 | | Enhanced Compressed Air Efficiency | |
More Air, More Savings… |  |
Soaring energy prices are putting today’s trade and industry sectors under increased cost pressures and energy consumption by compressed air systems account for a significant proportion of this burden. This is where KAESER’s intelligent “SIGMA AIR MANAGER (SAM) BASIC” multiple-compressor controller comes into its own, as it ensures optimised system performance and enhances compressed air system availability. Energy prices have increased dramatically in recent years: According to VIK, the German association for industrial energy and power generation, the price for industrial power rose by 35% in 2005, whilst similar studies by the German association for energy consumers (VEA) revealed that the cost for energy* in medium-sized companies rose by a further 17% during 2006. In view of these facts therefore, the only way to alleviate the impact of these rising costs is to enhance system energy efficiency. Compressed air production is one area where companies can benefit from substantial energy savings and this is especially true for facilities where more than one compressor is installed.
Able to transform a collection of separate compressed air components into a fully integrated and highly efficient compressed air system, the “SIGMA AIR MANAGER BASIC” from KAESER provides a comprehensive yet affordable entry into the world of advanced compressed air management. This intelligent PC-based controller is able to coordinate control of compressed air systems comprising up to four compressors and uses its energy-saving pressure band control to reduce their working pressure. This not only leads to significant cost reductions, but also reduces the associated air losses caused by leaks within the air distribution network: Each 1 bar reduction in system pressure results in 6 percent less energy requirement and approximately 4 percent less air loss through leakages. In addition, the system’s automatic trend recognition feature for air consumption achieves further savings: The “SAM basic” is able to predict future air demand according to current consumption, which avoids premature activation of additional compressors and eliminates unnecessary use of energy.
Moreover, the “SAM BASIC” is able to monitor the key functions of all connected compressors and indicates when scheduled maintenance is due. This both increases compressor availability and also ensures demand-oriented maintenance to help reduce operating costs still further. With to regards to flexibility, the “SAM BASIC” is able to control compressors with modern, computer-based internal controllers, such as Kaeser’s “Sigma Control” or “SIGMA CONTROL BASIC”, as well as older machines with less advanced internal control systems. Therefore, the air station need not consist only of new machines.
Last but not least, the “SAM BASIC” is exceptionally user-friendly, features include: logical menu structure, plain text display, ‘traffic-light’ style operational status indicators and easy to understand function keys with clear symbols and pictograms. In addition, the “SIGMA AIR MANAGER” is able to display information in any one of over 30 selectable languages, making communication with the user even simpler. *) Please see ”ENERGIE-CHRONIK” at www.udo-leuschner.de/energie-chronik/060105.htm and http://www.stromtip.de/News/19828/Auch-2006-steigen-die-Strompreise.html (Text is in German) |
