Effective ways to save energy on air compressors
Compressed air, as one of the power sources of manufacturing enterprises, needs uninterrupted operation to ensure the stability of the air supply pressure. The air compressor unit is the “heart” of the production and manufacturing tasks. The good operation of the air compressor unit is the normal production and manufacturing activities. important safeguards. Since it is running equipment, it needs power supply, and power consumption is one of the most important components of enterprise costs.
In the process of continuous gas supply, whether there is leakage and ineffective use of the entire gas supply pipeline network system is another important reason for cost increase. How to reduce the use cost of the air compressor unit is effective and simply summarized as follows.
1. Technical transformation of equipment
The adoption of high-efficiency units is the trend of equipment development, such as replacing piston machines with screw air compressors. Compared with the traditional piston compressor, the screw air compressor has the advantages of simple structure, small size, higher stability and easier maintenance. Especially in recent years, the continuous emergence of energy-saving screw compressors has led to an increase in the market share of screw air compressors year by year. Various companies are vying to launch products that exceed the national energy efficiency level standards. The technical transformation of equipment is at the right time.
2. Leakage control of pipe network system
The average leakage of compressed air in the factory is as high as 20-30%, so the primary task of energy saving is to control leakage. All pneumatic tools, hoses, joints, valves, a small hole of 1 square millimeter, under the pressure of 7bar, will lose about 4,000 yuan a year. It is urgent to optimize the design and regular inspection of the air compressor pipeline. Through energy consumption, power energy produced by electricity and water is leaked in vain, which is a great waste of resources and should be highly valued by enterprise managers.
3. Set up pressure gauges in each section of the pipeline for pressure drop control
Every time the compressed air passes through a device, there will be a loss of compressed air, and the pressure of the air source will decrease. Generally, when the air compressor is exported to the point of use in the factory, the pressure drop cannot exceed 1 bar, and more strictly, it cannot exceed 10%, that is, 0.7 bar. The pressure drop of the cold-dry filter section is generally 0.2 bar, check the pressure drop of each section in detail, and timely maintain if there is any problem. (Each kilogram of pressure increases the energy consumption by 7%-10%).
When selecting compressed air equipment and evaluating the pressure demand of air-consuming equipment, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the size of the air supply pressure and air supply volume, and the air supply pressure and total power of the equipment should not be increased blindly. In the case of ensuring production, the exhaust pressure of the air compressor should be lowered as much as possible. The cylinders of many gas-consuming equipment only need 3 to 4 bar, and a few manipulators only need more than 6 bar. (When the pressure is lowered by 1 bar, the energy saving is about 7-10%). For enterprise gas equipment, it is enough to ensure production and use according to the gas consumption and pressure of the equipment.
At present, the domestic leading high-efficiency screw air compressor, its motor is more than 10% energy-saving than ordinary motors, it has constant pressure air, will not cause pressure difference waste, uses as much air as it needs, and does not need to be loaded and unloaded. More than 30% energy saving than ordinary air compressors. Production gas is especially suitable for modern production and manufacturing. Units with large gas consumption can also use centrifugal units. High efficiency and large flow can alleviate the problem of insufficient peak gas consumption.
5. Multiple devices adopt centralized control
Centralized control of multiple devices is a good way to improve modern enterprise management. The centralized linkage control of multiple air compressors can avoid the stepwise exhaust pressure increase caused by the parameter setting of multiple air compressors, resulting in waste of output air energy. The joint control of multiple air compressor units, the joint control of post-processing equipment and facilities, the flow monitoring of the air supply system, the monitoring of the air supply pressure, and the monitoring of the air supply temperature can effectively avoid various problems in the operation of the equipment and improve the reliability of the equipment operation.
6. Reduce the intake air temperature of the air compressor
The environment where the air compressor is located is generally more suitable to be placed indoors. Generally, the internal temperature of the air compressor station is higher than that of the outdoor, so outdoor gas extraction can be considered. Do a good job of maintaining and cleaning the equipment, increasing the heat dissipation effect of the air compressor, the exchange effect of heat exchangers such as water cooling and air cooling, and maintaining oil quality, etc., all of which can reduce energy consumption. According to the operating principle of the air compressor, the air compressor sucks in natural air, and after multi-stage treatment, multi-stage compression finally forms high-pressure clean air to supply other equipment. During the whole process, the natural air will be continuously compressed and absorbed most of the heat energy converted from electric energy, and the temperature of the compressed air will rise accordingly. The continuous high temperature is not good for the normal operation of the equipment, so it is necessary to continuously cool down the equipment, and at the same time The re-inhaled natural air reduces the intake temperature and increases the intake air volume is an ideal state.
7. Waste heat recovery during compression
Air compressor waste heat recovery generally uses efficient waste heat recovery equipment to heat cold water by absorbing the waste heat of the air compressor, minimizing additional energy consumption as much as possible. It can be mainly used to solve the problems of employees’ life and industrial hot water, and save a lot of energy for the enterprise, thereby greatly saving the output cost of the enterprise.
In short, improving the efficiency of compressed air use is one of the important measures for enterprises to save energy and reduce emissions. It requires the joint attention of managers, users and operators to take effective measures to increase the utilization rate of air compressors to ensure production. The purpose of reducing the cost of use.