Take part in leak management or flow control projects
August 02nd 2007

If you have responsibility for compressed air then you need to produce it safely, reliably and at least cost. One step to achieving all three is to look at the two major sources of avoidable waste in compressed air systems including leaks and over-pressurisation.

Both of these compromise the reliability of compressed air processes, and increase costs in terms of product defects, re-work and equipment service life.

BCAS has gained Carbon Trust Networks funding to address these two energy efficiency issues and recruit 10 participant sites as case studies. Visit www.compressedairenergy.org.uk

Over-pressurisation is usually indicative of trying to lessen the effect of fluctuating air pressure which causes production stoppages and variable product quality. A 1 bar increase in air pressure can raise generation costs by 6- 8%, so ideally you want to be able to reduce the fluctuations and hence reduce the pressure without risking reliability of the air supply. As part of the Carbon Trust project, a technology to effectively separate supply from demand and eliminate fluctuations will be trialled. It typically allowing a pressure reduction of up to 2 bar.

If you have an installed capacity of more than 200kW and would like to participate in either the leak management or flow pressure control projects, visit www.compressedairenergy.org.uk for more details and criteria.

For further information, just  click here.

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