Compressed Air

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Energy Surveys Project Management Gas and Oil Heating Electric Heating Office Lighting Carbon Trust Loans for Energy Efficiency Renewables General Lighting Stuff LED's Compressed Air Voltage Power Optimisation EPC's Water P F C Refrigeration C R C Energy Awareness Training CCA / ECA H V A C The Green Deal Home Owners Page Stewart My Opinion Client list Links Contact Me

Compressed Air
Air Is Free - it is all around us - it costs nothing - oh the bliss of ignorance - yes honestly even now in the 21st Century people still fail to appreciate that air - specifically compressed air - is one of the most expensive resources used in the workplace. The truth of the matter is that compressed air accounts for more than 10% of ALL energy used in industry in the UK. Compressed Air is so expensive because it takes lots of electricity to generate it and so by the time you have delivered your 'free' air to the point of use it is costing your company 90-120p per kWh. Now tell me fixing leaks isn't worthwhile - see below those who scoff.
In a 10 year period of ownership over an air compressor the "life cycle costs" can be allocated: 15% to capital outlay 10% to maintenance 75% to energy consumption
So how much does a compressor actually cost to run? Let's take an example that is fairly common in industry, namely the 37kW fixed speed compressor (pictured above) operating 24hours / 5.5 days all year round. Nice simple calculation: 37kW x 24 x 5.5 x 52 = 253,968kWh/year and at 10p/kWh = £25,397 in electricity costs every year. Now this simple calculation assumes the compressor is fully loaded at all times and makes no allowance for motor efficiency. In fact although £25,397 is a lot of money in anyone's terms if the compressor were actually running flat out all year long then I wouldn't be concerned because that is ideal in terms of efficiency and there would be no losses. However, the majority of fixed speed compressors operate long hours in an unloaded condition where they perform no useful work but still consume between 40-60% of the fully loaded condition - clearly this is very wasteful. Further, if air is leaking from the system the motor will be running simply to serve those unnecessary losses?

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