Compressed Air Best Practice Guide for Industry
Compressed air at the correct pressure and quality is essential
to our processes and the well being of the plant
Compressed Air Facts
10% of UK industrial electricity is used to
produce compressed air
This equates to around 400,000,000 On average 30% can be saved some at Compressed Air is NOT free - its an
expensive resource - dont waste it little or no cost this equates to 1.16 MTonne CO2 or 316,800 Tonnes of Carbon
Compressed Air is expensive
Due to inefficiencies in the production of power (only 34% efficient) and the subsequent use of electricity to drive compressors. Only 4% of the initial energy is converted to useable energy in the compressed air
Over the Lifespan of a compressor the costs are broken down as shown in the diagram to the right
Getting It Right First Time
A little knowledge can go a long way. If you choose the right compressor configuration to start with, youll be well on the way to an energy efficient system. The next section will explain a little about compressors and dryers, enough to help you choose the right equipment when the time arises.
Choosing the Right Compressor
Can you answer these questions?
What pressure do you need? How much compressed air do you need? What Quality of air do you need? What`s the shape of your demand profile?
If yes, then you can start thinking about what type of compressor you need, you can choose from the following:
Compressors
Positive displacement
Dynamic
Rotary
Reciprocating
Centrifugal
Axial
Screw
Sliding Vane
Oil Free
Oil Injected
Oil Free
Oil Injected
If no, then you need to carry out a system wide survey to determine the answers to the questions.
Choosing the Right Compressor
The most common types of compressor are shown here
Rotary Screws
Reciprocating
Centrifugal
Choosing the Right Compressor
Compressor Type, Efficiencies and Sizes
Specific power consumption, kW-100 cfm 24-26 18-22 16-19 24-26 18-22 17-19 20-25 16-20 18-22 16-18 Part load efficiency Good Good Excellent Poor Fair Fair Good Good Excellent* Excellent*
Type
Range, cfm 2-25 25-250 250-2500 2-25 25-250 250-2500 25-250 250-2500 500-2500 >2500
Lubricated piston
Oil injected screw Oil free screw Centrifugal
* Within turndown range
Choosing the Right Compressor
The type of compressor you choose will depend on your system pressure, capacity, quality requirements and the shape of the demand pattern. Systems with steady, high demands might opt for a series of centrifugal machines. Systems requiring extremely high quality air should opt for Oil-free designs Systems with extremely variable demands might opt for a VSD
How to Reduce your Compressed Air Costs
Improve Compressor Running strategy
Use the most efficient machine you have to Base load Use only the number of machine you actually need
Running a compressor unloaded uses around 30% of the loaded running power A ZR5-A compressor is rated at 400kW, the unloaded power demand is 135kW
Running a ZR5-A unloaded for a year will cost around 35,400
AIR DEMAND
System Start-up
High Demand
Low Demand
How to Reduce your Compressed Air Costs
Reduce Leakage
Compressed Air leaks can account for the majority of a sites usage Simple measures can increase pressure to the end user
How to Reduce your Compressed Air Costs
Reduce System Pressure
A reduction of 1barg will typically save around 6-7% of the generation costs Reducing system pressure also reduces the system leakage
How to Reduce your Compressed Air Costs
Correct Pipe Sizing
The maximum design velocity for main distribution pipework is 6m/s For short branch lines the velocity can be up to 15m/s Pressure drop across distribution system should be less than 0.2 bar Consider low friction aluminium or plastic piping systems
Pipe size, inches 1.5 2 2.5 3 4 6 8 10 Recommended flow rate at 7 barg, 25C, scfm 140 220 360 500 875 1900 3400 5350
How to Reduce your Compressed Air Costs
Heat Recovery
Compressed Air Treatment
Treatment is essential to reduce
water, dust and oil in the delivered air
Treat the main supply of air to
minimum quality then upgrade at point of use where required
Use ISO8573.1 air quality
specification
Compressor
Compression concentrates impurities In atmospheric air there are around 150 million dust particles/m3 At 7 barg there are 1.2 billion dust particles/m3
Compressed Air Treatment
Water In Compressed Air
The Effects of Untreated Compressed Air
Choosing the Right Treatment
Use the minimum amount of treatment that you can, this usually involves a receiver, a water filter, prefilters, a refrigerant dryer, and afterfilters.
