Energy Intelligence for Pumps and Compressors

Related Vendors

Lutz Pumpen GmbH

Italvacuum, Srl

ProMinent GmbH

DECHEMA e.V.

In essence, customers who decide to purchase compressed air have better cost transparency. High-precision metering ensures that customers are only charged for the amount of compressed air that they actually use. Besides cost transparency, ongoing optimisation of compressed air costs is the main advantage of the contracting system.

The Challenge: Identifying the Compressed Air Leakage

Users know that compressed air is an expensive energy source and leakage should be prevented. Compressed air that is ‘lost’ has to be regenerated using energy-intensive compressors. Nevertheless, sufficient attention is not always paid to this aspect in practical application.

There are many reasons why leakage can occur in very long compressed air lines that have many branches. High-sensitivity thermal flow sensors (turn down ratios as high as 1:1.000) can be used to detect leaks. Using this approach, electricity consumption by a battery manufacturer was reduced by 563 MWh/yr, a 21 per cent savings (roughly 327 MT of CO2) according to ZVEI (German Association for the Electrical and Electronics Industry).

Energy efficiency on Valves and Fittings

Following the explosion on the oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, there has been enormous pressure to come up with innovative solutions in the oil & gas sector. A number of manufacturers have unveiled LDAR (Leak Detection and Repair) systems. Pilot-operated Safety Valves (POSV) have a long, proven track record in the US and the Middle East. These valves have only been approved in Europe since the introduction of harmonised standard DIN EN ISO 4126-4.

These valves have the advantage that the sealing pressure increases up to the set pressure, and as a result the user can operate the valve near the set pressure. Also, the backpressure can be higher with POSVs compared to spring-loaded safety valves. Rather than spring force, the system pressure holds POSVs closed. These valves are used in the chemical, refinery and offshore industries.

Rotary Gate Valves are another new valve technology for virtually leakage free offshore installations.

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