July 9, 2010

SAVING COST IN A COMPRESSED AIR PLANT THROUGH

GOOD TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS
Archibong, Akaninyene
Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, Ikot Abasi, Nigeria.
ak4dili@yahoo.com

A compressed air plant is one which produces air at pressures

higher than atmospheric pressure to be distributed through a
piping network to air devices in other plants. Compressed air
plants consist mainly of air compressors, air driers, air receivers
and the piping. Usually, the compressed air flows from the
compressor through the air drier to the air receiver (pressure
vessel) for storage from which it is distributed. Putting it in
layman terms, the process in compressed air plant can be
summarized in these three stages: COMPRESSION, DRYING and
STORING. This sounds quite simple.

In operating a compressed air plant, however, there is one

question that is prior in the mind of the manager: How can I
reduce the operational cost of a compressed air plant?
Hey, this question is not just an industrial one. Think of it! If you
were a business man won’t you think of profit? There are many
answers to this question but we will pick a simple one often
overlooked for our discussion.

In reducing cost and increasing efficiency of the compressing

stage, temperatures must be kept low. Lower temperatures at a
compressor intake means the compressor will take in more volume
of air. For multi staged compressors in series, where the output
of one is the input of another, volumetric efficiency of the entire
compressor can greatly diminish if temperatures are allowed to
go wild. There must be some control of temperature and
shutdown system which depends on the quality of temperature
measurement.

To reduce cost and increasing efficiency of the drying stage, the

temperature of compressor output to the drier must be as low as
possible. Driers (refrigerant) reduce the temperature of the
compressed air to the pressure dew point so that water
condenses out of the air. If the temperature of the inlet air to
the drier is higher than design capacity, the drier works harder
to achieve its function at the expense of energy and cost. Again,
there must be some control and minimization of temperature
which depends on the quality of temperature measurement.

We see that in saving cost in a compressed air plant, amongst

other things the manager can do, he must make sure his
temperature measurements are simply good enough. Below are
certain practices that will certainly improve temperature
measurements and in turn general efficiency of a compressed air
plant.

1. Install temperature sensors of right range: As a rule of

thumb, the temperature measurement should be within 30%
- 80% of the sensor range to be used. For example, a sensor
with range of 0 – 200°C should be used for an application
within 60 - 160°C. Using this sensor to measure a
temperature above this range will not only lead to early
failure of sensor but error at certain temperatures. I have
experienced a case where a sensor with a range of 0 - 200°C
was used in measuring compressed air output temperature
of actual value 191°C. The sensor only lasted for 3 months
after which some compressor downtime was recorded.
2. Keep the Interference out: This is self explanatory. You
need to watch out for sources of interference to the
measurement signal and ground as necessary. This really
applies if you are using thermocouples for your
measurement. Compressor drives and fans could be a major
source of interference to the thermocouple signal
demanding that the signal cable is shielded with the wire
pair twisted.
3. Use the best measurement technology for a particular
measurement principle: This really applies to the use of
resistance temperature detection. A 3 or 4 wire technology
should be preferred to a 2 wire technology for reasons of
error in measurement signal from signal cable resistance
introduced with the latter.
4. For 2 wire “loop powered” transmitters, make sure that the
overall loop resistance is not excessive: With higher loop
resistance than an instrument loop was designed for, the
measurement signal near 20mA will yield errors as the
transmitter electronics will be starved of voltage.
Introduction of indicators to the instrument loop will surely
cause an increase in the loop resistance. You need to watch
it.
5. When choosing or replacing ADCs and transmitters for
temperature measurement with resistance temperature
detectors, go for those with pulsing excitation capabilities:
It is common sense that a resistor having a constant
potential difference across its terminals will certainly heat
up. In an RTD, this is called self heating which leads to false
temperature measurement signal. It can be minimized by
using a pulsing excitation voltage from the transmitter or
ADC in a case where sensor is connected directly.
6. Do not change temperature set points in the control
program unless you know how that change will affect the
 cost: More often than not, automation technicians play
around with set points to get processes working without
understanding the implications. I have been a victim of the
consequences of such an action. What happens when a set
point change does not have noticeable effect on the process
immediately? The technician feels everything is okay but he
has just reduced profit by an incredible margin. Set points
are like setting prices for goods. If the price is too high,
few sales are made at small profit. If the prices are too low,
more sales are made at a small profit too.
7. If you must use thermowells, insert your sensors to the
right depth: Many cases abound in industry where
temperature sensors are only inserted half way into the
thermowell. One experienced technician gave a reason for
this being that the sensors were to be protected from heat
by the thermowell. Incredible!! The fact is such an
arrangement introduces some lag to your measurement. In
other words, it makes your sensors less sensitive. So always
insert your temperature sensor to reach the tip of your
thermowell.
8. Perform periodic calibrations on your temperature
measurement: The experts say calibration is a great cost
saver. This is true because you can’t expect man made items
to be the same forever. Transmitters drift and sensors tire
out. Calibration enables you to know when they do to either
restore the precision or replace them. A compressed air
plant without a temperature calibration routine is losing a
lot of money.
9. Anti corrosion additive of right specification must always be
used in the cooling media: I write this with sadness as I
recall countless damage that was done to a compressed air
plant because this rule was not followed. There is a
relationship between the anti corrosion additive in the
 cooling media and the temperature sensors. A wrong
additive or no additive causes higher temperatures to be
measured for which the sensors were not ranged to.
According to rule 1, you will lose the sensors often and also
the heat exchangers in no long time. Big money loss!!!!

Yes, just 9 in number but you would have done a lot to save not
just your compressed plant but the air devices connected to it by
following these 9 points. It is true that leakages are also a cause
of high operational costs from a compressed air plant but
leakages do not happen all the time. Unlike leakages, temperature
issues are always there to contend with.

REFERENCES

R Keith Mobley, Plant Engineer’s Handbook, revised edition,

Butterworth Heinemann, London. 2006

G. P. Sullivan, R. Pugh, A.P. Melendez, W.D. Hunt, Operations and

Maintenance Best Practices, U.S. Department of Energy. July
2004

R Keith Mobley, Lindley R. Higgins, Darrin J. Wikoff, Maintenance

Engineering Handbook, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, New York. 2008

Bela G. Liptak, Instrument Engineers’ Handbook: Process Control

and Optimization Volume 2, 4th Edition, Taylor and Francis Group,
New York. 2006
Matthais Nau, Electrical Temperature Measurement with
Thermocouples and resistance thermometers, 10th Edition, M. K
Juccheim, Fulda. 2002

Robert J. Stephenson, Armelle M. Moulin, Mark E. Welland, Jim

Burns, Meyer Sapoff, R. P. Reed, Randy Frank, Jacob Fraden, J.V.
Nicholas, Franco Pavese, Jan Stasiek, Tolestyn Madaj, Jaroslaw
Mikielewicz, Brian Culshaw, Temperature Measurement, CRC Press
LLC, New York. 2000