A compressed air assessment was done at an aircraft maintenance facility. Part of the study was identification of inappropriate compressed air uses. The study identified some compressed air powered ring jets used for ventilation of aircraft fuel tanks while the internals were being inspected. The study concluded that these ring jets were using about one-third of the capacity of the compressed air system and half the capacity during peak demands.
The compressed air auditor recommended the compressed air powered ventilation be changed to explosion-proof electric fan powered. However, the facility manager was not a believer — he felt the capacity numbers were overestimated, so the conversion did not happen.
About a year later, the auditor’s phone rang … on the other end of the line was the facility manager. He exclaimed, “You will never believe what happened — two of our compressors failed at the same time, and the ventilation demand was pulling down the plant. So, we switched over the ventilation to emergency fan power and now we are getting about 10 times the ventilation air flow. I’ll never question your report again!”
The auditor believed it.
Shortly after that, all of the ring jet ventilation was switched to electric fan power. The savings worked out to about 70,000 kWh per year, which is worth about $7,000 in electrical costs — and best of all, the facility got back 50% of their capacity at peak.
There may be inappropriate end uses of compressed air in your plant. Realize that anything done using compressed air costs about 10 times what it would if it was supplied directly by motor power.
Filed Under: Pneumatic Tips