Locate costly leaks in your compressed air system! Sounds like the right thing to do.
The EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector is a hand-held, high quality instrument that is used to locate costly leaks in a compressed air system.
Ultrasonic sound is the term applied to sound that is above the frequencies of normal human hearing capacity. This typically begins at sounds over 20,000 Hz in frequency. The Ultrasonic Leak Detector can detect sounds in this upper range and convert them to a range that is audible to people.
When a leak is present, the compressed air moves from the high pressure condition through the opening to the low pressure environment. As the air passes through the opening, it speeds up and becomes turbulent in flow, and generates ultrasonic sound components. Because the audible sound of a small leak is very low and quiet, it typically gets drowned out by by surrounding plant noises, making leak detection by the human ear difficult if not impossible.
Detecting a Leak with the Ultrasonic Leak Detector
By using the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, the background noise can be filtered out and the ultrasonic noises can be detected, thus locating a leakage in the compressed air system. There are (3) sensitivity settings, x1, x10, and x100 along with an on/off thumb-wheel for fine sensitivity. The unit comes with a parabola and tubular extension for added flexibility.
Model 9061 – Ultrasonic Leak Detector and Included Accessories
Finding just one small leak can pay for the unit-
A small leak equivalent to a 1/16″ diameter hole will leak approx 3.8 SCFM at 80 PSIG of line pressure. Using a reasonable average cost of $0.25 per 1000 SCF of compressed air generation, we can calculate the cost of the leak as follows-
It is easy to see that utilizing the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, and identifying and fixing leaks is the right thing to do. It is possible to find and fix enough leaks that a new compressor purchase can be avoided or an auxiliary back-up is not needed any more.
If you have questions regarding the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, or would like to talk about any EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Product, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
The generation of compressed air accounts for approximately 1/3 of all energy costs in an industrial facility. According to the Compressed Air Challenge, about 30% of that compressed air is lost through leaks. This means nearly 10% of your facility’s energy costs are simply wasted through poor connections, faulty air valves, improper installation, etc. In addition to simply wasting money, compressed air leaks can also contribute to a variety of other operating losses. A leak can cause a drop in system pressure. When this occurs, end users may not operate as efficiently, having an adverse effect on production. This same drop in system pressure will also cause the equipment to cycle on/off more often, shortening the life of your compressor and other equipment. If the leaks cause an issue in supply volume, it may lead to the belief that more compressor capacity is necessary, further increasing your operating costs.
To put leaks in perspective (assuming energy costs of .10/ kWh), the Compressed Air Challenge states this:
A $200/year leak cannot be felt or heard
A $800/year leak can be felt, but not heard
A $1,400/year leak can be felt and heard.
If you walk through your facility, how many leaks can you hear?
We know that a large portion of the compressed air is being wasted, but what do we do about it? A proper leak prevention plan is the key to success. Since these leaks are impossible to see and some cannot even be heard, you need a tool to help assist you. EXAIR’s model 9061 Ultrasonic Leak Detector is the right tool for the job. When compressed air leaks through a pipe, it creates an ultrasonic signature due to turbulence. While this sound is not always detectable by the human ear, this meter will allow you to locate leaks up to 20’ away.
Model 9061 with parabola attachment
The first step will be locating the leaks using an Ultrasonic Leak Detector and tagging them throughout the facility. Don’t let this overwhelm you!! If you have a larger facility, break it up into sections that can be completed in 1 day. This will allow you to decide which areas of the plant should be looked at first. Once you’ve located and tagged all of the leaks, rate them under two separate criteria so that you can prioritize what to fix first. Rate them based on the difficulty that it will take to fix them and also by the severity of the leak. Those that are severe yet easy to fix would make sense to begin fixing first. Those that may require a period of shutdown can be planned to fix at a more appropriate time.
Accessories that come with the Ultrasonic Leak Detector
When you’ve had the opportunity to fix them, don’t just forget about it. When new piping is installed, new lines are added, or anything involving compressed air is installed there is the potential for new leaks to develop. Set this as one of your regular PM activities and complete your own compressed air audit once a year. Implementing the process and maintaining it are the keys to your success.
If you have questions about developing a leak program or how to use the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, give us a call. An Application Engineer will be happy to help with the process and recommend additional methods to save on your compressed air supply.
As margins get tighter and cost of manufacturing climbs, industries are looking into other areas to be more economical. A big focus today is in the compressed air systems. Compressed air is considered to be the “forth” utility behind gas, water, and electricity. It is a necessary system to run pneumatic systems, but it is the least efficient of the utilities. For every $1.00 that is put into making compressed air, you only get roughly 5¢ of work from it. So, it is very important to use this utility as efficiently as possible.
