COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEM

5. Compressed Air System

5.1 Introduction

World Plastic for Construction Industries is provided with one 30 kW air compressors as shown
in figure 5.1 operating on 7 bar pressure to serve different processes in the facility.

Figure 5.1: Air compressor in World Plastic for Construction Industries.

The compressor is connected to 1500 liters receiver (air tank) then to compressed air network
that serve 9 production lines (6 extrusion lines and 3 injection lines) and the raw material mixer,
energy audit tem measured the compressor power consumption during 24 hour period and
conducted FAD test and leakage test in order to find the potentials of saving.

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5.2 Electrical Measurements on Air Compressor.

Power measurement where conducted on air compressor during 24 hours in order to monitor
the power consumption profile as shown in figures 5.2 and 5.3.

It was noted that the average loading power is 20 kW and there is unloading periods due to
large amount of air leaks.

Compressor Load Profile During 24 Hours

30.00

25.00

20.00
Power (kW)

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
0 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
:0 :5 :4 :3 :2 :1 :0 :5 :4 :3 :2 :2 :1 :0 :5 :4 :3 :2 :1 :0 :5 :5 :4 :3 :2 :1 :0 :5 :4
12 12 13 14 1 5 1 6 17 17 18 19 2 0 2 1 22 23 23 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 11

Time

Figure 5.2: Air compressor load profile during 24 hours period.

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Compressor Loading Profile During 1 Hour of Operation

25.00

20.00

15.00
Power (kW)

10.00

5.00

0.00
9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7
9 :5 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:1 0:1 0:1 0:1 0:1 0:2 0:2 0:2 0:2 0:2 0:3 0:3 0:3 0:3 0:3 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:5 0:5 0:5 0:5
1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Time

Figure 5.3: Air compressor load profile during 1-hour period.

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5.3 Compressed air flow rate measurement: Free Air Delivery (FAD) of
Compressors
The compressors are designed to deliver a certain amount of compressed air per unit time at a
specified pressure. Normally compressor capacity is specified in terms of liters per second at a
specific delivery pressure.

Compressed air flow rate can be measured and calculated by three methods:

1. Inserted hot wire flow meter. The air flow rate was measured at the discharge
compressed air pipe by inserting an air velocity sensor through the pipe that is crossing
the main discharge.
2. Suction Velocity method. This method is based on the measuring the velocity of
the air sucked by the compressor, then multiplying this value by the cross
sectional area of the air inlet.
3. Pump up method, it is the simplest method and can easily be carried out without
complicated measurements. This method will be explained later.

Free Air Delivery (FAD) test was conducted in the facility for all compressors. The method used
to calculate the Free Air Delivery (FAD) for every compressor is called the "pump up method".

This method depends on measuring the time needed to fill a certain volume (air receiver). The
following steps illustrate how this test can be performed:

1- Stop the operation of the working compressor.

2- Close all the delivery valves coming out of the receiver.
3- Empty the receiver until a low pressure is obtained, say 0 bars.
4- After the emptying process is completed, close the valve through which you emptied the
receiver, usually this valve is located at the bottom of the receiver at the drain side.
5- Now, start the compressor, and start the stop watch at the instant you hear that the
compressor is about to load.

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6- Keep the watch running until you notice that the compressor in unloading. At that instant
stop your watch, and record the time the compressor took to fill the receiver, also record
the pressure at which the compressor was unloaded.
7- Now , to calculate the FAD of the compressor , the following equation is followed:
FAD = [VR × (P2-P1) / t] × (273 +Tamb) / (273+T2)

Where,

VR : Volume of the receiver and the interconnecting pipe.

P1 : Initial pressure (bar) absolute.

P2 : Final pressure (bar) absolute.

t :Time needed to fill the receiver and the interconnecting pipes, in seconds.

T amb: Measured initial ambient temperature.

T2 : Measured final air temperature.

It should be mentioned here that this test should be carried out periodically, in order to use it
as an indicator about the presence of a problem in the compressor, in order to fix this problem
as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary additional cost when the compressed air system is
operated inefficiently. The FAD test results are shown below:

Table 5.1: FAD Test Results

VR = 1,700 L t = 168 sec

P1 = 0 bar P2 = 7 bar
T amb = 15 ˚C T2 = 25
Measured FAD = 68.4 l/s

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5.4 Specific Power Consumption

The specific energy consumption depends on the type of compressor, capacity, and compressed
air flow rate, operating pressures, etc. In calculating the specific power consumption in
compressor, the power consumption by the compressor was measured by using power quality
analyzer.

The specific energy consumption was calculated for all compressors and the results are given in
table 5.2

Table 5.2: Specific Power Consumption, SPC, for all compressors

Avg. Loading Power Actual FAD SPC

Compressor
kW l/s kW/(l/s)
Comp.# 1 26 68.4 0.38

The previous table shows the Specific Power Consumption (SPC) and Free Air Delivery for the
existing compressor, which is the main two factors to compare compressors with each other’s.

A new 30 kW compressor deliver around 99 L/S of compressed air at 7.5 bars with SPC less than
0.3 kW/(L/S), which is more efficient than the existing air compressor.

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5.5 Leakage Test (No Load Test)

To evaluate the quantity of leakage, leakage test needs to be carried out. The procedure for
carrying out such a test is given below and shown in figure 5.4.

Figure 5.4: No-Load Leakage Test.

