Using Master Controls to Improve the Performance and Efficiency of Industrial Air Compressors

Authors: Wayne Perry, Senior Technical Director, and Michael Camber, Marketing Services Manager, Kaeser Compressors, Inc.

When it comes to plant air systems, the fundamental needs of facilities are usually quite similar. The biggest requirements are to meet specific pressure, flow, and air quality targets to ensure that the quality of the end-products remain predictably high at all times.

Beyond this, air system reliability is also critical so as to avoid costly process line maintenance or unscheduled shutdowns. Last but certainly not least, optimizing energy consumption is important at a time when cheap energy is a thing of the past.

In most industrial plant applications, multiple compressors rather than a single unit are supplying the total air flow. Lower efficiencies can occur when compressors that are part of multi-unit air systems operate on their own individual control settings, rather than operating in concert to deliver maximum performance at the highest level of efficiency.