Tag: optimize

Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System — Step 5: Intermediate Storage

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you use compressed air for ANYTHING, odds are EVERYTHING you use it for has a minimum supply pressure for proper operation. And if the supply pressure drops below that:

  • Blowoff devices won’t develop enough flow & force to effectively clean or dry the object(s) you use them for.
  • Air-operated chucks on CNC machines won’t hold the piece steady enough for proper cutting, and tool changers will operate slowly/sluggishly. This is a bad combination…increasing the time it takes to make something, AND making it poorly.
  • Pneumatic cylinders will actuate slowly…if at all. This can cause a big problem if, for instance, they’re used to lift a lid on a mixing tank for an automated chemical add, which ends up pouring all over the partially closed lid of the tank instead of going inside it.

These are just a few of the problems that inadequate supply pressure can lead to, and I list them specifically because I experienced them all during my storied (and strange) career path before EXAIR made me the compressed air know-it-all expert I am today. It wasn’t my job to fix those problems (I was on site doing field service on a scale, a hydraulic motor, and a chemical pump, respectively), so I had no idea HOW to fix the compressed air-related problems…but I do now.

One quick & easy fix would have been to increase the compressor discharge pressure. That’d work just fine, but it comes with a cost. Every 2psi increase in discharge pressure increases the power consumption of the compressor’s motor by 1%. Let’s say you increased the discharge pressure from 100psig to 120psig – that’s a 10% increase in power consumption…and operating cost. To add insult to injury, that also increases the magnitude of any leaks in your system, making them more costly as well.

EXAIR Model 9500-60 60 Gallon Receiver Tank.

Actually, that probably IS what I’d have done as a scale, hydraulics, or industrial pump technician. The RIGHT answer, though, is intermediate storage. A properly sized Receiver Tank, located close enough to those operations, would have prevented those problems without increasing operating costs. In fact, it could have even brought them down, if the compressed air header pressure was already set to overcome any pressure drops on the way to those air guns, CNC machine, or mixing tank lid cylinders. Every 2% DECREASE in discharge pressure will also decrease the compressor motor’s power consumption by 1%. Which is actually Step 6 in our Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System.

You electrical-types out there could also think of it as a capacitor – absorbing demand spikes & helping the circuit run more evenly.

Sizing a Receiver Tank is fairly straightforward, and we’ve written about it here, here, and here. You can, of course, always contact an Application Engineer to do (or check) the math…give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Week 6 Back to Basics- Control the Pressure

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

If you’ve been following along with this blog miniseries, you know we’ve reached the final step in the Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System. Each step so far has built toward this moment—and today we add the last piece of the puzzle.

The final step is simple but powerful: control the air pressure at the point of use to minimize consumption.

EXAIR offers a range of Pressure Regulators capable of handling air flow of up to 700 SCFM.

This is done by installing one of our pressure regulators, available in multiple pipe sizes and flow capacities. A small change in pressure makes a big impact. For example, reducing operating pressure from 100 PSIG to 80 PSIG lowers energy use by nearly 20%. In many cases, operations can run at even lower pressures, unlocking even greater savings.

This reduction in energy use is also coupled with the fact that pressure regulators make any compressed air-operated tool infinitely adjustable. Not all applications require the full output force or RPM, or conveying rate that can be achieved at full line pressure with a compressed air-operated product. And so the humble pressure regulator enables this ability for energy savings and control that is on par with any electrical control for voltage or even frequency. Pressure regulators also facilitate our working mantra to use the least amount of pressure and volume necessary to accommodate the application objectives.

All of our regulators are standard stock items, which means they can ship the same day if ordered by 2:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Plus, with 2D and 3D CAD models available through our CAD Library, you can design your entire compressed air system virtually before making a single cut in pipe.

This step, combined with the previous five, gives you a complete roadmap to compressed air optimization. From measuring usage and fixing leaks, to implementing engineered solutions, automating control, using intermediate storage, and now regulating pressure—EXAIR is here to help make the process straightforward and effective.

As always, if you’d like to discuss your application or explore how we can help you optimize your compressed air system, feel free to reach out.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Dryers On A New Level – Deliquescent Level Even.

