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If you use compressed air you have leakages. Our client
base ranges from workshops to some of the largest
corporations in the world. In most air systems 20-40 %
of the produced air is entirely due to leakages.Viewed
differently, if the compressor life span is ten years then
a full three years of air production is completely dedicated
to leakages. That has financial implications even for
smaller facilities. Apart from the obvious energy loss,
leakages create other, not so obvious costs. Even low
drops of pressure result in noticeable reductions of
efficiency in tools and machinery that inevitably leads to
quality problems. It is important to know that all
compressed air systems leak to some degree. This has
probably contributed to the spreading of the myth that
leakages are a necessary evil that are impossible to
affect and that a leakage rate of 10-15 % is fully acceptable.
That is of course not true. If it was true, in what
components would you accept leakages, or would you
accept such a leakage rate in your hydraulic systems?
The cost of leakages or potential saving as we prefer to
view it, is relatively easy to calculate. Each lost cubic
meter of compressed air is worth € 10.500*. In a system
that uses 50 cbm per minute with a 20% leakage rate,
the annual cost is € 105.000 or € 8600 per month.
Leakages of Nitrogen, Oxygen, CO2, are generally more
than 10 times as expensive. At the back of this leaflet
you have a table that will give you an indication
what leakage’s cost your company based on your
consumption.
* The cost of compressed air varies according to each country’s cost of electricity.
In mainland Europe the of industry commonly accepted cost is between
€ 0.02-0.03 per cbm based on 24 hour operation, 365 days and a pressure of 7
bar. In the UK this figure is £ 0.015 per cbm, Scandinavia 0,15 SEK or NOK, in
the USA it varies from state to state but $ 0.025 is commonly accepted and used
by US Dep of energy. The above € 10.500 is calculated on the basis of € 0.02
per cbm |
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One would think that such an expensive utility would
have stringent rules of use and that its consumption and
use is accurately monitored on the same basis as the
use of for example electricity. However less than 10% of
companies actually monitor vital parameters such as
compressed air consumption and pressure. Equipment
to measure flow, pressure and temperature is readily
available and can be installed even during production.
The LeekSeek Group use this to verify results or assist
in the analysis of the compressed air consumption.
Results and tracking of the development can be displayed
to a single stand alone PC or be made available
via the internet. An increasing number of companies are
looking to centralize this type of information in order to
benchmark their various plants and identify the full cost
reduction potential.
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It is very likely that the investment in leakage detection and repair is not in this year's maintenance budget. It does not belong there. The cost reduction appears in the electrical bill and ultimately reduces the cost of production. The question is one of accounting and should involve financial management. The outcome is likely to change how the cost of compressed air is allocated which is a key factor in successful compressed air management. It is also likely that you will get the project funded. |
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 Perhaps, it is the perception that the cost of repair will not justify the potential cost reductions.
Then it may be useful to know that on average the leakage survey represents less than 10% of the total leakage cost and the repair work 15%. It is seldom that the expression “low hanging fruit” is so appropriate.
In fact the pay back period will usually be between 3-6 months. |
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