CTRL Innovation |
Case Study: Compressed Air & GasA 200 hp compressor is used to supply air pressure to lines throughout a packaging plant in Pennsylvania including to the corrugator, to the finishing equipment, and to the conveyor system. After the purchase of the UL101 Ultrasound Sensor, an informal air survey was performed in order to find and fix leaks. Six months later, another informal air survey was performed to make sure the air compressor was continuing to operate as efficiently as it did after the previous survey. The air compressor is constantly on and is operated in start/stop mode. This means that the pump will throttle up to provide air to sustain a certain pressure and throttle down once the pressure has been reached. The more leaks there are, the more the pump has to operate at full throttle. It was estimated that this compressor's pump was working at full throttle for 70% of the time. Furthermore, a quick survey of the plant with the UL101 ultrasound sensor revealed more than 40 leaks. Using a rate of $0.05 / kWh the cost to run the compressor at full throttle for 70% of the time was calculated to be $57,618.00 / year. The estimated cost savings of fixing the 40 leaks ranged between $1400 and $10,000, depending upon the size and shape of hole, reducing the cost of running the compressor to about $50,000. If left unfixed, the cost of operating a 200 hp compressor could rise from approximately $50,000 / year to $70,000 / year. The average payback of the purchase of the UL101 for air leak survey would be 8 months. |