One of the largest problems affecting compressed air systems is leaks. That quiet little hissing sound coming from the pipe lines is costing the company much money. A university study was conducted to find the percentage of air leaks in a typical manufacturing plant. In a poorly maintained system, they found on average that 30% of the compressor capacity is lost through air leaks. In relation to the amount of electricity required to make compressed air, for every ten power plants producing electricity, there is one power plant producing electricity just for air leaks. A majority of companies do not have a leak prevention program; so, many of these companies have poorly maintained systems. This creates a large amount of waste caused by simple air leaks. To put a dollar value on it, a leak that you cannot physically hear can cost you as much as $130/year. That is just for one inaudible leak in hundreds of feet of compressed air lines. For the leaks that you can hear, you can tell by the chart below the amount of money that can be wasted by the size of the hole. Unlike a hydraulic system, compressed air will not leave a tell-tale sign of a leak. You have to locate them by some other means.
**Note 1
Most leaks occur where you have threaded fittings, connections, hoses, and pneumatic components like valves, regulators, and drains. The Optimization products from EXAIR are designed to help optimize your complete compressed air system. The most effective way is to find and eliminate air leaks, and EXAIR has two products that can help do this. The Ultrasonic Leak Detectors can find the air leaks, and the Digital Flowmeters can monitor your system for air leaks. With both of these products included in a leak prevention program, you will be able to keep your compressed air system running optimally and reduce the wasted cost in air leaks and overusing the air compressor.
When a leak occurs, it emits an ultrasonic noise caused by turbulence. These ultrasonic noises can be at a frequency above that which is audible for human hearing. The EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector can pick up these frequencies and make the leaks audible. With three sensitivity ranges and LED display, you can find very minute leaks in your compressed air system. It comes with two attachments; the parabola to locate leaks up to 20 feet away, and the tube attachment to define the exact location in the pipe line. Once you find a leak, it can be marked for fixing.
With the Digital Flowmeters, you can continuously monitor for waste. Air leaks can occur at any time within any section of your pneumatic area. You can do systematic checks by isolating sections with the Digital Flowmeter and watching for a flow reading. Another way to monitor your system would be to compare the results over time. With the Digital Flowmeters, we have a couple of options for recording the air flow data. We have the USB Datalogger for setting certain time increments to record the air flows. Once the information is recorded, you can connect the USB to your computer, and with the downloadable software, you can view the information and export it into an Excel spread sheet. We also offer a wireless capability option with the Digital Flowmeters. You can have multiple flow meters communicating through a gateway to monitor and record the flow information onto your computer system. If you find that the flow starts trending upward for the same process, then you know that you have a leak. It can also give you a preventive measure if your pneumatic system is starting to fail.
Compressed air leaks will rob you in performance, compressor life, and electrical cost. It is important to have a leak prevention program to check for leaks periodically as they can happen at any time. The EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector and the Digital Flowmeters will help you accomplish this and optimize your compressed air system. Once you find and fix all your leaks, you can then focus on improving the efficiency of your blow-off devices with EXAIR products and save yourself even more money.
A dry sprinkler system? How will that help in a fire? The fire marshal snickered as he told me that this type of system was designed for cold weather fire protection. Most sprinkler systems that we see in the ceiling are designed with water in the lines. But, if you have areas that get below 40 deg. F (4 deg. C), the fire department will have you install a dry sprinkler system. It uses compressed air to hold a valve shut to not allow the water to be inside the cold pipes. So, if you have an unheated crawl space, uninsulated attics, or an outside storage facility, you won’t have to worry about the water freezing and bursting your pipes or sprinkler heads.
The reason that the fire marshal contacted me was to help find a leak in a dry sprinkler system. A facility in his jurisdiction noticed that the air compressor that was assigned to the dry sprinkling system was cycling more often. This was an indication of a leak, and just like any compressed air system, leaks occur over time at the connection points. This facility had their pipes located in a crawl space, and there wasn’t much room for maneuvering. Typically the normal protocol for a leak would be to go to each joint and spray it with soapy water. If they saw bubbles, then they would fix that connection. With the small space and the number of connections, he had to find a better way.
Whenever a leak occurs, it will generate an ultrasonic noise. The model 9061 Ultrasonic Leak Detector can pick up these high frequencies in the range of 20 Khz to 100 Khz, above human hearing. This device makes the inaudible leaks, audible. With three sensitivity ranges and LED display, you can find very small leaks, and with the two attachments, it can locate them up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) away. When he started using it, he was amazed with the performance. The Ultrasonic Leak Detector cut his time in the field and ensured that all the leaks were found. In this instance, he was able to use the parabola attachment to locate the area of the leak from a distance. He then crawled to that area and used the tube attachment to locate the exact location. He found the leak and had it fixed. If he did not have the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, he would have to maneuver his way throughout the small crawl space and spray soapy water on each fitting.
If you ever get stuck with a huge task with your compressed air system, like our fire marshal above, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR to see if we can improve your situation.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com Twitter: @EXAIR_jb
