Industrial Utility Efficiency

Technology

Learn how engineers can safely remove moisture from compressed air systems in hazardous environments by eliminating ignition risks through pneumatic controls. This article explores design considerations, performance characteristics and reliability factors for regenerative desiccant dryers operating in Class I, Division 1 locations.

Boiler Soot-Blowing in Power Plants

Utilities have been cleaning their boilers for many years using either steam or high-pressure air.  In the past, when air was used, due to the size of the boilers and the reasonable quality of fuel used, a relatively small amount of cleaning was required.

Wire Size Recommendations for VFD Compressors

Safety is the driving force in the determination of minimum recommended supply wire sizes for variable speed compressor packages.  With this in mind, all wire size recommendations should be based on meeting, or exceeding, the minimum requirements of the National Electrical Code (NEC).

Blowers Save Energy at Aluminum Mill

Relatively few people realize that for a variety of industrial manufacturing applications, from air knife drying to simple blow-off nozzles, the use of high pressure compressed air that bleeds into the atmosphere represents a significant waste of energy.  

Air Compressor Monitoring

With all of the different LEED credits and associated M&V requirements and tax incentive opportunities for businesses to reduce energy consumption, we have seen an increasing demand for metering. Companies are looking for more ways to estimate cost savings and prove that their energy saving investments are working.

A Steel Processing Audit

This steel processing facility has been operating for over one hundred years.  This facility is part of a large corporation with numerous plants around the world.  This audit focused on the compressed air system on one side of the Works which we will call the “North Plant”.

Audit Savings for Motor Coach Industries

Motor Coach Industries, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is the largest manufacturer of intercity tour coaches for the tour, charter, line-haul, scheduled service, commuter transit and conversion markets in the U.S. and Canada. The company operates a four screw-type air compressor system at its Clarence Avenue plant in Winnipeg. To maintain adequate system pressure at the plant, Motor Coach was forced to run all four compressors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

3 Key Factors for Designing Vacuum Pump Inlet Filtration Systems

Nearly all vacuum pumping technologies have some degree of sensitivity to inlet particulate contamination.  Since everything from a vacuum assisted production process ends up at the inlet of the vacuum pump, it is important to figure out how to best protect the pump in that particular environment.  In many cases, the expected service life of a vacuum pump comes down to how well it is protected from incoming contamination.

Air Compressors

From October 29-31, 2024, professionals who operate, maintain and design industrial compressed air,

Air Treatment/N2

A modular nitrogen generation system integrated with compressed air infrastructure enabled on-site

Blowers

The plant upgrades, in combination with a progressive management strategy, allows the plant to

Compressor Controls

Hitachi Astemo’s efficiency gains will turn into significant cost savings. In this article we

Instrumentation

The ISO 8573-1 standard defines clear limits for various compressed air quality parameters. This

Pneumatics

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2002 Motor Market Assessment established that pumping systems offer

Vacuum

Industrial ceramics have been produced in Hermsdorf, near Jena, since 1890. In the past, high

Cooling Systems

The AIM (American Innovation and Manufacturing) Act was finalized by the US government at the end of