Compressed Air Best Practices - February 2009 - (Page 7)

Compressed Air Industry POWER PLANTS | 02/09 | DOE ITP’s “Save Energy Now” Program Surpasses 2008 Assessment Goals ITP conducted 691 Save Energy Now energy assessments in 2008 — exceeding the goal to complete 550 by years end. Save Energy Now assessments are performed at large U.S. manufacturing facilities by DOE Energy Experts and at small- and medium-sized plants through university-based Industrial Assessment Centers. Potential savings identified in 2008 include: p p p the air compressors, which use wind as the power source to compress air. Once the air is compressed to a compression range between 750 and 1,500 psi, the compressed air is stored in geologic features present at the site like underground salt domes. When the wind isn’t blowing, custom control algorithms send the compressed air to generators which can dispatch energy on-demand using the compressed air as a power source. “The challenge was to design an air compressor which could deliver highpressure air with a varying power source — and make it reliable enough to be up in the nacelle of the turbine,” said Mr. Aborn. “We could not find a commercially available design, so we set out to design our own.” Mr. Aborn and his team worked with wellrespected engineering firms like Ricardo and Belcan and came up with a positive displacement rotary screw air compressor that is a dry screw and takes the rotating shaft of the turbine rotor and feeds multiple stages of the air compressor. The design is currently patent pending. “We have the unit prototyped and have been testing the unit,” says Mr. Aborn. “The target is to have the first power plant up and running in 2012.” For more information, visit www.generalcompression.com Approximately $300 million in energy savings 18 trillion Btu — the amount of energy used to heat 360,000 single-family homes each year 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — the equivalent of taking more than 200,000 cars off the road A total of 1,900 assessments took place between 2006 and 2008, helping manufacturers save an average of 8% of their total energy costs. To date, Save Energy Now assessments have identified more than $1 billion in potential energy savings and saved industry $173 million. For more information visit www.eere.gov/industry/ Motorized Ball Valves THE CONDENSATE MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS JORC Magnetic Zero Air Loss Drains At JORC we never compromise on Quality or Reliability—why should you? JORC Industrial LLC. Electronic Zero Air Loss Drains See our new online catalog at www.jorc.com Timer Drains Compressed Air Leak Detector Oil Water Separators www.airbestpractices.com 7 http://www.eere.energy.gov/ http://www.generalcompression.com http://www.jorc.com http://www.jorc.com http://www.airbestpractices.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Compressed Air Best Practices - February 2009

Compressed Air Best Practices - February 2009 Contents From the Editor Utility-Air News Compressed Air Audit of the Month Air Standards Instrument Air in Nuclear Power Plants Seven Sustainability Projects for Industrial Energy Savings The Pneumatic Advantage Personal Productivity Resources for Energy Engineers Wall Street Watch Advertiser Index Classifieds

Compressed Air Best Practices - February 2009

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