Energy Efficiency in\
Compressed Air System
Life Cycle Cost of an air compressor
Energy cost can be up to
90% over a 10 year
Energy consumption working life
Within 12 months,
Installation operating cost is more than
purchase cost
Maintenance
Energy consumption is the
most significant factor in
Investment operating cost of an air
compressor
Why Care About Compressed Air?
Types of Compressors
• Reciprocating
• Rotary screw
• Centrifugal
Reciprocating
• Pulsating discharge
• High maintenance
cost
• Suitable for high
delivery pressure
• Upto 30 HP
Screw
• Pulsation free air
• Compact
• Minimum
maintenance
• Low vibration
• Most suitable for
steady air demand
• Oil and oil-free type
Centrifugal compressor
Typically larger units (300 HP to > 4,500 HP)
Multi-stage, typically 2-4 depending on size/pressure
Multi-stage compression
A typical compressed air system
Inlet Air Filters
After cooler
Separator
Receiver
Air line filters
Refrigerated dryer
Condensate traps
Pressure regulators
Compressed Air Capacity
• Air drawn into the compressor at atmospheric
conditions is termed as Free Air Delivery (FAD)
• Conduct FAD test compare with design capacity
• Deviations more than 20% indicate problems in
piston rings, cylinder bore etc.
Receiver
• Receiver serves as a buffer and storage between
compressor and consumption system
• Receiver capacity > compressor output of
compressed air/minute
• Adequate receiver capacity potentially will reduce
running time of compressor
– Factor of 1.5 when sizing receiver for a large system
– Factor of 3 when sizing receiver for a small system
Specific Power Consumption
Power drawn by compressor motor = kW
Corresponding FAD = m3/minute
Specific power consumption = Power drawn by motor (KW)
FAD (m3/minute)
35.3 cubic feet per minute (CFM) = 1 meter cube per minute
35.3 CFM = 1 m3/minute
As a thumb rule, for every HP in the nameplate capacity, the air compressor
will produce approximately 4 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm)
Compressor controls – load/unload
The average power consumption =
kW (Load/Unload) = Load time x Load kW +Unload time x Unload kW
Total time i.e.(Load time + Unload time)
Compressor controls – VFD control
Power savings with Inverter =
kW (Load/Unload) – kW (Inverter) x Annual running hours
Variable Speed Drive (Inverter
control)
• Suitable for varying air demand
• Provide constant pressure control and match
system use by varying compressor speed
• Provide soft start & stop
• Suitable retrofit for oversized compressor to
reduce speed and energy use
Tips and Thumb Rules to Save
Compressed Air Energy
Air filter
Every 100 mm (water) pressure
drop across filter reduces the
compressor capacity 1%.
A dirty inlet filter can cost you of
5% or more!
Compressor discharge pressure set point
Do not use higher pressure than
required to run equipment
Pressure reduction of 10% result
in 5% savings in energy
consumption
Power consumption reduce by 7%
for every 1 kg/cm2 decrease in
compressor pressure
Pressure loss in distribution system
Pressure loss at end point of distribution system does not exceed 10% of the
compressor's outlet pressure.
A 1 bar (100 kPa) reduction in operating pressure can save about 8% of
energy costs.
Power Reduction through Pressure Reduction
Air pressure 50 kPa 100 kPa 150 kPa 200 kPa
reduction
Average load Energy saving (kWh/yr)
(kW)
4 320 640 960 1280
7.5 600 1200 1800 2400
11 875 1750 2625 3500
15 1195 2390 3583 4780
Reduce Compressed Air Usage
Air Pressure Flow rate • Minimize unregulated
PSIG SCFM air users
50 58.2 – Install regulators
60 67 – Reduced pressure
70 76 lowers air consumption
80 85 – Unregulated users use
90 94 47% more compressed
100 103 air at 110 vs. 70 PSIG
110 112 – Less equipment wear
120 121 and tear
Pipe sizing
Power required to deliver 50 m3/hr of 7 bar(g)
(700kPa(g)) air along 100m of steel pipe as the diameter
Adopt Ring Main System if feasible
Inappropriate use of compressed air
Compressed Air Equipment Alternatives
use Used
Blowing or Nozzle/gun Air knife, induction nozzle, low
cleaning pressure blower, broom / brush
Cooling Cooling Air conditioning systems,
induction system chilled water, fresh air
ventilation, fans
Product drying Nozzle/gun Solenoid control air knife,
induction nozzle
Segregating high and low air pressures
Do not use higher pressure than
required to run equipment
Pressure reduction of 10%
result in 5% savings in energy
consumption
Power consumption reduce by 7% for
every 1 kg/cm2 decrease in compressor
pressure
Good Maintenance Saves Energy
Dirty Inter-coolers
For every 5.5 oC increase in
water temperature, the power
consumption will increase by
1%.
