Sustainability, Moisture Measurement and Energy Costs

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How to reduce the operating, capital and carbon cost of your compressed air system

70% of all industrial companies use compressed air, according to BCAS, the British Compressed Air Society.  This accounts for at least 10% of all the energy they consume.  Globally, this is a staggering figure.

In 2022, the International Energy Agency estimated that 37%, or 166Ej (Exajoule), of global energy was needed for industrial processes.  This means that almost 17Ej of energy is used every year just for air compression.  To put that in context, that’s the same amount of energy as that which could be released from over 400 million tonnes of oil or almost 600 million tonnes of coal. 

The good news is that, although energy consumption is increasing across the world, an increasing proportion is being generated from renewable sources.  At the same time, growing numbers of industrial companies are taking active steps to reduce the amount of energy used.  Examples include the replacement of inefficient fixed-speed motors, pumps and fans with variable-speed devices, and the installation of low-energy lighting and heating systems.  Companies are also investing in their own renewable solar or wind sources.  

Admittedly, these measures are partly driven by volatile and rising energy prices, combined with ever-tougher environmental legislation.  But the driver is not only commercial demand – many industrial companies have long-standing and proactive CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies and view their relationships with local communities, and their wider role in society, extremely seriously.  Minimizing their impact on the environment and their carbon footprint is fundamental to their business ethos and operational goals. 

All of which brings us back to the issue of compressed air.

Leaks, moisture and energy loss 

Figures vary, but the consensus is that, on a typical industrial site, around 30% of all compressed air generated is wasted, mostly due to leaks in pipework and connectors.  Regardless of the size of your energy bill, if 10% of it is being spent on compressing air, then almost a third of this is wasted – that’s £30 in every £100 of cost that’s simply being vented straight into the atmosphere!  However, the problem is larger than simply wasted air.  Wherever there is a leak, there is a point of access through which moisture can enter the compressed air system – and moisture, as every engineer knows, is no friend to compressed air systems!

Corrosion, dilution of lubricating oils and poor air quality are just three of the problems.  Equally problematic is the fact that high levels of moisture in a compressed air stream will place a heavy load on refrigerant or desiccant PSA-style dryers.  In turn, this adds to the energy demand, increases regeneration cycles, raises operating costs and contributes to reduced equipment life – in other words, it will impact your OPEX and CAPEX, while undermining your sustainability goals. 

Using moisture measurement to reduce compressed air energy costs 

Resolving the problems of leaking connectors, pipework and other compressed air devices is not always straightforward, especially in large, aging or complex systems.  Even if optimum conditions are achieved, there is no guarantee that leaks won’t recur in the future. 

Once the leaks are fixed, adding a portable moisture detection instrument to your suite of measurement and quality tools is the best solution to ensure that optimum conditions are maintained in the future. 

Our new Easidew PDP Dryer Portable dew-point meter is ideal for this task.  It’s lightweight, cost-effective and extremely accurate.  It weighs just 3.6kg and is sealed to IP65 in a rugged case, making it ideal for use throughout a factory or around a process site.  A high-contrast color LCD touchscreen and quick-fit inlet and outlet connectors make it simple to use, even for less-skilled employees, while the option of real-time measurement of humidity, temperature and pressure provides an immediate indication of problems upstream of the measuring point. 

The Easidew PDP is compliant with ISO 8573-1 Classes 1–4 and features on-board storage and a standard USB-C connection, for full traceability as part of certified quality-control procedures. 

Moisture measurement is a common requirement for many compressed air and specialized gas systems, with the latest PSA dryers incorporating dew-point transmitters as part of their monitoring and control loops.  Using a portable instrument to spot-check the overall health of the system makes commercial sense.  Just as importantly, its use can help to identify and eliminate sources of leaking air and, thus, wasted energy, contributing to your wider sustainability goals. 

Read more about our journey towards a low-energy future.

With 50 years’ experience in the development of moisture, humidity and dew-point technology, we are the application experts for all trace moisture measurement in compressed air and specialized gas applications. If you would like to discuss your requirements, please contact our team today. 

Did you know ?

Sustainability has become something of a hot topic for businesses of all sizes.  In common with many terms, the more it is used, the more diluted or misunderstood it becomes.  It’s also easy to set aspirational corporate sustainability goals, but much harder, in practice, to implement measures that truly make a difference. 

One method of achieving this is to assess the ‘hidden carbon’ costs associated with doing business.  This can potentially be complex, but is essentially: 

1. The embodied carbon originating as the result of a manufacturing or production process.  For example, the extraction, refinement and transport of raw materials, the stages involved in the supply chain for components or assemblies that are bought in, and the impact of sourcing and setting up production lines. 

2. The actual costs of manufacture, in terms of energy consumed, waste produced, recycling, maintaining building infrastructure, and so on.

The key point is that for a sustainability program to be viable it is important to consider all aspects of the carbon cost of doing business, of which the reduction in wasted compressed air and energy consumption is just one.