Compressed air is one of the most important utilities in machine shops. When compressed air flows, energy is consumed: according to estimates, the machine shop and metal industry uses at least 10% of all the electricity it uses to produce and process compressed air. But what to do when there are dozens of leaks in the compressed air system and energy and pure money evaporate to the tune of thousands of euros every year?
At the beginning of this decade, “leak detectors” that quickly and accurately reveal leaks in compressed air systems finally hit the market. Ultrasonic cameras are revolutionizing the field: the new generation of ultrasonic cameras is easy to use, lightweight and ruthlessly effective.
“When we are doing leak detection at a medium-sized machine shop, one cameraman typically finds around 50 leak points during the day,” illustrates the CEO. Sami Uusi-Erkkilä From SmartAir And Energy Oy.
SmartAir's service also includes proper repair of leaks. Alternatively, the customer can use their own personnel for this:
"Right now, when many machine shops are quieter than usual, it's enough to locate the leak points - there is enough labor to make repairs. You might think that when production in the shops is back in full swing, leak repairs will be outsourced to us," estimates Uusi-Erkkilä.
Ultrasound is revolutionizing the field
Uusi-Erkkilä founded his company a year and a half ago because he believed the time was ripe to start utilizing new ultrasonic technology in hunting for leak points.
“SmartAir's goal has been simple from the beginning: we want to help our customers reduce energy waste and unnecessary energy use,” he sums up.
Compressed air is an ideal target for savings because it is one of the commodities that plays a significant role in factories and production facilities in almost all industries.
“Compressed air is used relatively the most in the manufacturing and processing industry compared to many other industries,” says Uusi-Erkkilä.
Compressed air enables movement to occur and continue, and it is used to maintain movement or change the trajectory of objects. “There are a very large number of applications, for example in machine shops,” notes Uusi-Erkkilä, who has been working with compressed air for almost the entire 2000s.
Managing Director Sami Uusi-Erkkilä from SmartAir And Energy Oy says that during leak detection, our experts map the company's compressed air system, starting from the compressed air station and continuing through the entire distribution pipeline all the way to the points of use.
Extensive expertise available
SmartAir’s expert services focus on energy and cost savings in compressed air systems – and there are numerous methods in place to minimize customers’ compressed air costs. However, leak detection in compressed air systems is the “absolute ace” in SmartAir’s deck:
“In leak detection, our experts map the company's compressed air system, starting from the compressed air station and continuing through the entire distribution pipeline all the way to the points of use,” says Uusi-Erkkilä.
"Very often we are able to perform leak detection up to the point where the compressed air produces the required function. In addition, leak detection of production equipment can be performed both while production is running and during downtime."
However, leak detection performed during a shutdown is safer and results in a more comprehensive report. “Performed during a shutdown, it is possible to get closer to the operating or leaking point, allowing the exact location of the leak and the need for repair to be determined more precisely.”
Can you hear me? I'm listening!
In discussions with workshop owners, it has become clear that finding leaks in a company is not always very reliable. In addition to ears, leak spray is typically also used.
"For example, an employee went through the compressed air system over the weekend and listened for leaks. This method only reveals the tip of the iceberg of leaks," estimates Uusi-Erkkilä.
SmartAir has been collecting measurement data from critical areas of engineering companies for a year to determine key guiding values and answer burning questions: what percentage of the compressed air a company uses is lost to the air as leaks? How much energy loss do these leaks cause over the course of a year? And how can the situation be corrected?
Uusi-Erkkilä opens data using an average case, where compressed air consumption is an average of 3.7 m3/min and there are 50 leaks in the system.
“Leaks in relation to consumption are 16.5 percent, which means that almost a fifth of the compressed air used is wasted.”
The energy loss is then approximately 35,545 kWh per year, which means an annual loss of 2,905 kg of CO2emissions. “The economic loss in this example is 3,704 euros per year.”
What is your company's compressed air loss?
Uusi-Erkkilä points out that variations in losses between companies and units can be significant – the results presented here are averages of the data. This means that in some workshops there are few leaks and in others they are a major problem:
“We know of several sites where energy loss has been as high as 70,000 kW per year.”
SmartAir produces statistics on key data for leak detection by industry.
“This gives our customer companies an idea of how their key figures relate to the averages in the study. Based on this, it is at least easy to conclude how much savings potential can be achieved by mapping compressed air leaks and repairing them.”
By repairing leaks, compressed air loss is usually not completely eliminated, but the change is still noticeable. “When the leaks are fixed, we get close to zero.”
Towards sustainable engineering workshops
Uusi-Erkkilä states that although financial interests are important in companies, it is equally important that machine shops make a serious green transition.
"Indeed, one of the points in SmartAir's strategy is that the company is committed to the goals set by Finland to achieve a carbon-neutral society in 2035. One of the cornerstones of our operations is to support our customers' green transition in terms of compressed air," he outlines.
Uusi-Erkkilä points out that the metal industry is considering measures to reduce its carbon footprint, meaning that the problem is acknowledged – and there is a desire to respond to the climate challenge. In this case, they are sensitively considering, for example, the heating or lighting of the property, and not so much compressed air issues.
“If, for example, the workshop replaces LED bulbs everywhere, it’s a pretty big exercise – compared to locating and plugging compressed air leaks.” Uusi-Erkkilä reminds us of the blessing of low-hanging fruit: if you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint with a little effort and budget, it’s worth doing it right away.
"This may not yet be fully understood in machine shops. Why is it that when it comes to compressed air, they often don't know how to define the amount of energy used?" he challenges.
A couple of percent off your electricity bill?
According to SmartAir's calculations, compressed air leaks in the basic workshop could potentially account for up to 1–2% of the entire company's electricity consumption. "From the perspective of the green transition and carbon neutrality, this is at least a significant allocation, where energy savings and reduction of losses can have major impacts on both a societal and corporate level."
Ultrasound cameras are still such a new innovation that not every company has heard the good news about them. Uusi-Erkkilä says that, for example, at industry fairs there have been enough interested people who see the possibilities of the method.
“Our expectation is that this type of activity will expand and grow a lot.”
Pekka Sirkkola performing leak detection on a compressed air system.
The ease of use of the ultrasound camera has impressed almost every location where the filming has been done. “Leak filming doesn’t require much preparation, you can get right to work.”
Regular leak shots, please!
Some places have already been visited a second time, revealing the deceitfulness of the leaks:
"Yes, after just over a year, new leaks have been found. No matter how well the old leaks have been repaired, new ones always appear."
Uusi-Erkkilä encourages a certain cyclicality in the fight against leaks: regular inspections prevent the problem from getting out of hand. “The best inspection interval can be found by talking to the customer.”