Feature Compressed air
heshire-based, Blair Drilling is a specialist water engineering com- pany offering water well borehole construction, with associated fil- tration systems, pumping and disinfec- tion equipment, as well as water testing, viability studies and hydrogeology. Recently, Blair Drilling embarked on an acquisition programme to upgrade its entire plant inventory, focusing on lightweight, easily transportable and fuel-efficient equipment.
The company uses compressed air with its specialist water well rigs. In the middle of 2011, Blair Drilling’s managing director, Richard Taylor, researched the market for a new portable compressor:
“The nature of our business is highly varied from domestic proper- ties to agricultural and commercial sites frequently in remote and difficult to access areas; this means we are often faced with restrictions in terms of just getting equipment onto site. Similarly, we’ve carried out studies on sports turf irrigation at a number of Premier League football clubs where we can’t afford any site damage, so the improved access and manoeuvrability of the CompAir TurboScrew unit con- tributes major improvements in both site safety and the overall impact of the drilling operations,” says Taylor. “Our previous plant inventory included a lot of heavyweight equip- ment, including an eight-tonne com- pressor, which was difficult to manoeuvre with high transport costs.
Compressor cuts fuel costs C
“In early 2012, we bought a new
17bar, C230TS-17 TurboScrew com- pressor from CompAir. Our key buying points were; improved fuel efficiency, savings in plant transport, improved health and safety through manoeuvra- bility, and confidence in the brand.”
Blair Drilling has been able to make savings in fuel costs of up to 35 per cent since it acquired a new portable C230TS-17 TurboScrew com- pressor from Compair
Efficient air
The technology used in CompAir’s TurboScrew series of compressors offers a high standard of energy effi- ciency and reliability, with quiet oper- ation. Using a small and light diesel engine, two exhaust turbochargers pre- compress the intake air for the screw compressor stage. This patented machine concept increases the effi- ciency of the compressor system sig- nificantly, especially in day-to-day part-load operations. Taylor explains: “We’ve found that the C230TS-17 uses between 22 per cent and 34 per cent less fuel than our previous compressors. On site, our compressor is always running, but not always operating at full load. At idling speeds the TurboScrew compressor only uses around 10 litres of fuel per hour. At full load it uses 44 litres per hour, whereas our previous compres- sors always ran at 55 to 65 litres per hour whether idling or on load. The
Skilled drilling
The availability of compressed air is important when drilling water supply boreholes to ensure efficient removal of cuttings, particularly in larger diameter holes where high air volume is essen- tial. The C230TS-17 compressor deliv- ers 23m3/min (812 cfm) of air at a pressure of 17bar as standard, making it suitable in applications where on-time job completion is dependant on main- taining sufficient air pressure and volume at depths up to 170 metres.
Fast payback
The low operating cost of the TurboScrew compressor means that Blair Drilling can expect a fast payback on return on investment, Taylor adds: Compair T: 01527 838200
www.compair.com Enter 314
Pallet production sites achieve significant energy savings C
hep, a provider of pallet and container pooling solutions, has achieved significant energy
savings through the installation of energy efficient Atlas Copco compressors at its pallet production and repair sites in the UK. The savings from the installation have been measured at over 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Chep has a sophisticated network of service cen- tre facilities strategically located across the UK
where pallets are returned, inspected and repaired before being reissued in to the sup- ply chain. Seven of these plants have installed Atlas Copco equipment, including 8-9 bar compressed air which is used to transport the wooden pallets around the inspec- tion and repair process. There are also two air-driven nail guns on each repair bench and an average of 20 benches at each site. Together, these installations have helped to optimise the compressed air system used in all sites as well as eliminate air leaks. As a sustainable and environmentally aware organisation, Chep is committed to minimising its energy demand and carbon footprint. Subsequently, the company’s UK site managers undertook an 18-month review of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions at the company’s process plants. The project included the monitoring and assessment of compressor system efficiency at the seven service centre sites. As part of this energy consumption and performance audit, Atlas Copco’s
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Twelve months after taking delivery of a new portable C230TS-17 TurboScrew compressor from CompAir, Blair Drilling, a water engineering services company, is experiencing savings of up to 34 per cent on fuel consumption
smaller engine, along with a very effi- cient engine management system returns substantial fuel savings. “The lightweight design means it can be hitched to a 4x4 vehicle and, at 3.4 tonnes, is road towable. This allows us to choose between lorry transport and road towing, showing additional savings in transport costs.
Manchester-based distributor, Compressor Engineering, installed iiTrak datalogger units for a specific period at each compressor installation. From this data, the conclu- sion was reached that by installing more energy-efficient compressors, backed by a programme of planned, preventative maintenance, optimum performance could be achieved, along with reduced energy costs and increased carbon savings. At the end of 2011 Chep installed a number of new Atlas Copco GA-series rotary
screw compressors at five of its sites and transferred other existing units between the company’s remaining two sites. All of the Atlas Copco machines installed featured Variable Speed Drive (VSD) technology that matches compressor output to fluctuating demand − with the potential to realise consequent energy savings in the region of 35 per cent. Chep also chose to support the new VSD compressors and the existing machines with an Atlas Copco Comfort Air service and maintenance package handled by Compressor Engineering. Atlas Copco Chep
T: 0800 181085 T: 01932 833115
www.atlascopco.co.uk www.chep.com
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MAY 2013 Factory Equipment
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