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Increasing The Efficiency Of Your Industrial Air Compressor

29 October 2015 by Ramona Lawrence

If you run an industrial business, chances are you utilize an air compressor. These incredible tools are useful for providing your facility's tools with the focused blasts of air they need to operate properly. However, there's a good chance your air compressor isn't running as efficiently as it could. Utilize these simple techniques to greatly increase its efficiency. 

Adjusting Direct Air Compressor Costs

The direct cost of pressure is directly related to the pounds per square inch gauge (PSIG) produced by the air compressor. According to IEN.com, an increase of 10 PSIG causes a power use increase of about 5%. The example they used indicated that an air compressor delivering 110 PSIG needs 100 horsepower (HP), while one operating at 100 PSIG requires 95 HP.

They estimate this will save 10 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). Their estimated savings of this decrease? $7,025 per year. Keeping this in mind, try to find tools that require less power to utilize, yet which still provide you with adequate power.

For example, let's say you've been using an air hammer with 110 PSIG to drive in bolts during your industrial process. But you have been overpowering your air hammer by 10 PSIG to ensure that the bolts stay in place. Try decreasing the power by 5-10 PSIG to increase air efficiency, while allowing your tool to operate properly.

Buy a Compressor That Provides Proper Air Flow

Too many industrial facilities have overpowered air compressors. The thought here is that it's better to have too much power than too little. While that is an understandable position, it's simply wasteful to use too much power to operate a tool. Take a look at the air power needs of your tools and buy a compressor that provides the right amount of power.

For example, QuincyCompressor.com discusses the fact that a half-inch wrench utilizes five cubic feet per minute (CFM) at 90 pounds per square inch (PSI). Your air compressor should provide at least 30 percent more CFM than is required for the tool. So, your half-wrench will require a minimum of 6.5 CFM.

Calculate the air power needs of the rest of the tools in your shop utilizing this method and use the tool with the highest need as the top end power of your air compressor. This ensures your tools operate properly, without decreasing the efficiency of your compressor.

Reclaiming Heat To Power Other Processes

When in use, air compressors generate a large amount of heat. The amount varies, depending on the horsepower generated by the air compressor when in use. The general rate can be understood as 2,545 BTU of heat energy getting produced with each horsepower every hour. A typical 100-horsepower compressor, when other operations are taken into account (such as the running of the motor), produces 280,000 BTU of heat energy every hour.

That's a lot of excess heat energy, too much of which is usually just dumped by most industrial facilities. However, if you install heat transfer systems to your air compressor, you can take that heat energy and reuse it throughout your facility. Common ways to reuse this heat energy include:

• Space heating
• Operating a water heater
• Process heating

Utilizing these methods can help increase the efficiency of not only your air compressor, but of the rest of your industrial facility. Talk to an air compressor expert (visit this page for further details) today if you are interested in utilizing these methods but need help doing so on your own.

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