Energy efficiency in compressed air

The energy consumed during compressed air supply is often greatly underestimated. Mistakes in plant planning or dimensioning as well as insufficient maintenance and servicing of the plants lead to compressed air losses. Electricity costs make up as much as 80 percent of the overall costs for a compressed air plant. Even companies with well operated plants have saving potentials of up to 30 percent*. Existing plants reveal plenty of room for optimisation. Thorough testing of the compressed air plants can lead to measures for optimum efficiency being introduced. Intelligent energy management is the first parameter for achieving economic efficiency in your processes. We provide you with systematic support for your energy concept. Localise hidden cost drivers and optimise your system. For increased energy efficiency in your processes and successful approval in accordance with ISO 50001.

*(Source VDMA Unit Sheet 4370)

Take a systematic approach to energy management

1. Gain a data basis for efficient cost evaluation and specification of improvement potentials using the data logger METPOINT BDL. Determine the total consumption within the company, department-related consumption, key figures for individual consumers and leakage quantities in individual departments. The electronic recording of the sensor signals provides information 24/7 about compressed air and thus about the quality of your application. This information is displayed and stored by the device. The process activity can be archived long-term and alarm messages can be forwarded to higher-order systems. The screen recorder therefore enables an immediate estimation of the processes and speeds up access locally. Analogue and/or digital sensors can be configured and connected with ease.

2. Localise leaks using METPOINT LKD. Leaks lead to losses of compressed air that have to be compensated by increasing the compressor performance. This results in an increase in energy costs.

3. Monitor the residual humidity using METPOINT DPM. When the level of residual humidity is high, rust will form on pipes and functional plants. This leads to leaks in the system.

4. Check the volume flow using METPOINT FLM. Excessive flow velocities can lead to system overload.

5. Monitor the pressure in your systems using METPOINT PRM. Excess pressure can damage components.

With measurement technology from BEKO TECHNOLOGIES you can keep an eye on all the parameters relevant for economic efficiency. Localise hidden cost drivers and optimise your plants.

Plant optimising and air audit

Potentials for optimisation can be identified in every compressed air station. Exact measuring values are indispensable for modern manufacturing technology and are the relevant parameters for determining the efficiency of your compressed air system. We can make this visible for you with our measurements. An optimisation means enormous savings in addition to the technical safety for the owner or operator and makes itself immediately obvious in the operative results.

The eco product line

Use natural resources AND take care of their origin: this is how we define our responsibility, wherever we make air usable for your processes. We develop technologies and procedures for production that goes easy on the environment.

This is the idea behind eco, a plant concept that aims to keep an eye on possible effects on nature and use energy in such a way that it combines maximum economic use with ecological appreciation, while providing a full technical function. We combine technology with environmental consciousness and help you live responsibly.

Thanks to our energy-saving dryers of the DRYPOINT RA eco series, economic efficiency has been redefined: the pressure loss, compressed air loss and energy consumption have been significantly reduced.

The compressed air filter series CLEARPOINT 3eco is especially energy-efficient due to the flow-optimised housing design and the low differential pressures, and reduces operating costs.

With the DRYPOINT M eco control, we offer a solution where operation and degree of drying can be perfectly adjusted to the application, thus saving energy by reducing the regeneration air.

With our heat-regenerating adsorption dryers EVERDRY we can offer you a tailor-made solution to match the respective location of use and applications to be served.

DRYPOINT RA eco energy-saving dryer

Refrigeration dryers are often designed on the basis of a continual work load. In fact, the pressure and volume flow requirement fluctuates over the course of the day and the quantities of water to be condensed fluctuate depending on the season. Only in the rarest cases are refrigeration dryers applied with constant full load. This results in high energy-saving potential with a dryer with energy-saving control.

Two control concepts adapt the dryer performance directly to requirements and thus significantly reduce energy consumption.

Cycling technology (intermittent control) switches the refrigerant compressor off if necessary. At low load, the PDP approaches freezing. The control unit monitors the PDP and switches the compressor off. The compressor is restarted when the PDP rises to above the target value. The additional use of thermal mass extends the switch-off times.

