Is compressed air critical to the operation of your business or process? What do you know about your compressed air system?

Did you know that generating compressed air uses 10% of all industrial electricity and that up to 90% of that energy is rejected as waste heat?

Did you know that leaks of compressed air account for an average of 30% of all system energy costs and associated compressor maintenance?

Are you aware that there are international standards (ISO 8573.1) for the quality of compressed air for different applications?

Compressed air is fast being recognized as the most costly and wasteful of industrial utilities. It is by its very nature an inefficient technology but has become a critical component in our manufacturing and process technologies. The equipment that generates compressed air consumes massive amounts of electrical energy, often runs 24 hours, a day 7 days a week.

By your reading of this, we can assume that your organization is in the process of considering conducting an audit of your own compressed air system. At this point it is important to realize that not all compressed air audits are equal or will necessarily give you the tools necessary to accomplish your system goals.

As you read through this ask yourself the following questions:
Why are we considering performing a compressed air system audit?
• What specific information do we wish to gain from this audit?
• Do we intend to act on audit recommendations?
• Do we have problems with our compressed air system that we hope to solve with this audit?