A little goes a long way
November 1st 2008

Although many bigger companies have responded to the challenge of the high energy cost of compressed air, smaller companies in the main have not even though the potential savings are large

Compressed air, as a clean and powerful source of energy, is ever present in manufacturing today, vital for a vast number of industries and used in huge volumes, compressed air is essential to many processes. With international concern about global warming, energy saving, quite rightly, is on the agenda for many manufacturing companies.

Over the last few years, Meech Air Technology has experienced a considerable growth in sales of its energy saving compressed air products to large manufacturing companies. Many, if not all of these companies are now facing energy cost increases of eye-watering proportions and so are now leading the field in energy saving measures. In an economic climate that is far from friendly to manufacturing, a focus on energy saving makes really sound bottom-line sense.

Smaller companies, however, seem rather more hesitant in their response to reduce energy costs even though potential savings would still be substantial.

Discussions with customers have brought Meech to the conclusion that their cautious reaction is largely due to two factors.

Firstly smaller companies by definition don't have the manpower to give one individual the responsibility for an energy policy. Compressed air is seen simply as a tool and the efficiency of its use is not questioned. Decisions are therefore all too often taken on an unplanned basis by maintenance staff targeted to cut capital expenditure costs but with no remit to reduce energy use.

The second reason is that, under extreme pressure themselves, and with no time to research the topic, many managers and directors are not aware of how economic and easy to install energy saving measures can be.

How wrong they are. To take one example, the simple installation of Air Saving Nozzles can immediately reduce compressed air use by an average of 70% and increase air output by up to 25 times.

To put financial figures on this: one openair line, operating at 80psi (5bar) will consume 93cfm (2632L/m) at a cost of approx. £2490 per year. Under the same conditions the adjustable Air Saver Nozzle operating at 80psi (5bar) will consume 15cfm (424L/m) at a cost of approx. £405 per year. This works out at a staggering saving of £2090 per year for every nozzle fitted, a strong enough argument to make even the most over-burdened Financial Director take action. In addition, the energy saving nozzles may perhaps eliminate the need for a new, more powerful compressor to replace an existing one that may be struggling to cope with its current load.

Not only does the air user achieve increased air output, he also reduces the strain on the compressor, thus extending it's life even further.

But it's not just Air Saver Nozzles that help companies save money. Air curtains are used in many applications including removing water from bottles, cans, glass or metal, part cleaning before painting, creating an 'air wall' between processes as well as for cleaning/cooling conveyors and conveyed parts. The installation of air curtains in these environments provides substantial benefits, including low operating costs, compressed air savings, greatly reduced noise levels and the avoidance of electrical or explosion hazards.

Meech advises companies to purchase air curtains that provide a large area of blow-off coverage, with much lower air consumption and noise generation than the alternative open tubes or drilled/slotted pipe could create. Reduced air consumption results in significant cost savings.

Noise is also a big issue in factories. A new EU Noise Directive has become UK Law, affecting thousands of workers throughout UK manufacturing. The main points of the Directive are lowering the levels of noise at which protection must be provided, requiring employers to offer more hearing checks and, for the first time, setting a maximum level of noise that employees can legally be exposed to.

Under current legislation (the Noise at Work Regulations 1989), the first action level is a daily personal noise exposure of 85dBA, the second action level is a daily personal noise exposure of 90dBA, and the peak action level is a peak sound pressure of 200 pascals. With the implementation of the Physical Agents (Noise) Directive, the first action level is reduced to 80dBA, the second action level to 85dBA and there's an overall limit of 87dBA and 200 pascals. The limit value will take into account the reduction afforded by hearing protection.

The use of compressed air is inherently noisy and can often be clearly heard above the noise created by production machinery, making the environment uncomfortable for workers. Companies need to look out for products that can offer significant noise reductions, within the limits of the new law. For example, a standard Blowgun will have a noise level of approximately 93dBA, 6dBA above the limit value of the new law, whereas Meech's Safety Blowgun at 80psi can be purchased and the noise level is only 78dBA, 2dBA lower than the first action level of the new law.

Companies are under increasing competitive pressure. Energy saving measures will help even smaller companies to justify investments in energy saving compressed air solutions; savings that will be clearly visible on the next energy bill; savings that will in many cases have repaid the capital investment within a few months and which will continue to create benefits for years to come.

With companies now scrutinising every part of their expenditure, looking at ways of reducing compressed air usage is just one of many energy saving solutions.

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