According to the German Federal Statistical Office, the production of paper, cardboard and goods made from them is one of the five most energy-intensive industries. Gessner, part of the Mativ Group, is the European market leader in the technical specialty papers and synthetic materials sector. It manufactures filtration products for the automotive industry at its site in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Germany, and is constantly developing new solutions.
“It is easy to become blind to existing production processes and operations,” says Armin Niederhuber, responsible for Energy Management at Gessner. “That’s why we brought in the expertise from Festo in the person of Heiko Fleischhacker, to help us see and improve things that we don’t have an eye for ourselves.”
Why a compressed air audit creates efficiency and transparency
According to Heiko Fleischhacker, an audit always makes sense if a company wants to obtain an objective assessment and a precise picture of the current condition of its compressed air system. The aim is to identify inefficient areas and opportunities to save energy.
During his audit, Heiko Fleischhacker analyzed the entire compressed air system at Gessner and quickly identified shortcomings that, once remedied, led to sustainable energy savings. “We were also advised to install a higher-level compressor control system. With the same result,” states Armin Niederhuber. Thanks to the retrofit, the operating times of the air compressors were adapted much more precisely to the actual air requirements.
Joint success through leakage detection and energy-efficient positioners
Thanks to the joint partnership between Gessner and Festo, further collaborative steps were taken after the audit to reduce energy consumption, such as a selection of recommendations for suitable air compressors. As for the energy expert Niederhuber, downstream leakage detection also led to a surprising discovery: “We wouldn’t have thought that the static consumption of our positioners was in the mid five-digit range.” As a result, all positioners were systematically replaced with more energy-efficient models.
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“The Festo Energy Saving Services have definitely been worthwhile for us. The transparency, the new ideas, and the projects that they resulted in have been a huge benefit to us,”
Armin Niederhuber, Energy Management Expert at Gessner
With the help of Festo Energy Saving Services, Gessner was able to save 30,000 euros per year in compressed air costs at its plant, while also increasing production stability and meeting its environmental protection targets.