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Since the installation of two Quantima compressors from CompAir, Jaguar Land Rover's (Jaguar) Castle Bromwich plant is on target to achieve annual electricity savings in the region of 3 million kWh, with payback on investment expected within two years

Jaguar has set itself stringent environmental targets to reduce its carbon footprint through an ongoing programme of energy reduction. This is especially the case at the company's Castle Bromwich facility where the current range of XF, XK and XJ models are assembled and finished.

Here, the paint process is a critical part of production and is one of the major users of compressed air. Interruptions in supply or air quality issues will not only affect throughput in the paint shop, but can impact on productivity elsewhere in the plant.

The existing compressed air installation was coming to the end of its useful, economic life and Jaguar began to investigate the options available that would ensure both continuity of air supply and deliver significant energy cost savings.

A cross-functional project team worked alongside CompAir to evaluate the options available. This included examining the benefits of repairing or refurbishing existing equipment or whether to invest in new, high technology compressors. CompAir engineers carried out an air audit on the existing compressors to determine compressed air usage and the potential savings that could be achieved with the installation of a new system.

As a result, Jaguar chose to upgrade its network to incorporate Quantima technology, installing two new compressors and ancillary equipment. At half the footprint of the existing units, the machines were easy to install into the compressor house.

The compressors are controlled by CompAir's SmartAir Master control system to produce compressed air at 8 bar. The Q- 52 unit provides the base load with the Q-43 machine coming on line when the pressure drops below 7.5 bar, helping to avoid any peaks or troughs in supply. The compressors also provide air to the XF trim and final assembly line.

Each Quantima unit is water cooled and served by a closed loop air blast chiller; an energy efficient way of cooling the water to the required intake temperature which is helping Jaguar to save over 11,000m3 of water per annum.

Air is transported to a desiccant dryer and then passes through a series of CO2 scrubbers to meet the required standards for high-quality breathing air. This part of the compressed air treatment is critical, as a proportion of the air is used for breathing masks within the paint shop booth processes.

When the clean, dry air reaches the paint shop, it is used for a variety of applications across the 5.7 miles of conveyor line.

Slave removal, where car bodies are first placed on to the conveyor system, requires the full 8 bar pressure in order to lift the vehicles, especially on the heaviest of the models.

Compressed air is also used to control the valves operating the pneumatic paint dosing process and on both the underbody seal and the internal seam robots; an area of the process with the highest throughput.

Since the Quantima compressors have been installed, Jaguar is on target to achieve annual savings in the region of: 3 million kWh of electricity; 11,000m3 of water; and 13,000t of CO2. This accounts for 12% of the Castle Bromwich plant environmental target, and the company anticipates payback within two years.

Jaguar also relies on a QLife predictive maintenance package, with remote monitoring. This helps to prevent unscheduled downtime by tracking the compressor's operating parameters and predicating when components or parts may need servicing or replacing.