Hot Tip #2 – Air Compressors

Compressed air leaks are costly. Do you know how much of your compressed air is wasted?

Air compressors are frequently the largest motor drive machine within a laundry. They are among the first machines to be turned on and the last to be turned off each day. A fifty-horsepower compressor will cost approximately $5.00 per hour to run!

To measure the amount of leakage in your system, the following procedure can be used.

  1. When the laundry is shut down and not using air, turn on the compressor.
  2.  Once the system is pressurized and the “unloading valve” closes, start a stopwatch.
  3. When the “unloading valve” opens, record the unloaded time. This is the unloaded time
  4. Continue measuring the time until the “unloading valve” closes again. This is a complete cycle, which is the sum of the unload time & the load time.
  5. Leakage is equal to compressor horsepower multiplied by (load time / total time).
  6. Example:  50 HP X (90 seconds / 170 seconds) = 26.5 HP or 53% or total compressor output!

Don’t be surprised if a third or more of your air is wasted. Even new facilities, with all new equipment, frequently have 20% or more!