Early comprehensive reports – Market Research Report: Compressed Air Efficiency” 2000 and “Compressed Air Systems in the European Union”, ISI 2000 first opened eyes to the hidden costs of compressed air 15 years ago with some hard hitting facts and citing the following reasons for the general inertia – “no-one knows the cost, process reliability is more important than energy spend, compressed air wastage is invisible and compressed air leaks pose no immediate health and safety threat.”

 

Fast forward

Fast forward 15 years, add the formation of the Carbon Trust in 2001 and a wealth of new information and guides, not to mention a far healthier attitude to wastage and one would hope for some improvement. It may come as a surprise that the Carbon Trust cites in their 2012 document “Compressed Air –Opportunities for Business” that 30% of compressed air is still being lost in leaks, misuse, poor maintenance and control.  Compare with the 25-35% figure cited in the 2000 reports.  If compressed air accounts for around 10% of UK industry’s electricity consumption – equivalent to the annual output of nearly 1.5 power stations and over 5 million tonnes of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere (Carbon Trust), there really shouldn’t be any margin for wastage.  

The cost of leakages

Table 1 shows the cost of leakages according to the Carbon Trust in 2012.  Imagine these costs replicated across innumerable sites where repairs are needed or have gone unnoticed.  The Carbon Trust offer simple advice to initiate “an ongoing leak test and repair programme. Leaks reappear and a 3mm hole could cost over £600/year in wasted energy”

Hole diameter (mm)	Cost of Leak based on £0.05k/Wh
	48 hr/wk	120 hr/wk
0.50	7.2	18
1.5	65	160
3.0	250	630

Table 1

 

A fast payback

If this doesn’t stimulate action, then the payback model devised by TS Jürgen Billep may.  

The conclusions to this are clear, payback is less than 6 months for the following reasons: Compressed air is expensive, survey costs are low (7 to 9%), remedial costs are low (8 to 10%) and the results can be immediate.

Having reflected on the research available, it becomes clear that reducing compressed air waste becomes an everyday good housekeeping practice.  However, as this research was available in 2000 and with little significant change in the intervening 15 years to show for it, we may assume the real reason lies in a company not legally having to act. No legislation has driven a change.

 

The tide is turning

The ESOS Regulations 2014 bring into force Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive and mandate that all large businesses in the UK undertake comprehensive assessments of energy use and energy efficiency opportunities at least once every four years.

The deadline for the first compliance period is 5 December 2015, by which time qualifying businesses will have to achieve compliance with the regulations and notify the Environment Agency. Such an assessment will measure total energy consumption for buildings, industrial processes and transport; identify areas of significant energy consumption and cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations.

 

The smaller business remains compliant free, yet should feel motivated to do more, with fast paybacks available.  The following links are practical and informative; http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/guides/energy-efficiency/compressed-air http://www.carbontrust.com/media/20267/ctv050_compressed_air.pdf .  http://www.britishcompressedairsociety.org.uk/pdf/carbontrust/FL0069a.pdf

 

PSI is an automation specialist, known for its representation of MAC and PHD products and its company philosophy of attaining cost efficiencies in the solutions they provide.  PSI carries out ultrasonic air leak reduction surveys and compressed air quality testing and distributes a wide range of compressed air purification products.