The steps involved in the leakage test are:

1. Switch off compressor.

2. Close valves A, B.
3. Open valves C, D.
4. Close valves at all user points.
5. Start compressor and allow the pressure to build up.
6. Note time when it unloads.
7. Note time when it loads.
8. Repeat this exercise four or five times.
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9. Switch off compressor.

10. Substitute the loading and the unloading times in the following equation:

Loading Time
Leakage % =
Loading Time+Unloading Time

Table 5.3: Leakage test measurements

Loading Time (sec) Unloading Time (sec)

18 15
17 16
16 16
16 18
16 17
16 18
16 19
Average 16.42 17

Leakage is expressed in terms of the percentage of compressor capacity lost. The percentage
lost to leakage should be less than 10% in a well-maintained system.

The leakage test was conducted in World Plastic for Construction Industries and it was 49%,
which means about 50% of the compressor consumption during the tear are going to recover
air leaks in the compressed air network and should be reduced to reach at least 10%, figures
below shows the major air leaks in the facility.

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5.6 Recommended Actions on Compressed Air System

5.6.1 Repair Compressed Air Leaks.

As shown in section 5.4 before, the percentage of air leaks is 49% based on the leakage test
that applied in the factory during off day. Air leaks can be reduced through maintenance and
replacing some of the fittings on the compressed air network to be reduced to 10% which is the
maximum acceptable percentage of air leaks in any compressed air network.

To calculate the amount of savings we have to calculate the annual energy consumption for the
compressor based on the following data:

Average compressor power = 20 kW

Annual operation hours = 6,240 hour (5 days of operation per week for 24 hours)

Annual energy consumption for air compressor= 124,800 kWh/year

Annual energy cost for air compressor = 124,800 kWh/year X 0.09 JOD/kWh = 11,232 JOD/year

The minimum saving percentage should be 35% of compressor consumption by repairing air
leaks, the savings:

Energy Savings = 124,800 kWh/year X 35% = 43,680 kWh/year

Cost Savings = 43,680 kWh/year X 0.09 JOD/kWh = 3,931 JOD/year

Capital Cost = 1,000 JOD (cost of replacing some pipes and fittings)

Simple Payback Period = 0.25 Years (4 months)

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5.6.2 Replace Existing Air Compressor with New Efficient Compressor.

As shown in section 5.3 before, the free air delivery test shows that the compressor delivers
68.4 l/s of compressed air at 7 bars with SPC of 0.38 kW/(l/s), comparing this number with new
compressors, new compressors with same capacity can deliver 99 l/s at SPC of less than 0.3
kW/(l/s) as shown in table 5.4 below.

Table 5.4: Specifications for new compressor.

In order to calculate the percentage of savings by installing new more efficient air compressor,
we have to calculate difference between specific power consumptions for both the existing and
the proposed air compressors.

Proposed SPC −Current SPC

Saving % =
Current SPC

The Proposed SPC = 0.3 kW/(l/s)

The current SPC = 0.38 kW/(l/s)

Saving % = 21%

Energy Savings = 124,800 kWh/year X 21% = 26,208 kWh/year

Cost Savings = 26,208 kWh/year X 0.09 JOD/kWh = 2,358 JOD/year

Capital Cost = 15,000 JOD (estimated cost for new air compressor)

Simple Payback Period = 6.4 Years

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7.6.3 Install Air Blowers for Cleaning Process Instead of Using Compressed Air.

Some of bad practices were noted during the energy audit, such as using of compressed air for
cooling process as shown in figure 5.5 below.

Figure 5.5: Compressed air used for cooling process.

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This process used for two production lines which operates according to the following table.

Table 5.5: Operational hours for extrusion lines in 2016.

Production Line OH in 2016 Pipe Diameter (mm) Air Velocity (m/s) Flow Rate (L/s)
EX 2 3,769 9 15 0.95
EX 3 4,350 9 15 0.95

The average air speed were measured by Anemometer and also the pipe diameter that used for
the cooling process, and the average flow rate for air were calculated and it was around 0.95
L/s.

In order to calculate how much energy lost from this process we have to consider in the
calculation the amount of air flow and SPC for the compressor and also the operational hours of
each production line, and table 5.7 below show all these parameters.

Table 5.6: energy losses due to cooling process using compressed air.

Production Line OH in 2016 Flow Rate SPC Energy Losses

(L/s) kW/(L/s) (kWh/year)
EX 2 3,769 0.95 0.38 1,360
EX 3 4,350 0.95 0.38 1,570
Total 2,930

Air blowers can be used Instead of using compressed air for such process, a 200 Watt air blower
can produce air flow similar to the air flow from the compressed air pipe.

The energy consumption for air blowers shown in table 5.8.

Table 5.7: Energy consumption for new air blowers.

Production Line OH in 2016 Rated Power Energy Consumption (kWh/year)

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(kW)
EX 2 3,769 0.2 753.8
EX 3 4,350 0.2 870
Total 1,623.8

As shown in table above the annual consumption for the new air blowers around 1,620
kWh/year instead of 2,930 kWh/year due to using compressed air.

Energy Savings = 2,930 kWh/year – 1,620 kWh/year = 1,310 kWh/year

Cost Savings = 1,310 kWh/year X 0.09 JOD/kWh = 118 JOD/year

Capital Cost = 300 JOD (estimated cost for new two air blowers)

Simple Payback Period = 2.6 Years

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