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Compressed Air Load Reduction Approaches and Innovations
Abstract
The use of compressed air is widespread
throughout every sector of industry and acts as a
primary energy source for many industrial
applications. Compressed air systems are as
essential a utility as electricity, gas, or oil, and can
account for a significant percent of a
manufacturing facility's electricity bill. Although
the development of compressed air is very
expensive, this energy cost is rarely evaluated
within the plant operation and is commonly
overlooked when energy reduction opportunities
are assessed. It is a common practice in facilities to
simply add compressor capacity when faced with
supply pressure or volume deficiencies, increasing
the energy consumption associated with
compressed air systems in industry. Additionally,
in recent years, compressor plant installations and
enhancements have trended toward minimizing the
first cost of installation at the expense of increased
operating costs. This can be seen in the rise of
packaged rotary screw system purchases that
require no foundations in lieu of the larger, more
efficient reciprocating compressors that require
more involved site work. With such a trend in the
supply side of compressed air systems, it becomes
increasingly important to improve the efficiency of
the demand side, or end-use side, of compressed air
systems.
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Citation
D'Antonio, M.; Epstein, G.; Moray, S.; Schmidt, C. (2005). Compressed Air Load Reduction Approaches and Innovations. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /5570.