Compressed Air Archives

This is why you don’t use PVC

Written by Kaeser Compressors on October 5, 2021. Posted in Air compressors, Automotive, Compressed Air, Compressed Air, Compressed Air, Countertop, Distribution, Featured, Industrial, Manufacturing, Metalworking, Signage, Woodworking. Leave a Comment

PVC is lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to purchase at any local building supply store, making it all the more attractive when it comes to selecting piping materials for a compressed air system.

Using PVC, however, has its risks and in certain areas, it may not be code compliant. It also carries a static charge which can lead to spontaneous combustion in certain dust-filled environments, it’s subject to bursting (yes bursting), and the adhesives used in installation are not compatible with all types of compressor oils. Despite the safety issues, many small shops and even some larger plants continue to use it.

A couple of years back we were installing a compressor at a medical device manufacturer in Colorado, and we noted the plant’s wide use of PVC piping. I asked the shop manager (who was three weeks from retiring) whether they’d had any issues with PVC cracking or bursting under pressure. He said yes, many times. “Pieces fly across the room.” He would just replace them. “No one’s been hurt so far…”

In a room with 4 huge, expensive injection molding machines and many employees, he saw no need to change. Different strokes, I guess.

Here are two more examples:

1. The remains from a 2” PVC pipe burst at a manufacturing plant in Texas. Thankfully no injuries, but some unscheduled changing of underwear.

2. In a small customer paint shop in Texas, a large section of PVC pipe burst during normal operation. Again, there were no injuries.

If you have PVC pipe in your shop or factory, make sure it’s pressure rated and regularly check it for signs of cracking.

For those of you considering using PVC pipe, I urge you not to—it’s really not worth the risk.

preventive maintenance and audits for air compressors

Why frequent air compressor maintenance and audits

Written by Tami Matthews on December 11, 2020. Posted in Automotive, Compressed Air, Compressed Air, Industrial, Manufacturing, Metalworking, Signage, Woodworking. Leave a Comment

Air compressors are the lifeblood of many facilities – keeping your business going. They help you deliver your company’s products on time and on budget. Compressor Station Audits can assist too, in ensuring you’re using your equipment to the best of its ability.

Together, preventive maintenance and audits (air compressor service), keep a facility running.

Preventive maintenance

Did you know that you should be having your air compressors serviced at least once a year or for every 2,000 – 3, 000 hours of service? In addition, extreme weather conditions – caused during winter and summer – are great times to get your air compressor serviced.

At a minimum, compressors need a variety of routine maintenance:

Fittings and belts tightened and inspected
Oil changed
Filters changed
General inspections
Cleaning of all coolers and drains
Collection of oil samples for testing
Recording amp draw
Recording voltage
Checking for abnormal vibrations and noise
Injection and discharge oil temp
Lubricating drive motor bearings

If you’re behind on your maintenance or considering an audit, here are a few good reasons to invest in maintenance … before it’s too late.

Save money on replacing a compressor as well as get more efficiency

It probably goes without explaining that preventive maintenance can save money in the long term. A new air compressor, being replaced after not maintaining your old one, is costly.

What often happens, though, are air compressors being used inefficiently due to lack of maintenance. One auto shop couldn’t keep up with customer demand due to delayed maintenance.

Prevent shutting down your plant or handling costly repairs

When air compressors aren’t serviced regularly, they become more apt to break down or quit completely. Of course, when an air compressor breaks down, the facility could come to a halt. Shutting down operations costs your company time and money, even potentially impacting your customers.

But it goes beyond stopping or slowing operations. The labor costs for emergency repairs can be expensive, too. Although Compressed Air Technologies handles emergencies, including middle-of-the-night repairs, we don’t recommend customers wait for that scenario.

Prevent injured workers and fines

You also probably know that if compressors are mishandled or misused, they can be dangerous, causing serious issues. Those issues can vary wildly from hearing damage to killing a worker.

If a worker does become injured on the job, including his hearing damaged, they can file a worker’s compensation claim and potentially even sue your company. One law firm indicates their median settlement for hearing loss is around $55,000.

OSHA has standards for how air compressors are used in facilities, even where they’re used. Violations of those OSHA standards can be expensive; OSHA fines are up to $70,000 per violation.

Audits

Audits are an important part of the equation for keeping your facility running. Typically, managers ask for an audit before adding compressors. Audits provide a snapshot of overall controls, get an idea of peak usage and capacity, and more.

