SurvAIR®
Compressor analysis that puts efficiency into your compressed air system
With SurvAIR® advanced air compressor analysis, we can measure, log, graph and analyze all important system factors including flows (CFM), pressures, temperatures, dewpoints and kW. We install our sophisticated instrumentation for a week or two to collect the pertinent data, and then we construct a detailed report from the findings. SurvAIR® helps take the guesswork out of lowering your compressed air costs.
Compressed air is your fourth utility, and the use of compressed air comprises one of the largest areas of electrical energy consumption in a manufacturing plant. Managing your compressed air system and making wise new equipment decisions, therefore, is necessary. However, such decisions can be difficult — if not impossible — without the proper information. Important questions SurvAIR® can help you answer are:
- What are the compressed air flow requirements of the total plant?
- How do they vary throughout the day and week?
- How much energy does my compressed air equipment consume?
- How do we sequence the compressors for peak efficiency?
- Do we have excessive component/piping system pressure losses?
- How much air is lost in leaks?
- Are our compressors operating efficiently?
- Are our dryers working correctly?
- Do we have enough storage capacity?
- Do we have enough backup compressor capacity?
- Are we operating at the right system pressure?
SurvAIR® features:
- CFM, PSI, kW, kWh, and dewpoint tracking
- Complete and instant logging of data and system data analysis
- Historical baseline data
- Custom graphing program
- Field calibrated flow meter
- Multiple points in one database
- Instantaneous or averaged flows
- Allows for various pipe sizes
- Meters can be installed with the system online, so you don’t have to disrupt production
Leak Detection
We can determine your total plant air leakage by measuring the total system airflow requirement when all production equipment is off (if this is possible during the study period). Since a typical plant leaks anywhere from 20–50% of their total usage, the savings potential is enormous.
We locate piping/component leaks with an ultrasonic leak detector. Our personnel can walk through your facility with our ultrasonic leak detectors to pinpoint air leaks. We will tag these locations so that your personnel (or ours) can repair them at a later date.
We can also measure the flow rate of system leaks after repairs are made to determine your savings. We will come back after the leak reduction program is completed to measure the exact savings generated by fixing the leaks. This will quantify your savings.
Reports and Recommendations
We will prepare a detailed report with recommendations, such as:
- Explanations on how to fix or improve specific areas of concern, along with potential energy savings and payback
- Suggestions on compressor/sequence control upgrades
- Equipment upgrade recommendations
- Proper compressor sequence order
- Additional air receivers
- Piping modification recommendations
It should be noted that most of these items are dynamic and dependent upon each other (i.e., flow rates change and pressure drops occur when flow rates are high). Therefore, our instrumentation can measure these items simultaneously and over a reasonable time period (usually 1–2 weeks) to get an accurate and complete picture of your system. After the points are measured and the data is collected, the information is graphed out and analyzed by our compressor system specialists.