Are you looking at the calendar and outside at the same time? Isn't it an attractive sight when our nature awaits its white winter blanket and the amount of light is not even reflected in the UV index. In the midst of the grayness, the Konepaja fair at the Tampere Fair and Sports Center invites you, an interested party in the industry, to experience what bright and modern Konepaja 2022 is.
In collaboration with our stakeholders, we have built all of this just for you and we greatly appreciate your participation. Moderni Konepaja 2022 awaits visitors just as a technically refined product needs hands, from the receipt of goods, through the company's management, until it is refined on its way to its destination.
Sami Uusi-Erkkilä
COMPRESSED AIR – THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY IN INDUSTRY
Is compressed air a perpetual motion machine that comes out of the wall when you plug it in? Or is it an almost free utility that is transferred from the compressed air production station to the applications through the network?
Neither of the above describes the nature of compressed air, nor what kind of utility it really is. So it's easier to start with electricity. When it's available, you can use the light to navigate your way to the kitchen in the darkest hours of the morning, make breakfast, and possibly even drive your EV to work or meet clients. Some of us are lucky enough to have our offspring on their own paths at the same time.
Compressed air is considered the second most important commodity in many industrial sectors, and not without reason, because without it, running production operations is difficult and often even impossible. In this article, we will follow how the E-hall of the Konepaja fair, which covers over 5,000 m2, is also used to create a modern machine shop during the fair and how compressed air keeps production up and running.
At the machine shop fair – in a modern machine shop we follow the journey of compressed air
The exhibition air is produced with German KAESER oil-lubricated screw compressors. Kaeser Kompressorit Oy, which employs around fifty people, is responsible for the availability of these products and services in Finland. Kaeser Kompressoren, which operates globally, is one of the largest compressor manufacturers and a supplier of compressed air systems. The company is also one of the leading players in the industry in Finland.
The compressed air supply at the fair is provided by a Kaeser ASD 60 T SFC, a variable-displacement screw compressor with 1:1 direct drive and built-in refrigeration dryer. As air demand increases and production cells increase productivity, compressed air consumption also increases. The best solution for the air supply at the fair was a two-compressor system, in which a fixed-speed Kaeser ASK 40 T compressor automatically starts up as air consumption increases, acting as an auxiliary compressor.
Moving on to even higher-output units, Kaeser has a strong vision for the design of an energy-efficient compressed air station. When talking about performance, availability and energy efficiency in the same sentence, Kaeser recommends a system of multiple compressor units controlled by the Sigma Air Manager 4.0 master control system. The system controls the compressed air output and monitors the energy consumption of the compressed air station. The benefits of the system include significant energy savings and ready-made energy reports, such as ISO 50001 energy efficiency, for the system. You can find Kaeser in stand E600.
Transmission and distribution of compressed air through technical wells to production cells
Compressed air that meets the quality and quantity requirements is then to be transferred to the E-exhibition hall's compressed air network, which is built below the floor slab of the property. This is achieved using technical wells, which are built for the distribution of utilities such as: electricity, compressed air and water. The number of technical wells corresponds at least to the number of production cells, so distribution is possible cell-specifically, easily and effortlessly.
Compressed air network leak detection
Compressed air is one of the most important industrial commodities, right after electricity, and also the most expensive. Sometimes it is used very recklessly and, on top of that, according to several studies, up to 20% of the compressed air produced by % is lost to the air as leaks.
Based on several studies, in many locations, 20 % compressed air leaks in relation to the amount of compressed air produced are very typical. In the production environment of a machine shop, this could mean a leak value of up to 2m3/min. Typically, machine shops in the manufacturing industry operate in at least two shifts and many even without interruption, almost 8,760 hours per year.
In calculation, the leakage costs of 2 m3/min in two-shift operation mean approximately 56,000 kWh (56 MWh) of unnecessary electricity consumption per year in the machine shop.
– With current energy costs and Finland’s ambitious goals of becoming a carbon-neutral society by 2035, that is definitely too much. It also has a significant economic impact; at an electricity price of 20 cents/kWh, it means a financial loss of over 10,000 euros per year for the company, calculates Sami Uusi-Erkkilä and indicates the leak value in the leak camera.
The essential commodity of a modern factory – compressed air
Makrum Oy from Tampere will be presenting a comprehensively modern machining workshop at the fair.