Refrigerant compressor and ventilator are controlled precisely using frequency control. The control unit monitors evaporation pressure, condensing pressure and PDP. After the start (>3min) the compressor speed is adjusted in such a way that the evaporation pressure remains constant (even under changed conditions). The compressor and ventilator are activated/deactivated to keep the circuit close to the actual conditions, which leads to an optimum combination of energy saving and drying performance.

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CLEARPOINT eco compressed air filter

During compressed air treatment, the greatest saving potential lies in reducing energy costs. Depending on the plant work load, these make up as much as 80% of the overall costs. Energy consumption is influenced to a considerable extent by differential pressure during the filtration of aerosols and particles. The decisive factor when evaluating the service life costs for compressed air filters is the energy consumption which occurs with differential pressure. This differential pressure is particularly low with the new CLEARPOINT 3eco filter elements. The filters can be designed specifically as energy efficient or performance oriented.

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Filter element replacement

Filters can be equipped with a differential pressure indicator and it is often wrongly assumed that this instrument indicates when a filter element has to be replaced.

Differential pressure measuring devices should only be used to display blockage of the filter element but not to indicate when a filter element has to be changed. With low flow conditions in particular, such as encountered e.g. with compressors with variable speed, they do not indicate the actual blockage state. It is even more important that it does not indicate any or only very little movement if an element has been used too long or is damaged, so that the entire contamination can get through.

In order to guarantee both the air quality and the energy efficiency of the original filter, the filter elements should always be changed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and original spare parts should always be used.

DRYPOINT M eco control electronically regulated membrane dryer

DRYPOINT M eco control is a drying system that automatically reacts to changing operating conditions. Purge air, and thus energy, is only consumed, if the dryer is actually in operation. With the DRYPOINT M eco control membrane dryer, the pressure dew point can be adjusted using the keyboard, to between +10 and -26°C in “constant mode”, depending on the requirement profile. In the operating mode, the device then keeps the outlet pressure dew point steady under changing operating conditions. In “dynamic mode” a defined gap between outlet pressure dew point and compressed air temperature can be selected.

Since the purge air quantity is reduced to the actual requirement for useful air quantity and degree of drying, large saving potentials can be achieved particularly under fluctuating load.

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Compressed air drying XXL

Sustainable utilisation of compression heat

When large volume flows need drying, the heat regenerating adsorption dryers of the EVERDRY HOC series are particularly worth considering in terms of energy efficiency (on request we can realise plants with a volume flow of up to 100,000 m³/h).

The EVERDRY HOC plants make use of the existing compression heat from the oil-free compressed compressed air for desorption. This is the best form of compressed air drying in terms of energy, since there are no losses of compressed air for regeneration (zero purge). Depending on the compression temperature (between 100°C and 200°C), the method can be used to achieve pressure dew points between -5°C and -40°C without additional energy requirements.

EVERDRY eco: individual, efficient and sustainable

EVERDRY FRA-Vplus in the eco version. As long as the ambient parameters permit, this dryer also works in ZERO purge mode. As soon as the ambient monitor establishes that the aspirated air is too humid, it switches to purge mode and uses a part air flow of the dried air for cooling. This means the use of this adsorption dryer is independent of the ambient parameters.

The decisive ecological advantage is the significantly reduced heat requirement thanks to intelligent use of waste heat, which translates to significantly lower electricity costs for the operator. This dryer does not have to generate the entire heat through the heater, rather it uses the energy in the heat storage tank. This originates e.g. from heat recuperation from the compressor or previous regeneration processes.

High-performance adsorbent Sorbead^® eco

The required desorption temperature can be lowered significantly by using a specific adsorbent. This reduces the energy consumption by more than 15%. This adsorbent is manufactured exclusively by BASF in Germany and sold under the name Sorbead ^®. The relevant adsorbent filling is available from BEKO TECHNOLOGIES under the option Sorbead^® eco. All EVERDRY adsorption dryers of the series FRA-V / FRA-Vplus / FRA / FRP / FRL-V / FRL (up to -40°C pressure dew point) can be equipped with this high-performance adsorbent.