Compressed Air Best Practices - October 2008 - (Page 26) | 10/08 Focus Industry AUTOMOTIVE TRANSIT | AUDIT SAVINGS MOTOR BY R MARSHALL, CET, CIM, MANITOBA HYDRO RON CO2 O A full compressed air audit at Motor Coach Industries in Winnipeg showed that the company’s compressed air system was annually costing $170,000 to operate and maintain. An improvement project, costing $250,000, has lowered the company’s operating and maintenance costs by $116,000 a year. Payback for the projects is 1.5 years, with the help of a Manitoba Hydro incentive under the Performance Optimization Program. Motor Coach Industries, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is the largest manufacturer of intercity tour coaches for the tour, charter, line-haul, scheduled service, commuter transit and conversion markets in the United States and Canada. The company operates a four screw-type air compressor system at its Clarence Avenue plant in Winnipeg. To maintain adequate system pressure at the plant, Motor Coach was forced to run all four compressors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Total annual electrical savings to date are an estimated 1,650.000 kWh. kW Paint Problem In the face of high operating costs, the staff tried to control the compressors with timers that often turned the compressors on and off at the wrong times, causing pressure drops during critical operations, such as bus painting. The pressure would drop below the lower limit of 65 psi required by the paint guns, marring paintwork. Oil, water and dust in the compressed air lines would also cause “fisheyes” and other paint defects. Because of detailed customer specifications, reworking a bus paint job can prove extremely costly. On the recommendation of their compressed air service provider, Motor Coach asked Manitoba Hydro to perform an audit to find solutions. 26 www.airbestpractices.com http://www.airbestpractices.com
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