A Typical Treatment System
Water separator Compressor Receiver Prefilter
Dryer
Afterfilters
In general users with no particular demand for high quality air will use oil-injected machinery and refrigerant dryers. Whereas, users that require a very high quality of air will opt for oil-free compressors, desiccant dryers with pre- and afterfilters all duplexed to ensure system integrity.
Compressed Air Treatment
The Standard ISO8573:2001
Strict standards have been adopted to govern the quality of compressed air systems. ISO8573:2001 defines the class intervals that must be achieved with respect to Particulate burden, Moisture content (Dewpoint), and Oil Content (hydrocarbon carryover).
Particulates:
Class 0.1um 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Maximum number of partic les per m Particle size 0.1<d 0.5um 0.5<d 1.0um 1.0<d 5.0um m m Mg/m
3 3
Particle size
Concentration
As specified by the equipment user or supplier and more stringent than 1 Notclass specified 100 1 0 Not specified 100,000 1,000 10 Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified 10,000 500 1,000 20,000 <=5 <=40 <=5 <=10 Not applicable Not applicable Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified Not applicable Not applicable
Water & Oil:
Class Pressure dewpoint, C Oil carry over, mg/m
3
1 2 3 4 5 6
As specified by the equipment user or supplier and more stringent than <= -70 class 1 <=0.01 <= -40 <= -20 <= +3 <= +7 <= +10 <=0.1 <=1 <=5
Choosing the Right Treatment
Different Dryers for Different System Dewpoints
Pressure dewpoint, C +3
Dryer type
Filtration
Additional cost
Refrigerant
General purpose None
3%
-20
Waste heat regenerated
3%
-40
Air regenerated
Pre & After
8-15%
-40
Heat regenerated
Pre & After
10-15%
-70
Air regenerated
Pre & After
15-21%
Choosing the Right Treatment
Different Dryers for Different System Dewpoints
Refrigerant Low energy and capital cost provide pressure dewpoints to +3oC
Waste heat recovery chemical dryers Can be used on oil free compressors, low energy cost can produce dewpoints to -25oC
Desiccant dryers Essential for lower dewpoints, expensive to operate. Look for alternative regeneration methods such as steam and external blowers.
Choosing the Right Treatment
System Filtration
Dust/water separators Mechanical cyclonic separators General purpose filters Replaceable element, typical filtration to 1um, oil to 0.1 mg/m3 High efficiency filters Replaceable element, typical filtration to 0.01um, oil to 0.01 mg/m3 Activated carbon filters Designed for oil removal to <0.01 mg/m3
Choosing the Right Treatment
Dealing with Condensate
Oil water separation required on oil lubricated systems Condensate is too contaminated for direct discharge to drain
Results of Previous Work
The Main Causes of Loss are:
Inefficient Generation & Treatment Poor compressor control Poor efficiency Incorrect sizing Pressure drops in treatment and distribution systems Leaks Misuse of air - cooling, product ejection & ventilation Waste heat not recovered
Breakdown of Savings Identified During Carbon Trust Surveys in Northern Ireland
distribution improvements 1.5% new compressors 1.8% etraps 2.9% treatment improvemenst 0.5%
vsd 5.7% Pressure reduction 6.0% compressor control 7.0%
other 1.5% Leakage reduction 32.4%
heat recovery 12.6% misuse reductions 13.7% compressor efficiency improvemnts 14.4%
Total generation and treatment cost Potential Savings % savings Carbon Savings (Tonnes/Annum)
7,571,046 1,466,673 19.4% 7,095
