Compressed Air Best Practices - October 2008 - (Page 51) Compressed Air Industry AUTOMOTIVE TRANSIT | 10/08 | Northwest Equipment also represents Tuthill Blowers across all of Canada. We have grown the business by four times since beginning to work with the technology. Our focus is on pneumatic conveying systems and wastewater treatment. We sell to OEM’s and have set up distributors across Canada. Is there a push to save energy in Alberta? Years ago, it was hard to talk in Alberta about energy savings. Factories only paid two cents a kWh! Five years ago, however, the industry was deregulated and energy costs are no longer subsidized and the blended rate is now at nine cents per kWh! Industry is now very interested to hear about how we can optimize their compressed air systems to reduce energy costs. The privately-held utility companies do not currently offer any incentive programs with rebates for compressed air equipment. Trans-Alta, Alberta Energy and Calpine are some of the utility companies we work with. Alberta does have a governmentdriven program to reduce carbon emissions. It is becoming very politically correct for industry to adopt greenhouse-friendly approaches. Most corporations, therefore, are very interested in our auditing programs. kW CO2 O Please describe your audit programs. Northwest Equipment is conducting a significant volume of compressed air audits and implementing many energy-saving compressed air and blower projects. Most customers have had a hard time reviewing their system over the years. They have historically just bought more air compressors. While most applications in Alberta have smaller (less than 100 hp) systems, we find that the potential savings make the work worthwhile for our clients. Our top two methods to find energy savings are to: 1. Data-log a compressed air system for one week FREE OF CHARGE. We monitor kW consumption of the system and review opportunities with the customer. The most common solution is to replace older partially-loaded equipment with air compressors using the new Variable Speed Drives which can match energy consumption with demand. Conduct a compressed air “inappropriate uses” audit. Common mis-applications for compressed air include blow-off applications in steel (high-pressure air to cool down steel) and food processing applications. We collaborate successfully on many projects like this with Mr. Ed Ball of Process Air Solutions. A study estimated that 10% of the electrical energy generated in Alberta was used to run air compressors. 2. Thank you, Northwest Equipment, for your insights. For more information, please contact Mr. Sid Van der Meer, Northwest Equipment Ltd, email: sid@nwequipltd.com, tel: 01-403-945-1988, www.nwequipltd.com www.airbestpractices.com 51 http://www.nwequipltd.com http://www.airbestpractices.com
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