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FEATURE HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS
Production teams are using digital services to identify 30% electricity savings by locating and
calculating the costs of wasted compressed air. Charlie Walker, digital services
consultant for SICK UK, explains how
U
p to a third of the compressed air produced in a typical manufacturing
operation can be wasted. With manufacturers facing unprecedented challenges to stem energy costs, targeting compressed air efficiencies seems like an easy win. Yet, this apparently ‘low hanging fruit’ is often overlooked.
HIT AND MISS Tracking down and fixing leaks can be a hit and miss affair, even when fluctuations in pressure compromise production efficiency. There will be more unplanned maintenance interventions, more unexpected machine downtime, and the compressor’s service life will be shorter. Product quality and reject rates could suffer if air is not delivered at a constant, optimum pressure. Regular maintenance inspections are costly and labour intensive. Even with a modern energy management system, a maintenance team may only survey the plant every three or six months. External companies may be called in to conduct periodic spot check audits. The data provided is reliable only for one moment in time. Even so, if you walk around the factory today and fix all your leaks, tomorrow there might be three more you will not have found. There is also little that can be gleaned from one-off checks about any trends or patterns. Do some machines use more compressed air than others, when, and why? How can compressed air energy reduction best be targeted across entire processes and production halls?
DIGITAL SERVICES Increasingly, intelligent sensors are being combined with application-specific software and digital services to deliver real-time condition monitoring and predictive maintenance. The data output from smart and accurate flow sensors that measure compressed air is the ideal candidate for this simple, but transformative, technology. SICK has pioneered a retrofittable solution that
52 DESIGN SOLUTIONS MARCH 2024 MONITORING
COMPRESSED AIR TO SAVE ENERGY COSTS
FTMg Multifunctional flow sensor
can accurately predict the significant cost savings that can be made by fixing air leaks and removing wastage across entire production and logistics facilities. It can identify compressed air cost savings of up to 30%, based on the measurement of live values for compressed air energy in kWh from SICK’s FTMg multifunctional flow sensor. As well as values for pressure, temperature, flow velocity, mass flow rate and volumetric flow rate in real time, the sensor also provides totals for energy use, volume and mass over a pre-defined period.
COMPRESSED AIR
MONITORING APP Data from strategically-positioned flow meters is presented via a user-friendly dashboard in the customised App making it easy to interpret data to detect leaks or overconsumption and to look for changes and trends. Using specially-developed algorithms, the data is also converted into a meaningful cost- calculation of how much energy can be saved. Furthermore, it can show users exactly where to look to target the greatest efficiencies. We are already seeing how production
planners, energy managers and maintenance engineers are gaining unexpected insights. Armed with the additional data, users have, for example, been able to make start-up and shutdown management of processes and machines more efficient, improve compressor control, and manage peak loads. Our customers have been able to set up specific alarms to warn of leaks or inefficient machine consumption. By comparing compressed air data from each measuring point, machine, or entire production line, over-consumption and cost-drives have been successfully identified. For example, compressed air consumption from the same machine type with the same function on two production lines can be compared. Compressed air efficiency comparisons can similarly be made across plants.
By tracking consumption over time, losses
are easier to spot and correct. For example, energy waste is clear if the compressed air usage graph does not baseline close to zero at weekends. Is there a surge in power usage on a Monday morning when machines are turned on? Then, perhaps, a more efficient power-up sequence could be adopted to prevent overloading the compressor.
MAJOR ANNUAL SAVINGS One successful adopter of SICK’s FTMg Monitoring Box Premium is a major European beverage manufacturer. Their production and filling lines consume one million cubic meters of energy-intensive compressed air every year. To reduce consumption and cut costs, around 50 FTMG flow sensors are positioned across several production lines. The sensor data is analysed with intelligent algorithms to evaluate how compressed air is being consumed during normal operations, as well as during downtimes. Armed with this information, the system can begin to pinpoint the source of potential leaks. An annual saving of almost €60,000 was possible within a just a few days of the system going live. Further savings are uncovered on a regular basis as new leaks occur.
SICK (UK)
www.sick.co.uk
Energy savings were made at a major European beverage manufacturer
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