Audits are used for the following:

Weaknesses in your existing system, including leakage
Inefficiency in the compressors you’re using, including too much horsepower
Providing guidance on reconfiguring your current system for better airflow

Save money from buying another compressor

By receiving an audit, you can identify whether you really need an additional compressor. Compressed Air Technologies technicians often see managers ready to buy a new compressor when one isn’t necessary. Many times, air compressors aren’t being fully utilized. Technicians and engineers can help you reconfigure your setup to ensure maximum efficiency.

Not purchasing an additional – and unnecessary – air compressor could save thousands of dollars. For example, Kaeser has a case study on one audit, where they identified a furniture company that was wasting $600,000.

Save money on energy and energy consumption

Audits can point out leaks to reduce them as well as ensure energy is being used efficiently. Even if energy consumption isn’t an overall goal of your company (such as those seeking ISO certifications or meeting tight environmental standards), it can save money. After all, the more compressors you’re using, the more energy you’re consuming.

One Kaeser case study indicates one company saved (with a utility rebate) $78,031 in the first year alone. Audits are a fraction of that cost.

Audits + maintenance together

Audits + Maintenance – it’s the formula for running an efficient facility. Together they can save you money. They keep workers safe, prevent unnecessary fines and lawsuits, and keep your plant moving.

At Elevated Industrial Solutions, we enable you to meet customer demands on time and on budget. Our technicians have a combined 60+ years of experience. And although we handle late-night emergencies, we provide – and can help you schedule – regular maintenance to prevent catastrophes at your facilities.

Custom-engineered air compressor solutions

Written by Tami Matthews on January 3, 2020. Posted in Compressed Air, Compressed Air, Compressed air systems. Leave a Comment

Custom-engineered solutions are designed for the most demanding installations and harshest of environments. These complete systems are exceptionally reliable, simple to maintain, and have superior energy efficiency, no matter what the installation limitations may be. Space, weather, and accessibility constraints are eliminated with reduced construction, installation, and operating costs.

These custom-engineered solutions are completely turnkey, reducing onsite planning and installation costs, which save you time since there is no need to build a new compressor room or add onto an existing building. They can even be built to be moved from one site to another. Every component is selected with your installation and location in mind.

Plan and design

Whether you call it planning, designing, or even engineering, we start by partnering with you to determine what you need. We’ll ask a series of questions based on your environment to start spec-ing out the best solutions, including your enclosure or skid configuration. We’ll use that information to begin designing the necessary wiring, and power distribution to a single service connection.

Then, we add thermostatically controlled inlet louvers and exhaust ducting as well as supplemental heating as needed for reliable operation nearly anywhere on the planet. Based on your system requirement, we select the right compressors to meet your pressure and flow needs and mount them to the floor with vibration isolators. Air treatment comes next and includes dryers, filters, receiver tanks, and condensate management. We have options for every grade of compressed air quality from the shop to the instrument to oil-free and even breathing air.

Prepare and deliver

After that, we run piping throughout the package to a single connection that ties the entire system directly to your plant. To efficiently control air output and remotely monitor the system for preventative maintenance, planning, and troubleshooting we install Kaeser’s Sigma Air Manager 4.0. (SAM 4.0) also constantly measures and reports energy consumption. Your system will give you complete access for maintenance and repair.

Finally, we deliver your customized air system to you.

Don’t worry about site preparation, just provide a level surface capable of holding the weight of the system. Whether you need compressed air, blower, or vacuum systems give us your spec and we’ll deliver a complete system faster than you can budget, plan, permit, and build a new building or expand an existing facility.

Elevate works to design these custom-engineered solutions

We have experts who help design these custom-engineered solutions, working with Kaeser to get them to your location whether you’re in South Carolina, Ohio, or Michigan. We also provide services (such as preventive maintenance and emergency repairs) as well as traditional compressed air systems. When it comes to compressed air systems, we do it all.

common compressed air maintenance mistakes

7 common air compressor maintenance mistakes

Written by Tami Matthews on December 2, 2019. Posted in Air compressors, Compressed Air, Compressed Air, Featured. Leave a Comment

When it comes to your business, compressed air represents a significant operating cost. Between the compressor, system, installation, and maintenance, your compressed air system can cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars (depending on the size of your facility). But did you know you may be wasting money through common air compressor maintenance mistakes?

Mistake 1: not purchasing a cost-efficient, easy-to-maintain machine

A lot of factors go into the entire cost of compressed air systems, not just the initial price of the compressor. These factors include the lifespan of the compressor, maintenance costs, frequency of maintenance, and energy usage. These costs will far outweigh the price of the compressor, so it’s important to purchase a high-quality and reliable compressor that is easy to maintain.

Mistake 2: air leaks

Air leaks, whether you’re ignoring it or don’t know it, can cost you thousands. Your compressed air system will work overtime to keep up with demand, increasing wear and tear on your compressor as well as energy costs. Ensure you do not have air leaks by performing routine leak audits.

