Many applications in the food and beverage, electronics, automotive, textile and pharmaceutical industries will require oil-free air to guarantee product integrity and quality (often specified as Class 0). Oil-free compressed air technology will help to avoid expensive filter replacements, cut the cost of oil condensate treatment and reduce energy loss from pressure drop in filters and, in food & beverage applications, the use of expensive food-grade lubricants.
There are some extremely energy-efficient oil-free compressors on the market. For example, a 90-160KV VSD+ oil-free rotary screw air compressors offer up to 10% more output and 15% lower energy consumption compared to previous models. They even have the optional benefit of having an integrated, guaranteed -40ºC pressure dew-point dryer that offers almost zero energy consumption.
If the application is very large-scale, a centrifugal compressor should be considered, since these offer unbeatable energy efficiency in process air or bulk air applications presenting a flat load, or when providing a baseline flow in mixed installations with VSD screw compressors.
If oil-injected compressed air technology is the choice, the VSD and VSD+ rotary screw compressors offer an extremely energy-efficient solution.
Consider a Variable Speed Drive compressor
Most production processes require different levels of demand in different periods, which may mean that the compressor is running off-load or idle (not producing any compressed air) for long periods of time. Considerable savings can be made if a variable speed drive unit can replace a fixed speed compressor, as it only produces compressed air as and when required. This also minimizes off-load running of the compressor, which is known to waste energy. A VSD compressor saves an average 35% energy and a VSD+ unit can save as much as 50% compared to a fixed speed unit, even at full load.
As a fixed speed compressor has a fixed amount of motor starts an hour, the compressor runs off-load for a set time which limits the number of motor starts to ensure overheating of the motor does not occur. As a VSD unit ramps up and down in a controlled fashion, the maximum number of starts and stops per hour may be increased, and it also avoids peaks in current when starting.
Compressor selection should never rely on guess work. Whether your facility is old or under construction, AirAudit’s compressed air application analysis service can help you choose the right compressor. Do you want to know more about application analysis?
