Switching from a fixed-speed compressor to small VSD models brings more than 30% savings

Summary

The customer

A manufacturer of top-quality milling and drilling tools

The challenge

Dry and very clean compressed air has to be supplied to different locations in a decentralized production facility as cost-efficiently as possible.

The solution & result

By spreading 6 smaller GA compressors with variable speed drives (VSD) across the facility, the company was able to cut its energy consumption by more than 30%.

The customer & their challenge

A company that manufactures high-quality carbide milling and drilling tools requires a dependable supply of dry and very clean compressed air throughout its facility. A central compressor room would require a lot of piping, a higher pressure and therefore also greater energy costs.

That is why the company wanted to install compressors at all of the places where compressed air is needed. To increase efficiency and to ensure a more sustainable production, the waste heat of air compression was to be recovered.

Solution & results

Milling tools_Energy cost savings case study_D2.1

Atlas Copco suggested the installation of six smaller, efficient compressors at different points of use.

In total, that means six units with variable speed drives. The smallest, five GA 18 VSD⁺ FF units (each with an output of 18 kW,) replaced a fixed-speed compressor that wasted a lot of energy. The largest is a GA 37L VSD⁺ FF, which replaced a fixed-speed GA 45. That unit alone saves the company €19,500 per year.

The “FF” in the product name indicates that it is a “full feature” model, which means that a refrigerant dryer, compressed air filter and condensate drain have already been integrated into these plug-and-play compressors. That saves valuable space on the factory floor.

For an even greener and less expensive production, the company is using the waste heat from the compression process to keep its production halls and the administration building warm in the winter.

Taking advantage of Atlas Copco’s energy recovery system, the company is able to lower its heating costs greatly. The heat recovered from the compression process is used to heat up water for the central heating system. Using energy recovery, companies are able to recoup as much as 80% of the invested shaft power.

Overall, these measures have reduced the company’s energy costs by one-third, saving it €67,321 per year (assuming an electricity price of €0.21 per kWh). But the Atlas Copco compressors do not just deliver efficiency, but also the dry and very clean compressed air that the company needs for its different production processes.

And, as a cherry on top, the company was also eligible for a government subsidy that covered a large part of the investment cost.

	From GA 18 FF to GA 18 VSD⁺ FF	From GA 45 FF to GA 37L VSD⁺ FF
Energy savings	32.23%	31.73%
Cost savings/year	€47,775/year	€19,546€/year
Total cost savings/year	€67,321 per year