A few years ago a group of wise individuals got together to form a committee that wrote a standard on how to perform energy assessments of compressed air systems. The result of the effort was the ASME standard EA-4 called “Energy Assessment for Compressed Air Systems”. The document they produced is a very comprehensive framework on performing detailed compressed air studies. It is unlikely there has ever been, nor will ever be a more complete guide to analyzing systems.
I particularly like the document because in its introduction it comes right to the point and tells the secrets to reducing compressed air system energy consumption. These are the two secrets that successful compressed air auditors use to work their magic, in getting 10, 30, 50 even 80 percent savings for their customers, often with very little financial outlay. In fact if these secrets were very well known, and widely adopted it might put those very same auditors out of business.
At the risk of incurring the wrath of my auditor friends and colleagues I will state a condensed version of these secrets for you now:
- Produce your compressed air more efficiently
- Use less compressed air
Well, OK, perhaps this list is a little disappointing, but I promise you that these two points are the keys to optimizing your system. These are what drive the compressed air system optimization marketplace and help keep energy auditors in their BMW’s.
Are the auditors worried that the secret is out? This is unlikely. There are hundreds of innovative ways to change a system so the compressed air can produced more efficiently. Many of these are assessed if you follow the structure of EA-4 when analyzing your system. And there are thousands of ways anyone can reduce the flow of compressed air. Again, many of these will be discovered if you had your system assessed. The result to you….more profits for your company through reduced energy consumption.
Learn more about compressed air system optimization by attending a Compressed Air Challenge Fundamentals of Compressed Air Systems seminar. To find the nearest location visit the CAC website. Our calendar of trainings is here.