COMPRESSED AIR
SETTING THE STANDARD: WEG AND LONTRA HIT HIGH-EFFICIENCY LEVELS WITH AN INNOVATIVE COMPRESSOR COMBINED WITH A SPECIALLY DESIGNED MOTOR
T
en per cent of all industrial electricity in Europe goes into powering compressors.
With the declaration of a climate emergency at the forefront of concerns, this figure must be reduced. Here, Marek Lukaszczyk, European and Middle East marketing manager at industrial motor manufacturer WEG, explores what a new type of positive displacement compressor design, combined with a specially designed ultra- premium efficiency permanent magnet motor, means for the industry. Positive displacement compressors are
mechanical devices that increase the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. From bottling plants to pneumatic conveying, compressors are ubiquitous, powering processes and machines, while
transferring and blowing things around a factory — be it pasta, cereals or other foods, pharmaceuticals, plastics or even the granular absorbents used in nappies and sanitary products. In fact, they are considered to be the fourth utility
for making products. These four requirements consist of water, gas, electricity and compressed air — the basis behind all manufacturing. And they are not just found in the industry.
In public transport, for example, when a bus approaches a bus stop and drops down to the curb, it is running on air suspension from a compressor to let people on. In contrast, compressors are also at the heart of
heat pumps to heat houses, ever more so as gas boilers will be phased out of new builds by 2025.
Compressors are even in refrigerators to keep them cold. Simply put, compressors are everywhere, and
because of this they consume a lot of energy — typically about 12 per cent and as high as 55 per cent in some manufacturing facilities. However, the potential is yet to be fully realised, and the motors that power these machines can have a big impact on CO2 emissions.
NEW COMPRESSOR DESIGN The recent implementation of the new European efficiency regulations, which now cover a wider range of electric motors to deliver an estimated 10-terawatt hour (TWh) of energy savings by 2030, means that companies need to innovate.
28 APRIL 2022 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62