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Today I want to discuss dryers and not the type that I have repaired many times due to having three kids in my house. Speaking of which, the amount of hair that gets trapped within a dryer is one of the things my nightmares are made from. You’d think we have a Yeti living in our home. While the picture below is of our first dryer and washer, that platform has been repurposed into a workbench and the metals have all been recycled back into something else now. That’s not what we are here to talk about. Instead, we are going to discuss deliquescent dryers.

Deliquescent dryers can sometimes be confusing. Some compressed air dryer vendors use the terms deliquescent and desiccant synonymously, as if they were interchangeable in describing their equipment. Deliquescent dryers are not complex drying systems and are most commonly found in the petrochemical industry.

Deliquescent Dryer

Unlike any other dryer, a deliquescent dryer is also used to reduce or remove moisture before it turns to liquid water. These dryers can be installed indoors, outdoors, offshore, or in any remote location. They do not require electricity for operational purposes or have any moving parts, making them easy to maintain and economically more efficient. In a deliquescent dryer, moist air (gas) passes over a layer of deliquescent tablets that absorb moisture. The pressure dew point lowers as the tablets slowly dissolve, the condensation falls into the drain area, and the drier air flows through the outlet into the piping system.

The best deliquescent materials are salts due to their strong attraction to moisture. Deliquescent desiccants (drying tablets) are formulated from calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, and lithium chloride. Not all deliquescent desiccants are equal. The final formulation and properties of the desiccant can significantly impact the design of a dryer tank. That is, the surface of the desiccant chemical, often beads or pellets, will liquefy, and the resulting liquid will flow to the bottom of the vessel. There is either a drain (manual or auto) at the base of the deliquescent dryer which is used to expel the collected fluid.

Some factors that will affect the consumption of the desiccant are the type of adsorbent, type of adsorbate, the size of the adsorbent bead or pellet, the concentration of the adsorbate in the compressed air stream, and the temperature of that air stream.

You will want to have a water trap, also known as a general-purpose compressed air filter, plumbed in line just upstream from the deliquescent dryer. Otherwise, any liquid water flowing with the compressed air into the air dryer will make short work of the desiccant chemical, requiring a more frequent—and expensive—recharge.

Compressing air generates heat. That hot, moist compressed air will consume the desiccant chemical in the deliquescent dryer much more quickly. The best practice is to ensure the airflow to the dryer is as cool as possible, with a long airline and a dwell tank before the deliquescent dryer, to allow the air to cool and have water saturate out naturally.

A deliquescent dryer can be expected to reduce the compressed air dew point by 20 – 30 deg. F, or so. The degree of drying depends how saturated the airflow is going in and on the type of deliquescent chemical used.

Unlike other forms of compressed air dryers, a deliquescent unit doesn’t guarantee the air will reach a certain dew point. The amount of water vapor in the air that exits the dryer is completely predicated on how much water vapor is in the air going into the dryer.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Pictionary Is Not What Should Come To Mind When Looking At Facility Drawings

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Does anyone else remember the episode of Friends where they were playing Pictionary and no one could guess what Monica was drawing? No, well, honestly, that’s the scene I thought of when looking at some system drawings for compressed air setups. If you need a refresher, see the YouTube clip below.

1 – Pictionary | Friends

When trying to ensure you have a sustainable compressed air system within a facility, it is critical to ensure the layout is documented. This can be a very tedious task on existing systems that have been in place for years without any documentation, it doesn’t mean the idea should be lost. This can save considerable time and effort when looking at issues and or expansion of existing usage. The other point this can help greatly with is documenting and fixing leaks on your way to an optimized compressed air system.

Along that same line, I’ve seen numerous reports over the past decade that all point to improperly maintained filter drains in compressed air systems that account for a large percentage of the 30% total system leakage that facilities can see. So I want to educate on the different types of P&ID symbols used for regulators and filters on compressed air systems so that our readers can better their preventive maintenance plans and install checkpoints at each one of these on a routine schedule.

If you are evaluating your compressed air system and trying to come up with a preventive maintenance plan, then each one of these symbols should be on a preventative check routine in order to ensure they are not a contributing factor to compressed air waste within your facility.

If you want to discuss other ways to optimize your compressed air system or other P&ID symbols used for pneumatic system components, reach out to any of the team here, and we will help you with your current situation.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Friends, Pictionary|Friends – Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP2bX0ctoFs – published – 10/1/2023