The importance and economic benefits of measuring compressed air systems

SmartAir IoT

Compressed air systems

The importance and economic benefits of IoT

Data is an invaluable resource when it comes to optimizing the operation of a compressed air system, ensuring its availability and achieving cost savings. Compressed air system measurement data can be used to make informed and accurate decisions based on actual measurement values, not just estimates. Without reliable data, the system is managed more on guesswork than on real information, which often leads to increased costs and wasted energy. As data analyst and industrial production great influencer William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900-December 20, 1993) has stated: “Without data, you are just a person with an opinion.” Measurement data enables controlled and accurate system monitoring and optimization, which in turn ensures that costs are known and manageable. In this way, you control costs, and the costs do not control you.

In many compressed air systems, flow and volume measurements are completely absent, which makes it difficult to assess the efficiency of the system and monitor the costs associated with its use.

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993, Washington, DC) was an American statistician and quality consultant, best known for developing quality management and continuous improvement (Total Quality Management, TQM) and for modernizing Japanese industry.

If flow meters are installed in the system and the data obtained from them is directed to a production or building automation system, compressed air consumption and costs can be monitored in real time. If the company does not have its own automation system, data collection can also be carried out wirelessly using PVS SmartAir, making the data easily and securely available via the network. The data obtained in this way provides a clear view of the system's efficiency and reveals potential cost factors, such as the impact of leaks on overall consumption.

Compressed air systems

Optimization and cost management

The key parameters for the operation of a compressed air system are pressure, flow and dew point. Pressure measurements indicate potential leaks and malfunctions. Flow measurements reveal compressed air consumption at various points in the system, allowing energy consumption to be reduced and the system to be optimized. Dew point measurement, on the other hand, helps ensure that the humidity in the compressed air is controlled, preventing system corrosion and other quality problems. By optimizing these parameters, system reliability can be improved and significant savings can be achieved in the long term.

Indicative PVS SmartAir Mobile installation. (Flow, volume, pressure and dew point)

jpeg-optimizer_smartair-consumption-based-billing

Realistic billing ensures that each operator pays according to their actual consumption, which reduces billing discrepancies and ambiguities.

DEMAND

Consumption-based billing

Especially in projects where compressed air is used by different operators, it is important that billing is based on actual figures and not estimates. Billing based on estimates can easily lead to under- or over-billing, which in turn can increase pressure on the fairness of cost distribution. Realistic billing can ensure that each operator pays according to their actual consumption, thus avoiding conflicts and ambiguities in billing. Optimization helps reduce energy consumption, which directly affects the company's energy bills and environmental footprint. In the long term, measurement data also enables the system to be improved and maintenance to be anticipated, which reduces expensive maintenance costs.

Pressure, flow and dew point

Key measurement parameters

When assessing the efficiency of a compressed air system, it is important to measure the key parameters of the system:

pressure
flow
dew point

Pressure measurements are important because they reveal potential leaks and other system malfunctions, such as challenges in the availability of sufficient compressed air. “Have you ever thought that there may be an imbalance in the pressure in the compressed air network? This may be manifested by a clearly lower pressure level in one part of the compressed air network than in another. To correct the situation, the pressure in the entire system may be too high, thus causing unnecessary costs and energy waste”

Leaks are common in compressed air systems and can cause significant costs if not detected in time. Monitoring pressure at different points in the system allows you to assess pressure differences and their effects. This information also helps you check whether the system has sufficient pressure, which is important to maintain efficient and high-quality processes.

Flow measurements, on the other hand, tell you how much compressed air is being consumed at different points in the system. This information is useful because it can help identify imbalances and consumption peaks that can cause unnecessary costs. By optimizing the flow, energy consumption can be reduced and the economy of the system can be improved. When the flow is monitored in real time, potential problems can be quickly detected, such as unexpected consumption peaks or flow changes, which can indicate leaks, system malfunctions or, for example, unnecessary air consumption in the process or its components.