From AI to common compressed air mistakes: The experts’ view

We begin with an insight from Steven Rohan, BCAS president who shares his thoughts on recent changes in the market. "The compressed air industry is experiencing shifts in customer purchasing behaviours in response to the energy crisis," he said. "This has led to heightened awareness of energy consumption and operational efficiency. 

"As energy costs soared, organisations have been compelled to reassess their compressed air systems, leading to a focus on energy-efficient technologies and practices. With this drives the need for component and system level optimisation and the opportunity to leverage new technologies such as AI in the search for maximising efficiency. 

"Despite the compelling need to act, it is still commonplace for purchasers to focus on upfront capital expenditure and reduce preventative maintenance. In the following section, key industry representatives provide further insight into the industry’s response to the energy crisis and how informed choices using best practice guidance and emerging technology such as AI could yield better outcomes for end users and the environment."

What are the potential challenges and opportunities for the compressed air industry in regards to AI? 

Derek Leith, territory leader, UK, Ireland and Nordics, Ingersoll Rand Industrial Ireland believes that AI provides opportunities for compressed air end users to realise significant savings through optimisation of their plant's ecosystems. "While there has been much groundwork from manufacturers and service providers to enable plant for IIOT 4.0., there are distinct challenges in deploying the technology due to concerns with cybersecurity, proprietary protections and legislative concerns in some jurisdictions," he stated.

Serge Santos, director and owner, Compressed Air Centre added: "AI has the potential to significantly optimise energy efficiency and enhance system reliability. However, the industry is not yet at a stage where sufficient data from compressor systems is gathered, collected and used consistently, meaning AI's transformative potential in the compressed air sector is largely untapped at present."

Meltem Middleton-Duff, director at Hertz Kompressore agreed that AI presents numerous energy saving opportunities through the easier collection of data, especially for remote operatives but added: “AI technology could present challenges on older compressor models, meaning where there is a mixed technology estate, the opportunities for accurate data analysis could be challenging.”

What have been the most significant developments (technological/ services etc) in the compressed air industry over the last 12 months? And what direction will the industry take in the next 12 months to meet the needs of end users?

"A recent significant development is the ongoing compressed air equipment verification initiative by BCAS," said Santos. "By providing third-party verification data that compares the performance of various compressed air equipment objectively, BCAS aims to empower customers with the information needed to make more informed decisions. 

"This initiative has the potential to be a game changer, influencing customer behaviour by highlighting the actual performance and efficiency of different systems.

"This shift towards data-driven decision-making will ultimately benefit end users, ensuring they can select equipment that best meets their needs in terms of performance, efficiency, and reliability."

Middleton-Duff agreed that the BCAS verification programme would be a positive step forward when launched, helping to drive efficiency in the industry. "It is encouraging to see more end users recognising the value of BCAS training too, ensuring that compressed air systems remain compliant and safe and energy performance is prioritised," she added.

What are the best resources available to managers of compressed air systems and how have you seen them best used?

Allan Dolby, managing director, Direct Air explained that one of the best resources available today is utilising IOT for remote monitoring opportunities. He added that: "This helps to manage systems and ensure that any issues can be dealt with promptly and before they escalate into site wide problems.

"In many cases this information allows a fast response to a problem or situation that may have gone unnoticed previously."

Paul Sparke, technical director, Active Air Solutions agreed, and added: "A key resource is the use of regular energy surveys, alongside a central management system, where the user can monitor pressure, flows and electricity consumption, to continually improve the system."

Ben John, business line manager for Industrial Air, Atlas Copco Compressors UK continued: "The best resources for engineering or utility managers are remote compressor monitoring. From the data, trends in temperature or pressures can be tracked and actioned to avoid an expensive failure or loss of production."

What are the most common mistakes made by purchasers and managers of compressed air systems and how can the industry help the end users in these areas?

Andy Jones, managing director, Mattei Compressors (MUK) began with a commonly shared view from the BCAS board, around the benefits of considering the whole life costs. "Many companies still focus on purchasing the cheapest equipment without considering the overall cost of ownership," he explained.

"We also often see inefficient and old equipment repaired as there are no available capex budgets, even though the financially sound approach would be to replace with new, more energy efficient and reliable equipment. 

"Both of these scenarios can lead to companies actually spending far more over time, either due to higher than necessary energy consumption, or to replace aging equipment within a few months of investing in measures to try to keep it going."

Leith continued: "Compressed air system user purchasers and managers still tend to focus on the capital expenditure associated with plant investment, rather than making decisions based on efficiencies, total cost of ownership and sustainability criteria. 

"The onus however remains on industry to educate and execute financing options which enable end users to take more holistic approaches to investments."

Dolby added: "The most common mistake made by purchasers and managers of compressed air systems is to be led by price alone. There are many factors that should be considered as part of the purchasing decision when investing in a compressed air system.  A poorly designed or specified system will generally cost the user much more in terms of operational costs, be it efficiency of operation or reliability."

John concluded: "A common mistake that leads to poorly performing compressed air systems is to base the selection of new equipment on the size of the existing hardware. In many cases, this may mean the user is selecting new equipment based on inefficiencies in the existing compressed air distribution system. 

"Before expanding or replacing an existing compressed air system, we would recommend a detailed system audit by a compressed air specialist who can best assess a compressed air system’s optimal savings potential.”

Has the energy crisis had an impact on your market space - do you see this continuing and has there been a silver lining? Conversely, what are the things users of compressed air do to save costs that have negative impacts on their air systems?

Sparke begins by explaining how the crisis has really demonstrated to customers that compressed air can be very energy intensive.  "I’ve seen many positive examples of customers focusing on energy reporting, point of use flow metering, leak surveys and heat recovery to generate hot water and space heating.

"At BCAS, we need to keep educating end users and demonstrating these excellent ways to save energy to mitigate for rising energy costs."

Jones added: "We have seen both positive and negative impacts of the energy crisis. 

"On the positive side some companies have taken the opportunity to replace aging compressors in favour of new, more energy efficient machines, as the rising cost of energy has made the justification from a return-on-investment viewpoint much easier over a shorter period of time. 

"On the negative side however, we have seen other companies cutting back on maintenance spend, which ultimately leads to equipment breakdowns, increase in energy consumption and sometimes the complete loss of production for periods of time. The cost of lost production can often far outweigh the cost of maintenance or even the cost of replacing aging equipment with new."

Santos agreed and stated: "While the energy crisis has prompted some positive behaviours, such as increased scrutiny of operational costs, there are still counterproductive actions that users may take in an attempt to save costs. 

"One such action is reducing or deferring maintenance, which can lead to more significant issues and higher costs in the long run. To mitigate this, it is essential for users to adopt a proactive approach to maintenance and system monitoring, leveraging advanced technologies and data to make informed decisions."

www.bcas.org.uk

Tel: 0207 935 2464