FEATURE COMPRESSORS & COMPRESSED AIR
CONTINUOUS UPGRADING – A REALISTIC WAY TO FUTURE-PROOF
It may be impossible to predict the future, but machine systems designed to be continuously upgraded over a long period of time will extend their operational life into the future, in line with changing business requirements. Mark Whitmore, general manager at BOGE offers a prime example...
F
uture-proofing is all about anticipating the future and developing methods of
minimising the effects of shocks and stresses of upcoming events. The problem is that nobody can accurately predict what will happen in the coming hours and days, let alone weeks, months and years ahead. That’s why it’s impossible to truly
future-proof technology; indeed, attempting to do so can even be counter- productive (see the box below). However, we can do the next best thing to future- proofing by developing machinery and systems that can be upgraded to extend their working life in the light of operational, production, environmental, legislative or other changes.
EASY UPGRADE A good example of this is BOGE’s latest generation of HST (high speed turbo) compressors, which are designed and engineered to allow crucial components to be easily upgraded, with each part custom-built using laser metal additive manufacturing processes. As well as extending the life of the compressor, the HST also reduces maintenance intervals and allows suppliers to offer the best available technology at any given time. At the heart of the compressor is an air
shaft and permanent magnet motor that drives an impeller system. Although this construction reduces energy consumption,
EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT CHANGE BRINGS
Nobody has yet invented a crystal ball that will accurately forecast what is yet to come. Indeed, as the great management thinker Peter Drucker once said: “Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.” On this basis alone, future-proofing is a loser’s game. But there is also a strong management case against it;
there is a maxim that insists: ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always win what you’ve always won’. Implicit in this statement is that change is important if you want to progress. That is why the possibility of future-proofing in the true sense of the word is a bad idea; it infers a static situation in which nothing changes. Progressive businesses know that there is no single initiative or technological development that they can
implement now that will forever insulate them from the effects of change. Indeed, they thrive on the opposite approach – they are disruptive in the way they operate, challenging every convention and embracing constant change. They bet on the future and are open to doing things differently, seeing failures as an inevitable part of
learning. These companies know that an opportunity-driven approach is the only way to thrive in the long term, and that a business model based on ‘don’t change anything’ is a threat to their survival.
BOGE
uk.boge.com
12 JUNE 2018 | PROCESS & CONTROL
there is still considerable room for future improvement as new technology emerges. It needn’t cost more to achieve better performance as the cost of any upgrade can be covered by the energy savings achieved by the upgrade itself. But the scope for cost savings in the HST
compressor doesn’t rely solely on reducing energy consumption. Its total cost of ownership is at least 30% lower than traditional machines largely because of its unusual design.
DESIGN BENEFITS Integral to the compressor are two high- speed motors, each with a central rotor suspended on self-stabilising air foil bearings. Two precision-balanced titanium impellers of different sizes and blade arrangements are mounted at each end of each rotor. At rotational speeds typically of more
than 100,000rpm, air is drawn in via an intake funnel and a specially designed spiral casing to be boosted in three stages
The permanent magnet motor is at the heart of the compressor design
to reach operating pressures quickly and efficiently, with minimal energy losses thanks to the frictionless air bearing configuration. Other operating efficiencies are derived
HST compressors are designed and engineered to allow crucial
components to be easily upgraded (below). This will allow them to sit happily in smart factory environments (bottom)
from the impeller, diffuser and spiral casing design, which effectively reduces air pressure on the intake side. This has the effect of sucking fresh air through the motor, eliminating the need for a separate fan cooling motor and control unit. The efficient permanent magnet motors are inverter controlled, enabling supply to be matched precisely and instantaneously to demand.
OIL-FREE OPERATION One element of the HST compressor that could be considered a sort of future- proofing in the traditional sense of the word is its oil-free operation. As ecological rules are tightened, and public attention increasingly focuses on environmental concerns, oil free compressors are becoming increasingly popular because they eliminate nasty oil contamination problems. They also remove the cost of collecting and disposing of oil-laden condensate and take away the fire risk in pipelines associated with oil carry-over.
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