15 Common Compressed Air System Mistakes to Avoid
Compressed air is the most expensive energy carrier in industry according to Taheri and Gadow (2017). Brodyansky et al. (1994), and Ilmberger and Seyfried (1994) confirms this with studies showing a 5 to 10% compressed air system efficiency. This suggests that a large amount of energy savings in an industrial compressed air system is possible, since users are normally not aware of the cost of compressed air (Radgen and Blaustein, 2001).
This paper presents 15 common mistakes that the author regularly comes across in his experience from 88 assessed compressed air systems in industry around the world. Some of the topics that are covered include the critical differences in controlling screw and centrifugal compressors, VFD applications, incorrect sized piping & tanks, and pressure versus flow end-use applications. Practical and cost effective case studies are visually demonstrated to show how companies achieved 35% total energy savings on average, by implementing some simple energy efficiency measures.
Speaker Bio
Albert is an energy engineer who has instructed over 150 training courses on Energy Management, Energy Auditing, Compressed Air-, and Pump-Systems. He has 17 years experience, has conducted over 220 energy audits, and has travelled and worked in 42 countries.
He is an instructor and contributing developer of 19 different energy training courses, including the internationally certified CEM®, CEA™, CIEP™ (lead developer), 50001CP™ and EAP.
Albert has won multiple international energy engineering awards, serves on the Global Guidance Committee of the AEE®, and is an AEE® lifetime member. He also authored the "Industrial Energy Systems Handbook" with River Publishers, which was released this week at AEE World.