Albuquerque, New Mexico - El Paso, Texas
Mesa Systems Auditing Services "Compressed air is not free"
In most plants, compressed air is treated as though it were free.
However, as with any other production utility, there are direct costs and overhead costs
associated with the production of compressed air.
So how much does it cost to operate just one 100 hp air compressor?
The cost for electrical power to operate this compressor (at an average of $.07 kWh) is over $55,000 per year.
Considering most plants have multiple compressors of various sizes and types, you can see how quickly power costs add up.
In fact, energy costs represent as much as 75% of the total cost of ownership of a compressed air system.
Potential Energy Savings Opportunity
Improving the efficiency of your compressed air system translates into significant savings, over $200,000 per year on 600 hp (3,000 SCFM) systems. Mesa Equipment & Supply Co.'s Systems Auditing Service reduce compressed air energy consumption by an average of 20 to 50 percent with a typical investment payback (ROI) in 6 to 24 months. The results of Mesa Systems Auditing Services routinely improve the reliability and maintainability of your compressed air system. Production quality issues are often eliminated, improving productivity and profitability.
Demand side approach
Mesa Systems Auditing Service is designed to reveal cost reduction on both the supply side and demand side of your compressed air system. However, only 1/3 of cost reduction opportunities are usually found on the supply side or in the compressor room- and, at relatively high capital costs. The real cost reduction opportunities are out in the plant and generally require lower capital expenditures.
Eliminate Waste
In most compressed air systems, we find waste- inappropriate uses of compressed air, large pressure drops, excessive leaks and artificial demand. All of these drive up system operating costs and decrease productivity. Correcting problems on the plant floor often improves the reliability and repeatability of production processes. Identifying and qualifying these opportunities is an important part of Mesa Systems Auditing Service.
Opportunity Costs
Think in terms of product sales vs. operating costs savings. Decreasing the operating costs of the compressed air system by $100,000 has the same value as increasing sales annually by $1,000,000 @ 10% profit!
Eight Step Analysis
A typical analysis requires one week or less of on-site time and consists of the following procedures:

1. Analyze Supply Equipment-  Monitoring the system with electronic data logging equipment to compare the actual capability and condition of the supply equipment to its design capability and efficiency. This equipment includes the compressors, dryers, filters, cooling systems, etc. and this process determines the viability of the supply equipment. The analysis of your compressed air system is a critical first step.
2. Measure Storage Capability-  Measuring the storage capabilities of your system, we determine its relationship to the changes in your air demand. This is key to stabilizing the system pressure and often provides major opportunities for efficiency improvement.
3. Qualify Air Demand-  We evaluate the air users in the system including waste, leaks, artificial demand and inefficient applications.
4. Resolve Production Problems-  We analyze and provide solutions to correct applications that are not performing adequately or are wasting energy by using excess pressure. Correcting these applications enhance productivity and provide the flexibility required to operate the supply equipment at peak efficiency.
5. Create System Diagrams-  We create a process flow diagram that depicts the general arrangement of your compressed air system, as well as the supply power and demand volume in all operating conditions. This allows your system to be reconfigured to meet all demand conditions efficiently; including supporting peak loads with storage, protecting critical applications and overcoming any piping or distribution limitations. We then create a proposed process flow diagram to analyze the ability of the reconfigured system to meet all demand conditions.
6. Determine Operating Costs-  Projecting the operating costs for the existing and proposed arrangement will allow us to calculate a return on investment for the recommended improvements to your system.
7. Develop Action Plan-  We develop a prioritized action plan with capital costs and estimated installation costs for the proposed modifications to your system. This action plan becomes a guide for implementing the recommendations and helps ensure that the desired results will be achieved.
8. Provide Complete Report-  A complete report is generated, including process flow diagrams and/or illustrations. We also assist in the installation of the proposed arrangement.

For further information or to schedule your audit, email Scott Seybert, head of the Mesa System Audit Services team,
or phone him at 505-345-0284.