Optimising compressed air system energy efficiency - The role of flow metering and exergy analysis

Abstract

Compressed air is a widely used power source in modern manufacturing and is therefore responsible for a large portion of factory energy usage. For this reason, there has been increased attention from the research community into the measurement of air consumption in machines, assessments of energy efficiency and optimisation of devices and systems. This paper provides an overview of the technology used for compressed air flow measurement, including a survey of commercially available flowmeters. Some guidance on sensor selection and installation is also provided. A number of industrial case studies are used to illustrate the dynamics of individual pneumatic consumers and larger demand production machines. In addition a standardised approach is proposed for the analysis of energy efficiency in manufacturing compressed air systems.