An air audit can save money through better performance and air consumption reduction.

Almost all manufacturing plants across America use compressed air, from pneumatic actuators to vacuum generators and blowing applications. What most companies are just now starting to realize is the actual cost of compressed air.

“What do you mean?” you ask. “Air is free!” That may be true of the air we breathe daily, but it is a different story when it comes to compressed air.

Electricity is generated through falling water, nuclear reaction, wind, sun rays, or other means at large initial losses in generation. This first form of “prepared” energy is now used to compress the little “springs” between the air molecules. The efficiency of an air compressor today is about 85%. That sounds pretty efficient, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled! Once the air is compressed, excess moisture and oil has to be removed which requires additional electricity. This puts the highly distilled energy that is stored in compressed air at about one cent per 1,000 cubic feet of air. This places compressed air on top of the commonly used energy chain, the most expensive form of energy – truly a “noble” gas.

As previously mentioned, compressed air needs to be free from moisture. This makes sense as water is a common enemy of many metals. Did you know that oil is a common enemy of many seals? “Lubricant is good for pneumatics!” says the technician while emptying half a can of WD-40 into a valve. This is only partly true. The wrong lubricants can, just like water, wash out the good lubricants from the actuators. Consider yourself lucky if that is all that happens. Many standard lubricants (WD-40, Banner, etc.) not only wash out the good grease, they attack the seals and dissolve them.

To make matters worse, dirt particles join water and oil content in the trinity of anti-pneumatics. Dirt particles might be introduced through poor filtration at the compressor air intake or rusting pipes. Especially small valves with their small air intake orifices are prone to clog up with a dirt lubricant mixture.