Audits promise significant compressed air savings

An Air Compression Technology product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 19, 2005

As business energy costs continue to rise ACT reckons it can deliver significant energy and carbon savings on compressed air and vacuum systems.

As business energy costs continue to rise ACT reckons it can deliver significant energy and carbon savings on compressed air and vacuum systems.

Compressed air and vacuum can be seen as a considerable ongoing cost to businesses.

With over 10% of the UK grid being used to generate compressed air and vacuum, and on average over 20% of this energy being wasted, compressed air and vacuum is one of the easiest technologies to deliver significant energy and carbon savings at the lowest cost.

ACT is uniquely positioned to independently assist businesses through the use of specialist auditing services, continual improvement and training programmes designed to dramatically improve and maintain the efficiency of compressed air and vacuum systems.

"Improvements can usually be achieved by introducing no or low cost corrective methods resulting in significant 'all-up' cost reductions in both energy and maintenance directly associated with the supply of compressed air and vacuum", says Kevin Course joint MD of ACT.

Having an audit completed on your compressed air and/or vacuum system is the first step to creating the opportunity for energy and carbon savings.

ACT offers a comprehensive independent audit which covers all of the key areas including generation, treatment, distribution and process usage.

This will include identifying and quantifying any probable process misuse and wastage.

On completion of an audit the findings are presented to the client along with proposals to eradicate the problems that are the cause of misuse and wastage in order to improve the efficiency of the compressed air/vacuum system.

This leads on to the second ACT program of continual improvement, whereby the efficiencies derived in the audit are continually monitored to ensure they are maintained.

Course adds: "Even after an audit has been completed and the problems creating misuse and wastage have been resolved, system inefficiencies can still occur".

"This is because system dynamics will always change, as fluctuations in the demand for compressed air change, eg when production needs alter or when equipment is added or removed to a compressed air system".

"Constant policing of the system is the only way to ensure that it remains energy efficient".

The third programme offered by ACT is best practice compressed air and vacuum system awareness training, offered at all levels to suit individual requirements.

The interactive training programme consists of derived best practice procedures relevant to a plant's technology field to enable the end user to continually recognise and act on opportunity for improvement.

Training can also incorporate recognised site specific detail following an audit.

"The training programme is designed for all employees, from owner/users, productive and engineering personnel", says Course.