Compressed Air Best Practices - September 2008 - (Page 36) | 09/08 Compressed Air Industry FOOD PACKAGING & PROCESSING Compres mpre essed tr G | S A V I N G W I T H E N E R G Y: T H O M A S M O R T C O N S U LT I N G Out of 300 plants, 280 will find significant energy-saving projects with compressed air. It’s ironic because when we ask them, ‘What is your most expensive energy source?’ They will usually answer ‘compressed air.’ They also know it’s one of their biggest energy users. They also know air leaks are a big problem. Yet they simply haven’t addressed the total issue. Do you discuss compressed air leaks? “Out of 300 plants, 280 will find significant energy-saving projects with compressed air.” We see that many facilities do have compressed air leak maintenance programs. But they don’t understand that leaks are just one part of a larger system. We tell people, if you have 10 leaks and you fix four of them, you won’t reduce the load on the air compressor — the remaining leaks will just leak faster! What are the most common issues at factories you visit? We find they run with partially loaded compressors along with fully loaded compressors. They need 1.2 compressors for example. They don’t realize that the extra compressor is more expensive to run than taking that money to repair things in the system — which would allow the compressor to go back to being a stand-by air compressor. You have to do something downstream to turn it off. Please describe your Energy Solutions Seminars for Industrial Facilities They help provide a structured approach to help people review things at their facility and target the most effective areas for reducing energy costs. Our clients use their own resources to the extent possible and we provide coaching and support. When they learn it, they can continue on with the process after we are gone. There is very little theory in the course. We focus on what are the most important things to measure in a factory. We give them data loggers and other measurement instruments and give them a set of homework assignments involving taking measurements. We provide them with examples of projects we have done in similar situations. The project documents include step-by-step project instructions. They see these examples of projects they can copy and do in their facility. That’s what they like so much. Can you review some areas of energy management your firm works on? Sure. I’ll try to give a rough overview for you. 1. 2. Demand Control — Using electricity at cheaper times and managing peak demand. Lighting — Not the most important, but can still be significant. Have the right amount of light, turn them off when not in use and use higher efficiency fixtures. 36 6 www ww w w ww.airb estpra tices.com b stpractices.com com http://www.airbestpractices.com
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