The most common and at the same time most underestimated problem in compressed air systems is energy loss due to leaks. A quiet hissing noise at a screw connection here, a leaking Coupling there - what goes unnoticed in the noisy daily production routine adds up to considerable costs over the year that are avoidable. A single, tiny leak with a diameter of just one millimeter at a network pressure of 6 bar already causes annual additional costs of almost 180 euros. An audit at a typical production plant showed how quickly these small losses add up: 278leaks were found there - with total costs of almost 50.000 euros per year. This is capital that literally vanishes into thin air. Leaks often go undetected because no one specifically looks for them. However, anyone who actively engages in leakage detection quickly discovers that there is hardly any measure that reduces energy costs faster and more sustainably. Eliminating leaks not only saves money, but also increases the availability and stability of the entire system.
"It's better to push a little harder to be on the safe side" - this idea is firmly anchored in many companies. To avoid pressure losses caused by long pipe runs or filters, the compressor is often set to a significantly higher pressure than the actual application requires. If a compressor is running at 7.5 bar, for example, although only 6 bar is required on the machine, this is a permanently expensive safety reserve. Every bar of overpressure increases the compressor's energy consumption by 6-8 % - day after day, year after year. A practical example shows the effect: in a plant with annual compressed air costs of around 780.000 euros, reducing the system pressure by just 1 bar resulted in savings of almost 47.000 euros per year. Safety reserves are important, but excessive system pressure is an expensive long-term solution. A precise analysis of how much pressure is really needed at which point immediately saves costs - without jeopardizing process reliability.
In addition to system-wide approaches, there is often great potential directly at the machine. For example, in a typical blowing application that dries or cleans components on a conveyor belt. Previously, a Nozzle blew continuously and consumed 533 standard liters per minute (Nl/min) - even if there was no component in the station. This resulted in annual costs of over 7.000 euros for a single work step. Two simple adjustments have fundamentally improved the process:
- Demand-oriented control:
A sensor now precisely detects when a component reaches the station.
- Pulsed air blast:
Instead of continuous air, air is only blown in briefly and selectively (e.g. 0.5 seconds ON, 0.5 seconds OFF) while the component passes through the Nozzle.
This reduced compressed air consumption to around 260 Nl/min. The annual costs fell to less than 1.800 euros - a saving of over 5.000 euros per year! This investment paid for itself in just a few weeks. This example clearly shows you how even small optimizations to the application can have a big impact - and why it's worth your while to take a closer look.