– This is a highly anticipated event after a break of more than four years. At the fair, we are pleased to present five different, top-of-the-range products in their sector! All of our machines use compressed air in several different areas as part of the process or directly using actuators. Modern machine tools with automation enable unmanned operation. Clean compressed air contributes to the smooth operation of a modern machine shop, says the delighted Marno Miettinen From Makrum Oy.
Makrum Oy is a company that offers machining solutions, offering turnkey solutions to the engineering industry, starting from the needs assessment.
For the machine shop, Makrum covers a high-pressure cutting fluid and filter unit for machine tools, a two-hole precision lathe with piece automation, a mobile machine-specific automation cell, a vertical machining center, and a milling machine with ProtoTRAK control.
– I arrived at the Makrum stand a little before the start of the fair, and I noticed how hard the Makrum team had worked and had the stand ready well in advance the night before. When I arrived at the stand, I had the impression that I had arrived at a modern machine shop, whose products not only allow machining, but also CNC machining and effortless part transfer using part automation. Not everything was automated yet, but as someone who has received machining training myself, I can say that several work stages could be easily and efficiently performed with the stand's machine tools, says Uusi-Erkkilä
Takamaz XW-130 is a two-spindle precision lathe equipped with two tool turrets with piece automation. With this precision lathe and piece automation, the pieces to be machined can be “picked” from the piece storage, transferred for machining, turned and transferred back to the piece storage as finished pieces. To operate, Takamaz requires the following operating resources: electricity supply, compressed air supply, cutting fluids, and the turning chips generated as side streams and the processing of the cutting fluid. The internal circulation of the device includes hydraulics and central lubrication. It can be concluded that a modern precision lathe requires operating resources, side stream management, internal circulation resources and skilled workers to operate.
Makrum was also involved in 2020, until, like a bolt of lightning, the trade fair was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the entire event had to be cancelled. Makrum's maintenance engineer Mikko Harjula describes the moment firsthand when the company's team was getting the machine tools "up" to fair and presentation condition, that the ratchet was changing direction like flying.
– The event is highly anticipated for us and we believe that our visitors feel the same way. Our understanding is that both exhibitors and visitors are looking forward to the fair. The four-year break has done its job and visitors need to gather to meet industry players, colleagues and look for new ideas for the needs of the modern machine shop, summarizes Marno Miettinen from Makrum.
A comprehensive machine tool supplier thirsts for clean compressed air
Tamspark Oy is a company founded in 2007 that acts as an importer of leading machine tool manufacturers for, for example, machining centers, wire saws, and EDM machines. The company has supplemented its product range with 3D printers in 2015. Tamspark's main representative office GF manufactures, among other things, machining centers, EDM wire saws, and of course EDM machines, as well as special machines such as laser ablation, micromachining, and automation solutions.
– Several customer meetings have been arranged for the fair, which is a great way to take ongoing projects forward, increase customers' knowledge of the machines on offer and openly exchange ideas and opinions. This way, the fair offers good encounters for both us and our customers, adds Tamspark's Chief Operating Officer. Heidi Henttonen-Sorri.
Tamspark also classifies itself as a total supplier to ensure smooth and efficient maintenance of the equipment. The company employs several service technicians who work on installation or training projects at end-customer production facilities and regularly participate in training courses organized by the principals.
– Challenges in the smooth operation of current machine tools include deficiencies in the supply of high-quality compressed air to machine tools. Often, the customer's compressed air network also contains components that are not part of the machine tools, such as water, residual oil and particles. This means an increased need for maintenance. Machine tools require clean compressed air for both the operation of the direct measurement system and for accuracy. The machines have their own compressed air filtration, but naturally its capacity is limited, says the CEO. Jussi Tammisalo From Tamspark Oy.
– Machine tools always have their own filtration units, but these are also subjected to unnecessary strain precisely due to impure compressed air and require increased maintenance. For normal use, considerable amounts of air and sufficient pressures are needed. The amount of air used increases, for example, when using compressed air for chip removal, when working without emulsions, summarizes Tammisalo.
The author of the article, Sami Uusi-Erkkilä, has had a long career in the technology industry. Uusi-Erkkilä worked in sales and sales management positions in compressed air systems, where the main focus was often on energy- and cost-saving technology.