In an industrial situation, compressed air leaks are a significant source of energy wastage, wasting around 20 to 30 per cent of the compressor’s output. But the leaks are invisible, thus the invisible leaks are very hard to detect. According to experts, the best way to detect compressed air is to use ultrasonic acoustic detectors. This is a device that recognises high-frequency hissing sounds that are often associated with compressed air leaks (imagine a balloon leaking to but the pressure the sound is out of the hearing range of humans) and uses many different visual and audio indicators to identify the location of the leak. But how do you find the leak and how do you fix it?
How common are compressed air leaks?
Compressed air leaks are widespread in all of their uses. Compressed air leaks are extremely common but are also extremely time-consuming and frustrating to fix. In an average manufacturing setting, 20 to 30% of the total energy consumed is spent on compressed air. On average, 30% of that expense is due to compressed air leaks.
How costly are compressed air leaks?
Possible Annual Cost:
Looking at hypothetical annual costs for a 100,000 sq foot manufacturing facility. According to sources, an average manufacturing operation uses around 95.1 kWh of energy per square foot, per year. That means this hypothetical facility would use approximately 9.51 million kWh with approximately 2.37 million kWh (25%) used for compressed air. If 30% of the air produced by this system goes to waste due to compressed air leaks, there is a waste of about 713,250 kWh per year. If they pay Rs.6 per kilowatt for energy, this plant is wasting approximately Rs. 4279500 on compressed air leaks each year! Imagine if the business addressed most of those leaks and used that money to invest and grow their business.
Ultrasonic leak detection
Ultrasonic leak detection is one of the most adaptable forms of leak detection due to its ability to suit a variety of situations where there is a need. It has an acoustic sensor that focuses on the fluctuations in noise to identify the location of mid to large-sized leaks. Because ultrasounds use short wave signals and use directional transmission, they can identify the sites by targeting in on the loudest sound. Ultrasonic detectors are generally not affected by background noises in the human audible range because the signals are filtered out.
The way ultrasonic leaks work:
When compressed air is flowing through a pipe, it is moving with a laminar flow. This type of flow means all particles are moving in the same direction and in a parallel manner. When there is a leak in the pipe, the airflow around the leak changes to turbulent flow. The air is not moving in the same direction.
This turbulent air usually creates a noise that is caught and interpreted by ultrasonic detectors. The detector will work in one of the two ways. It will either connect to a pair of headphones and produce a sound that gets louder when a leak is present, or it will have a screen that the ultrasonic waves will show up on. The wave will them over depending on how near it is to the sound.
Ultrasonic detectors filter out all other background noises so that leaks can be heard or seen even in very noisy environments.
This method is a fast and extremely reliable way to accurately detect compressed air leaks.
How to fix leaks
- Leaks occur most often at connecting points and joints. Curing compressed air leaks can be as simple as tightening a connection or as complex as replacing faulty equipment such as couplings, traps, pipe sections, fittings, hoses, traps, drains and.
- In many cases, leaks are caused by improperly applied or in some cases bad thread sealant, which can be fixed by properly installing equipment with the appropriate thread sealant.
- Another source of leaks is from non-operating equipment. Defunct equipment should be isolated with a valve in the distribution system.
- Lowering the demand for compressed air pressure in the system can also reduce leaks. The lower the pressure differential across a leak, the lower the rate of flow, which equals a decreased leakage rate.
How to Reduce Future Compressed Air Leakage
- Ensure that fittings, disconnects, hoses, and tubing are all high quality and make sure the thread sealant is properly applied.
- Isolate all non-operating equipment with a valve within the distribution system
- Lower the air pressure of the system. This is effective because the flow rate decreases when the system pressure drops. The pressure difference across the leak will be lower, so less air will leak out of the line.
- Whenever leaks are repaired, the compressor control system should be adjusted according to the values. This step optimizes the power saving capacity.
Once leaks have been identified and repaired, the compressor control system should be re-evaluated to realize the total savings potential. Are you interested in establishing a leak prevention program that can save your industrial facility costly repairs?