I Found a good article from C.E.D. Compressed Air Inc.                                                          

 For many organizations, compressed air comprises a large part of an ever-growing utility bill, so now companies are beginning to analyze the true cost of compressed air leaks within their facility. The results show that compressed air leaks affect expenditures in a range of areas.

Compressor Sizing

Industrial firms purchase their compressors based on the demand in terms of air in the system. Air leaks can cause higher than necessary equipment expenditure and can also mean that equipment must be maintained on a more regular basis to ensure optimal performance in meeting demand.

Water Intrusion  

In addition to allowing air out of the system, leaks tend to let moisture in. Water migrates from the high humidity outside air to the compressed air. This water migration can potentially cause cracks in valves as large amounts of water enter the system and overload components. Companies must then dip into their budget to replace any damaged components and conduct moisture removal maintenance on their systems.

Reduced Accuracy in Air Profiling

When leaks occur, they can prevent plant managers from achieving an accurate read in terms of their air profile. In leaks where the total leak load exceeds 10% of the overall load capacity, the artificial demand caused by the leaks can prevent companies from seeing the full picture of their plant efficiency. Such leaks can lead to wasted money on air audits and other efficiency improvement measures.

What do we need to do?

By taking a proactive strategy in managing and repairing air leaks within our compressed air equipment, companies can not only improve the performance of their equipment, but save thousands of dollars annually in terms of repair and maintenance expenditures.

Try this.

A one bar (14.5 psi) decrease in pressure reduces energy consumption by seven percent. And, if there are leaks in the compressed air system, the same pressure decrease reduces the impact of the leaks by 13 percent.

Also consider that, off hours can account for 25% of your compressed air energy use. Look at minimizing this usage, segment your system and turn off areas not in use during off hours..

Access to the latest leak detection systems is now required for the proactive industrial firm.

Investing in an Ultrasound System should be high on your list.

A major advantage to ultrasound leak inspection is that as a high frequency, short wave signal, ultrasound emissions tend to be localized around the leak site. By scanning an area with an ultrasound instrument, a user will follow the sound of the leak to the loudest point. Once identified, the leak amplitude can be noted and used in  a compressed gas reporting tool,  this cost analysis can tie dollars, for the use of maintenance time to fix leaks.

I have used UE Systems units, but you need to use something.                            The leaks are eating into your companies profits.

Leave me a comment if you have found a good way to get rid of your leaks.

Rusty

Here is a link to the CED article:  http://cedcompressedair.ca/blog/what-is-the-cost-of-compressed-air-leaks/