New Year, New Efficiency: Key Resolutions for Your Compressed Air System

New Year’s resolutions aren’t only for personal matters; they’re also useful for your facility, especially for your compressor system. Compressed air typically accounts for up to 40% of a manufacturing facility’s total energy bill, and the most expensive component in the total cost of compressed air—including capital costs and service and maintenance costs—is energy consumption. In fact, over the lifespan of a compressor, energy typically costs several times more than the purchase price of the compressor!

When taking this into account, it stands to reason that by taking the time ensure that your system is functioning as efficiently and effectively as possible, you’re not only contributing to your business’ bottom line – you’re also positively contributing to the environment. If you haven’t been actively looking for ways to increase the energy efficiency of your compressed air system, the new year is the time to get started! We’re highlighting six key compressed air resolutions below:

• Get an Audit. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times: air audits are essential in revealing a myriad of underlying issues that may be sabotaging your compressed air pressure and quality, or consuming excess energy. Once the audit is complete and insights gathered, you’ll be well-prepared to take the necessary actions to improve your compressor system’s efficiency. Schedule Your Air Audit Now
• Is Your Compressor Connected? Staying connected to your compressor system isn’t only for fun; knowing how your compressor is performing, as well as being notified of any issues or other problems that arise, are crucial in ensuring your processes and applications continue to run. Compressor connectivity also means that you’re being given meaningful information on your system that can be visualized, tracked over extended time periods, and used to make insightful decisions regarding compressor performance. Learn More About Compressor Connectivity Here
• Filtration Matters. Compressed air filters are pieces of ancillary compressed air equipment that helps to remove any unwanted and potentially harmful contaminants from the compressed air. By implementing (and monitoring!) a robust filtration system, you’re improving the quality of your compressed air while simultaneously increasing your system’s efficiency. Find More Filtration Factors Here
• Consider Your Compressed Air Quality. Your compressed air system is essential to powering your applications and processes – but did you know that its ability to perform effectively largely rests on the system’s air quality? Efficient production processes and uncontaminated end products rely on the purity of compressed air, which means that poor quality compressed air can result in extensive damage and lead to serious performance degradation. Time to learn more poor air quality causes & consequences, as well as discover how to improve and maintain higher-quality air in your system. Check Out Compressed Air Quality Tips Here
• Take Control of Your Gas Generation. There has never been a better time to invest in on-site gas generation! By generating your own nitrogen or oxygen on-site, you’re eliminating reliance on third-party providers (current gas shortages, anyone?) while simultaneously reducing the waste, controlling the purity, and having nitrogen and/or gas available at your fingertips 24/7. What’s there to lose? Learn More about N2 Generation and O2 Generation
• Investigate New Cooling Technologies. Investing in sustainable equipment isn’t just a fad; it’s a necessity. We’re all working towards personal, business, and global sustainability goals, and making sure that our industrial equipment is environmentally friendly is a key action to take. One area of particular opportunity for this approach is new cooling technologies! Traditional cooling towers are marked by an inefficient usage of water, and given the water supply issues in many parts of the world (including the American West), switching to adiabatic cooling systems can greatly decrease a company’s water usage. In fact, Atlas Copco’s new range of process cooling chillers can cut water usage by 70% and total water and energy usage by up to 50%! Explore our Process Cooling Chillers Here

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for the compressed air industry? Let us know what we missed! If you’d like to check out additional resolution ideas, check out our latest webinar on the same topic.

About the Author. Katie Falcon is the contributing writer and editor for The Compressed Air Blog. She currently works at Atlas Copco Compressors as a Digital Marketing Specialist specializing in content creation and platform development. Reach her via email at katie.falcon@atlascopco.com. Jim Donohue is the technical contributor and currently works as the Competence Development Manager at Atlas Copco. He can be reached via email at jim.donohue@atlascopco.com.