Good Maintenance Saves Energy
Dirty After-coolers
For every 5.5 oC deterioration
of the after cooler approach
temperature, the dryer load is
increased by as much as 46%.
Good Maintenance Saves Energy
Dirty Oil Separator
A dirty oil separator can
increase your HP 5%
Air leakages
Leaks cause drop in system pressure
Make tools function inefficiently
Force compressor load/unload more
May result in additional compressors
30-40% leaks common as against 10%
(allowable)
Leak survey once in 15 days
recommended
Reduce Compressed Air Leaks
• Minimize Leaks
– Measure leak load to quantify the opportunity
– Find the leaks with an ultrasonic leak detector
– Tag the leaks
– Fix the leaks
– Re-measure the leak load to quantify the
savings
– Develop and on-going leak reduction program
Annual cost of leaks
Leak hole Air leakage at Losses
Ø 800 kPa(g)
mm Size Litres/min Energy Cost
kW [Rs/year]
1 75 0.6 21600
2 260 2.0 72000
3 600 4.4 158400
Assumption: 700 kPa, operating 8000 hours/year
Quantifying leakage by emptying the receiver
Supply line to receiver is
plugged (1)
All user equipment in the
system are switched off
Receiver pressure drops as a
result of leakage from PS to PF
Time t is recorded
Leakage qty is given by:
Example
A compressor air receiver with a
large pipeline system has a
volume of 1000 l. Within 2
minutes, receiver pressure drops
from 8 bar to 7 bar.
Leakage volume of this
system is approximately 500
l/min
Note:
This method is suitable for system where
the pipeline system is less than 10% of
volume of receiver.
Dryers
Types include refrigerated dryer, desiccant
dryer, membrane dryer etc.
Refrigerant dryer cools the air to about 2oC to
remove condensate
Desiccant dryer absorbs water in compressed
air into desiccant to reduce due point
temperature of air to about -40oC or lower.
Membrane dryer uses semi-permeable
membrane to separate water vapour from air
stream.
Refrigerated dryer
Adsorption dryer
Condensate trap
Waste air if fully or partially open
Manual or solenoid based or zero air
loss (float-activated drain)
Electronic level sensing valve in
place of manual, disc and timed
valve
Reduce Compressed Air Usage
• Shut off air to equipment that is shutdown
or abandoned
– Install automatic solenoid valves
– Close Valves of idle sections of the plant
General ENCON Measures
Operational & House-keeping Measures
• Reduce compressed air delivery pressure to the lowest
acceptable settings, wherever possible to save energy.
• Check leakage in compressed air system fortnightly.
• Keep minimum possible range between load and unload
pressure settings.
• Check pressure drop across suction and discharge filters
and clean or replace filters promptly upon alarm.
• Clean inter-coolers periodically.
• Establish compressed air efficiency maintenance
programme as part of continuous energy management
programmes.
General ENCON Measures
Low-cost measures
• Turn off air consuming equipment, using electric
solenoids, or manual shutoff valves.
• Install high-efficiency air nozzles or venturi-type devices.
These nozzles can reduce compressed air consumption by
projecting a precise jet of air for blow-off applications
rather than blowing with open compressed air lines. The
high-efficiency air nozzles can reduce compressed air
application demand by about 50%.
General ENCON Measures
Retrofit Measures
• Retrofit VFD in big compressors, say over 100 kW and operating
under-loaded most of the time, to eliminate unloaded condition
altogether.
• Replace very old compressor after verifying specific power
consumption (kW/m3) with new compressor with lower specific power
consumption (kW/m3)
• Examine alternatives to compressed air use such as blowers for
cooling, hydraulic rather than air cylinders, electric rather than air
actuators, electronic rather than pneumatic controls.
• Use smaller compressor during low production periods.
• Replace desiccant dryer with refrigerated dryer which has lower
specific power consumption.
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