"Newsletter Articles" Archive

Why it’s time to move beyond inlet valve modulation for compressor control
By David M. McCulloch

The type of compressor capacity control you use and the related pressure settings you select are critical to your overall compressed air system efficiency. For years, many rotary compressors were sold with inlet valve modulation (throttling) as the standard means of capacity control. While this matched compressor output with demand, the system offered much less than desirable energy efficiency.

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Did you know?
On September 27, 2010 President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act (SBJA).

In addition to providing incentives for small business, the SBJA extended the depreciation bonus (2010 only) and raised Sec. 179 expensing limits through the end of 2011 to encourage equipment purchasing. The economic stimulus law can potentially mean big tax savings for you. Check with a tax expert to see if your business is eligible to take advantage. Disclaimer: Nothing in this advertisement constitutes any kind of tax advice, a promise of potential tax savings or reduced tax liability reference the Small Business Jobs Act or any other rule, law or regulation. Applicability, if any, depends on your situation. For tax advice please consult a taxation expert.

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This is a thermal image of a fused disconnect switch that was taken by one of our service technicians. The customer called us in for emergency service due to the compressor shutting down on motor overload. It was quickly determined that the customer had a fuse blown and it was immediately replaced. Upon start up and after performing a complete inspection of the compressor and the electrical supply… the true “Root Cause” of the problem was found at the fused disconnect.

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How to minimize cycling, pressure differentials and unloaded run time
By Ron Marshall from Plant Services Magazine

A commonly recommended energy strategy for a lubricant-injected rotary screw air compressor is to add main storage receiver capacity to enable the switch from inefficient modulation control to the more efficient load/unload mode. A typical guideline was to add 1-2 gal of storage receiver volume for every cfm of main compressor capacity.

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Air End rebuilding when done before a catastrophic failure can be an economical way to extend the life of your oil flooded rotary compressor.

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Air Technologies’ new Cincinnati DirectAIR® factory is now completed and production is underway. We’re making great progress—Click here to view a few pictures from our construction process.

Click here to view our latest DirectAIR^® case study in Compressed Air Best Practices magazine.

Have you ever wondered why your air compressor operates at 120 psi, but you’re only using 90 psi on the manufacturing floor? How about those weekends when the plant is shutdown, yet the compressors continue to run until Monday? Has your boss asked you to figure out a way to reduce energy costs? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, this article could be very useful to you.

While there can be a few varying explanations for these occurrences, the vast majority stem from your compressed air piping system. The piping system in your facility can be compared to your body’s cardiovascular system, pumping the right amount of air at the right pressure to areas on the floor where it’s needed. When there are fluctuations or gaps in this performance, output can suffer and the system can fail, resulting in serious bottom-line damage. Therefore, it is important to consider ways to keep this system “healthy.”

To download the entire article please click here.

Did you know that your local power provider may offer incentives for business customers to upgrade their compressed air systems?

With the tough economic times, and seamlessly never ending talk about credit crunches; Air Technologies can help.

At no charge, your Air Technologies system engineer will show you how to utilize your local energy incentive programs to increase your plants efficiency, reduce operating costs, and improve productivity.

We will help navigate your way through the power companies requirements to receive credits for upgrading your compressed air system.

To schedule your free compressed air assessment call now: 866.468.9814 or sales@aircompressors.com.

In today’s economic climate, many manufacturing operations—perhaps yours—have been downsized. However, the size of most air compressors has stayed the same, so chances are you’re paying more for compressed air than you need to. You can find out with an MBox air study from Air Technologies.

An MBox air study is a week long 24/7 profile of your production air requirements and cost. During the audit you operate normally and our M-Box data loggers record the activity of your compressors. You receive a detailed report with your compressor scope of supply, data pages (including power and air consumption, load cycles, running hours, etc.), profile graphs and charts, and an executive summary. Click here for a sample report.