: Sizing, Capacitance. Incorrect sizing plus incorrect capacitance of the pipe network results in unstable system pressure. This has a three fold effect, negatively on the system

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
1: The need to artificially raise the off-line pressure to cover the on-line (minimum) pressure. As stated before higher pressure higher power consumption. 2: Frequent cycling of the compressor causing increased wear on the compressor, increased maintenance cost. 3: Unstable pressure to process, causing product problems, (i.e. production of the customer product).
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Leaks, Over-pressure, poor control. Artificial loading is described as: Volume created at the leaks and use points by operating at elevated pressures without regulation. Use volume is a function of supply pressure.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Air Leaks in a compressed air system sometimes can account for more than 20% of the compressed air use. With a concentrated effort these leaks can be reduced to 5% or less of compressed air consumption, zero although the target, is not feasible with todays materials.
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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: However 15% or more percent reduction in artificial loading is substantial. Remember
162kW, 15% of that = 24.3kW = 729,000 peso

Leakage rates are proportional to the square of the orifice diameter. To have an idea how much is the leak rate for a certain equivalent orifice size, lets review the chart;
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Compressed air leaks

Pressure Psig 90 100 110 120 125 150 1/64 0.37 0.406 0.441 0.476 0.494 0.582 1/32 1.48 1.62 1.76 1.91 1.98 2.37 1/16 5.92 6.49 7.05 7.62 7.9 9.45 1/8 23.7 26 28.2 30.5 31.6 37.5

Discharge in CFM at the differential stated to atmospheric pressure, for e.g. system pressure of 110psig will discharge 7.05 cfm through a 1/16 orifice
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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Imagine if we had a system pressure of 125psig, and a leak equivalent to the size of a 1/8th orifice, we would have a leakage of 32cfm. Taking our first example, i.e.162kW, 800cfm @125psig, then 32 cfm is 4% of our capacity and this only 1 leak!
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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Air Leaks, We said before that leaks account for 20% or more of the compressed air usage, but how do we counter them? One is to Locate the Enemy Attack and Kill, (L.E.A.K), that is identify the leak source an rectify it. Leaks predominately are found at pipe joints, drains, filter regs, couplings etc
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Common Leak Locations

Pipe Joints

Couplings, hoses&fittings Drains FRLs

Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Over Pressure, another form of artificial loading is over pressurising the system. What we mean by this is setting the pressure set point at the compressor, higher than what is necessary. Primarily to overcome pressure drop in the system or variance in the system pressure due to minimal capacitance or poor control.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Primarily this is caused by the need to Overcome pressure drop in the system, by poor design of the compressed air system network, Dryers, Filters, Piping, Valves etc. Variance in the system pressure due to minimal capacitance or poor control system. Sometimes for lack of confidence in the pressure stability, people raise for security.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: However artificially raising system pressure also has another effect and that is increasing the leak rate. If we remember the previous example the rate of leak is factor of the orifice size, (size of the leak hole) and the differential pressure. For e.g. going from 100 to 125psig we increase the leak rate 17%
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Artificial loading: Poor Control: Was covered in the 1st part of Management of Multiple Compressors, but its role in artificial demand relates to the artificial raising of the pressure set point to overcome: Wide variance in pressure band due to local control limitations and no common signal. Poor quality of compressed to the user, (unstable pressure).
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ENMAP 2003
Typical Components of Air Demand

Artificial Demand 10-15% Production Leaks 20 -30% Poor Practices 5-10%

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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Example: From the last slide we see that; Artificial demand is average 12.5% Leaks is 25% Poor Practices is 7.5%, (controls, capacitance, maintenance etc,) We have 45% of non productive air!

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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Example: Then we refer back to our original example of the 3 x 75kW compressors having an installed power of 225kW. Now taking the 45% of non productive compressed air, this equals 101kW wasted, not adding value to the product being produced! Taking this further 101kW equals 3 Million peso per annum, (based on 6000hrs/yr, 5 peso cost per kW/hr rate).
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ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Example: Still hard to believe? We must also understand that we are speaking about the basics and there are many more areas that we could tackle to further to reduce the consumption of energy. We havent covered the issue of the quality of compressed air, which covers the intangables
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
Key Points to Consider
Example: Quality of the Compressed Air: we have Water in the compressed air, causing damage to downstream components Dirt and particles in the air, causing damage to downstream components. Increased pressure drop due to the quality of air These costs are hidden, but nevertheless real costs as well Philippines
Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
As mentioned earlier there are 3 basic issues to identify, investigate and implement to improve the compressed air system, they are: Management of multiple compressors,
(Master control & flow controllers)

Pipe Network, (Sizing, Pressure Drop, Capacitance) Artificial loading, (Leaks, Over-pressure, poor control).
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Compressed Air Audit Survey One needs to know how the compressed air system is behaving today before recommending any changes. This is the foundation of any change as knowledge is a powerful tool. Compressed air system audit provides this information and only then can one start improve based on facts, not assumptions!
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ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Management of multiple compressors, we need to ensure a tight control of the system pressure and know when a compressor can be shut down without compromising system pressure requirements. The best way to save power is to shutdown a compressor, but we need compressed air, so we need to ensure that we only run the compressed that are required.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Management of multiple compressors, This can be achieved with a master controller, like a Intellisys energy optimiser that will select the right compressor depending on the demand of the system. Plus maintain a very tight pressure control, 3psid and / or Install a flow equaliser to match supply to the demand
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Pipe network. Reduce pressure drops by ensuring correct pipe sizing, avoid single main headers, always adopt ring main headers. Minimise bends, use only long radius bends. Correctly size accessories, dryers, filters etc, to ensure acceptable pressure drops. Target total system pressure drop of 3 to 5 psi
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Pipe network. Simplair piping systems by Ingersoll Rand can reduce pressure drops as it has a lower co-efficient of friction and is a leak free design. Ensure the correct amount of capacitance is in the system, with correctly sized air receivers, ring main sizing, ideally 1cfm to 4 gallons storage/ capacitance.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Artificial Loading. Reduce leaks to a minimum, by (L.E.A.K), Locate the Enemy Attack and Kill, look for the easy targets, Condensate traps, installing no loss traps Remove threaded connections by Installing Simplair piping systems which have leak free ORing connections or for larger installations flange connections. Reduce system pressure minimise the leaks.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Artificial Loading. Fitting energy management control systems to keep system pressure to a minimum, whilst maintaining the required pressure for the production. This can be achieved with the Intellisys Energy Optimiser that will select the right compressor depending on the demand of the system and reduce unnecessary high pressure.
Philippines Air Solution Center

ENMAP 2003
What to Do?
Artificial Loading. In addition to master control system to improve system stability and the quality of the compressed air system an Intelliflow equaliser in conjunction with the correct system capacitance will provide a system pressure stable within +/- 0.75psi

Philippines Air Solution Center

Philippines Air Solution Center