Monitoring Efficiency

January 12, 2021 10:53 am Published by

During these difficult times you may find that some of your production lines are either closed or running below capacity. The requirement for routine inspection and maintenance is still there however, perhaps even more so if operatives are not working on the line every day. The other aspect of pneumatic efficiency to consider is that the power to operate the system also has a cost so keeping compressors working at optimum effectiveness helps to keep overall production costs down. So, what can you do to maximise efficiency and how can Harrier Pneumatics help?

A system that is not measured cannot be effectively managed. Working from a known set of parameters that allow you to understand the challenges of improving the efficiency, air quality, air stability and reliability of your system is important. To monitor you must measure key parameters like pressure, flow, power, and dew point over a period of time. Harrier Pneumatics air audits provide that baseline, and cover both supply and demand sides of the system.

Supply side: Controlling the supply of compressed air to deliver a constant supply at the required pressure. Monitoring the supply to ensure that the pressure is stable is an area that can show savings in energy consumption. Manually altering the operating pressure of the system will use more power than running at a constant pressure. It also has the potential to reduce the life of key components within the compressor.

Demand side: A correctly designed and installed compressed air system will run efficiently, but will need inspection to spot leaks as they occur, or preferably prevent them in the first place. Artificial demand is the extra pressurised air in the system that is not being used or is being generated even though the attached components or end applications are not being used. If as we mentioned above if production lines are closed or operating at low capacity this artificial demand can be a drain on resources with costs for energy consumption again as well as system wear.

It is very difficult to assess whether a compressed air system is doing its job without measuring the system. Regular inspection and maintenance from Harrier’s engineering team will ensure that an expert eye is on your compressed air system proactively checking for leaks, and areas where the system is running less than efficiently. With the potential for 20-30% savings in operating costs, as well as reducing carbon footprint and the benefits to CSR that result from that, monitoring and inspection can offer real return on investment quickly. An efficient compressed air system is one that will last longer and cost less to operate. Get in touch with Harrier Pneumatics to discuss how we can help.

 

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This post was written by Harrier Pneumatics