Compressed Air Best Practices-August 2008

Focus Industry COMPRESSED AIR AUDITS | 08/08 | An advisory panel consisting of industry experts recommended insertion type direct mass flow meters only for evaluation. Other types of flow meters were ruled out due to the issues presented above. Even among the Mass Flow meters, accuracy and reliability were of concern. So test facility was set up in the SCE laboratory to evaluate flow meters selected by the advisory panel. The test set up is shown below: Flow meters from Eldridge, Fluid Components International, Sierra Instruments and Trak Air, were evaluated in the SCE Laboratory against a positive displacement control flow meter, Aerzna DN 65. On Site Testing The second step in this project was to test the procedure on working compressor systems. Five systems, varying in size from 75 to 650 hp, were studied in an effort to fine tune the procedure and to work out any problems related to installations and metering, and to develop overall familiarity with the metering equipment and mounting. A schematic of the equipment and metering Figure 4. Compressor System for Site # 3 devices is presented below for one of the five systems (once every 15 seconds) and the average of that was studied. the four samples is recorded on a data logger In the procedure developed, compressed air every minute for an entire week. Energy flow rate is sampled four times per minute supplied to compressors and other auxiliary Figure 2. Hot Tap for Flow Meter Results from these tests are summarized and presented in the graph below: Figure 3. Flow Meter Test Results X Axis — % Full Scale 1. Eldridge 8240MPNH Y Axis — % Error 2. FCI ST 98 3. Sierra 640S-M8 4. Trak Air Initial compressed air flow metering efforts resulted in about 65% failure rate, in spite of strict adherence of calibrations and procedures recommended by the flow meter manufacturers. Human errors at the testing and calibration laboratories were the reasons for the failures in all but one case. The graph presented above, represents the data after the corrections were made. Subsequent efforts to avoid the human errors have yielded an almost 100% success rate to date. www.airbestpractices.com 29 http://www.epiflow.com http://www.epiflow.com http://sales@epiflow.com http://www.airbestpractices.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Compressed Air Best Practices-August 2008

Compressed Air Best Practices- August 2008 Contents From the Editor Utility-Air News The August Audit of the Month: A Vacuum System Audit Energized for Savings at Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power Know Your System CASE: Compressed Air Supply Efficiency Ecos Air: Managing Incentive Programs Kaeser Compressors: Loyalty, Energy and Growth Building Relationships at Cummins-Wagner McIntire is Moving Forward The 2008 A.I.C.D. Conference & Exhibition Tuthill Vacuum and Blower Systems Resources for Energy Engineers: Training Calendar & Product Picks Wall Street Watch Advertiser Index Job Market

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