Mistake 3: infrequent inspections

Your compressor receives scheduled maintenance, but maintenance may not cover everything that happens to your compressor. Wear and tear, dirt, and broader maintenance needs may be causing your compressor to run longer to meet air demand. (Your expert service technicians should be recommending how often your compressor needs maintenance and other audits based on your environment and runtime.)

By performing inspections, variables such as temperature, humidity, dust, and wear and tear on your compressor will be managed which will improve efficiency.

Mistake 4: compressed air pipe

Certain piping materials can promote contamination, leaks, and pressure drops. Regardless of the material, the pipe will eventually need to be cleaned of debris and eventually replaced. Failure to clear this debris can lead to inefficiencies and additional issues for air tools and your compressor. SmartPipe+ by Kaeser does not promote contamination which increases the lifespan of the piping and system.

Mistake 5: air demand

It is very common for companies to overestimate or underestimate air demand. Often times this underestimation leads to needing new equipment. By performing a demand analysis you’ll able to identify the exact amount of air you need even across different departments. If your equipment has already been purchased and is not meeting demand, oftentimes you do not need to replace your compressor. Upgrading tank size and reducing inefficiencies with an air management system will provide additional air at a lower cost, helping you meet the required demand.

Mistake 6: training staff

At some facilities, machine operators are less experienced and less knowledgeable of the compressed air system than management. Providing additional training to operators will help provide more air at a lower price, help spot maintenance issues before they arise and reduce stress on your compressor.

Mistake 7: data collection

Being able to spot issues early will prevent issues from becoming worse, downtime repairing the machine, and time spent figuring out what went wrong in the first place. Collecting data on your compressed air system with help identify future issues. Once again having well-trained staff and collecting data will help identify potential issues before they get worse.

Elevated doesn’t make maintenance mistakes

Getting Elevated service means you won’t have these common mistakes. Instead, our team of experts will do everything necessary to keep your compressed air system running at peak efficiency. Our team is certified and can train your personnel as well as deliver just about any data you need. Plus, we work with energy companies to save you money. For an air demand analysis (ADA), ultrasonic leak audit, SmartPipe+ information, or maintenance, contact our team. We’d love to help!

Kaeser’s SmartPipe

Written by Tami Matthews on October 17, 2019. Posted in Compressed Air, Compressed air systems. Leave a Comment

Whether you know it as Kaeser’s SmartPipe+ or SmartPipe it’s the gold standard for piping in the compressed air systems industry. It’s why Elevated Industrial Solutions is an authorized vendor, installing this pipe throughout South Carolina, Michigan, and Ohio.

What is SmartPipe?

It’s the pipe used for air flow in compressed air systems, created by Kaeser. Installers (whether it’s your team or a vendor) will add that pipe when you create or expand your compressed air system.

Kaeser’s SmartPipe is available in sizes up to 8″ pipe diameter in aluminum, and available in stainless steel in 10″ pipe diameter. Connectors, to connect pipe, ensure it’s also leak-free.

Materials

Kaeser indicates SmartPipe+ components are nonflammable and 100% recyclable. The piping is constructed of alloy aluminum and it’s blue, powder-coated on the outside. Pipe, fittings, and valves are
guaranteed silicone free.

And a plug here – please don’t ever use PVC for compressed air installations. It’s a safety hazard.

Benefits

SmartPipe is popular with plant managers, facility managers, installers, and compressed air service technicians because it comes in a variety of sizes, is faster to install, and has lower long-term operating costs associated with it. Because of this flexibility, it works for small and large facilities. Plus, because SmartPipe has no rough surfaces or interior restrictions that accumulate contaminants, the airflow and quality of this pipe tend to be better. So, the higher the air quality standards your facility has, the more likely compressed air installation experts will be to recommend SmartPipe.

Kaeser lists the benefits of SmartPipe (at a glance) as the following:

Installs faster than other common piping
No specialized trades needed
No threading, welding, or brazing pipe
Simple mounting and connecting hardware
Can connect to existing systems with other pipe types
Easy to add on to or disassemble for your changing needs
Compression-style valves and fittings 2 1/2″ and below
Bolt-on style fittings 3″ and above
10-year warranty
ISO 4414/EN983 compliant

Read the Tech Specs

Elevated can help install SmartPipe

We have installers at each of our compressed air system facilities – in South Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan. If you want to learn more about SmartPipe or need an installer, we have an expert team who can do it. Our installations are turnkey, where we plan ahead of time with you, communicate along the way, and manage the project. That way, you’re focusing on the things you need to stay operational while we handle ensuring your compressed air system is up and running perfectly – on time and on budget.