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How you can Lower
you Compressed Air Costs
The cost of supplying compressed air by
utilizing natural gas engine-driven air compressors can be accomplished
for many reasons. Just some of the reasons for cost effectiveness are
that they: reduce consumption of electric energy; reduce the demand for
power; have a high partial-load effectiveness; and ability to benefit
from the electric deregulation.
Energy efficiency and a reduction in costs for energy consumption can be
achieved by natural gas engine-driven air compressors. These compressors
can utilize natural gas as their main source of energy which alleviates
the need for electricity. This is a distinct advantage since the cost of
electricity to commercial users is based on electric energy consumption
and power demand.
A manufacturing plant cannot benefit from the scale used in determining
electric rates or from the lower cost of natural gas if it utilizes only
electric compressors 24 hours per day. In order to deal with the
uncertainty of fluctuating energy rates, a combination of natural gas
engine-driven air compressors and electric air compressors (hybrid air
compressor systems) should be utilized. When electric rates are high,
natural gas engine-driven air compressors can be utilized as the main
air compressors. Then the reverse can be utilized when electric rates
are low.
To obtain the optimum rates in the deregulated electric energy economy,
hybrid plants will be most productive in providing the ability to
preserve level electric consumption and power demand. It may benefit
some plants to use engine-driven air compressors only during the periods
of high energy demand.
A normal 100-horsepower, air-cooled compressor (110 horsepower at full
load with a 3 horsepower fan) that runs during two shifts with an
average load of 71% will consume 384,284 kilowatt hours (kWh) of
electricity in a year, with an annual cost of $30,743 and is several
thousand dollars more than the first cost of the compressor. A unit of
this type would benefit from the availability of variable speed capacity
controls. This would provide the air compressors with an ability to
track the load without incurring an efficiency penalty.
Systems in which engine driven air compressors may track the load
without an efficiency penalty may benefit from a cost reduction in
compressed air by using adjustable speed capacity controls.
The entire cost of providing needed electric energy (kWh) must include
the monthly demand charge (based on the maximum kW power load from the
system) and fuel and other charges included in the rate schedule. For
example, if monthly charges are $15/kW, then the annual demand charge
for a 100-horsepower compressor will be $1,230.
The entire cost of operating a natural gas engine-driven compressor
based on the same load is $15,600. This is based on the assumption that
the gas cost is $4.00 per million BTU and maintenance cost is 1.5 cents
per horsepower per hour above that figure to maintain an electric
compressor of equal capacity. This example depicts that the use of an
engine-driven air compressor saves over $16,000 per year.
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Industrial Air
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Natural Gas-Driven Air
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