How Atlas Copco's Air Compressors Reduce Carbon Emission and Promote Green Production?

Investing in modern industrial air compressors can have a significant impact on a company's ability to reduce its carbon footprint and promote sustainable production.

One key example is VSD compressor technology embedded in Atlas Copco’s electric driven air compressors, which allows for greater control over the speed and output of the compressor, resulting in less wasted energy and reduced carbon emissions. By implementing compressed air system audits, businesses can identify areas where their systems are using more energy than necessary, and take steps to optimize performance and minimize energy consumption.

Moreover, advanced monitoring programs like SMARTLINK offer real-time data and insights into the health of an air compressor system, allowing companies to proactively address issues before they lead to downtime or increased energy consumption. By regularly monitoring and maintaining their equipment, businesses can ensure maximum uptime and running as efficiently as possible, and therefore generating fewer emissions.

Even a small leak in the pipe system can force the compressor to function longer than required leading to more energy consumption, higher operating pressures, and unnecessary carbon footprint.

To address this issue, businesses should work with dependable compressed air providers, more like One Stop Shop - such as Atlas Copco, to inspect their pipes and repair any leaks. These companies use special inspection tools to identify air output levels and pinpoint common areas where leaks may occur. Instead of just covering up leaks, it's essential to replace the damaged section of the pipe to ensure proper airflow and greater efficiency. This would also result in lower usage of compressed air equipment. 

Atlas Copco offers energy audit report to existing and potential customers. An energy assessment of your complete air compression system could cost very minimal as compared to potential savings made thereafter. Atlas Copco does it for “free” as part of our continuing commitment to reduce energy consumption and cost. They provide fully customized report with recommendations on ways to save energy consumption and costs for each customer. In addition to this a separate service on flow measurement analysis can be carried out upon request.

Electric stationary air compressors generate a significant amount of energy in the form of compression heat, with up to 94% of the electrical energy converted into this heat.

Without energy recovery solutions, this heat is lost to the atmosphere through cooling systems and radiation, representing a significant waste of energy and contributing to carbon emissions.

Atlas Copco offers energy recovery solutions that repurpose this compression heat and reuse it for carrying out other processes, such as space and water heating. By using hot water recovered from the compressed air system, businesses can save on costly energy sources like natural gas and heating oil. The recovered heat can be used directly in processes requiring temperatures of 70 to 90°C or used as boiler pre-feed.

The heat released during the air compression is repurposed for various processes requiring hot water in manufacturing plants, including scalding, cleaning, sterilizing, and steaming. By using energy recovery solutions, businesses can effectively reduce their reliance on costly fuel sources, as the heat recovered from air compression can almost entirely offset fuel consumption.

Companies shouldn’t only focus on reducing carbon footprint through their industrial air compressor usage. However, they should introduce green initiatives beyond their industrial facilities.

For instance, they can sponsor green initiatives like tree-planting, organize events to raise environmental awareness, or have the company's experts visit schools to talk about the importance of fighting climate change. By supporting these initiatives, companies can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and foster a culture of environmental responsibility in their employees and communities.

Atlas Copco's green initiatives are helping businesses reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable production in various ways. One of the key solutions is the VSD Compressor technology, which is highly energy efficient and has helped International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) - a UK-based manufacturing plant - save more than €10,000 annually. This technology allows for greater control over the speed and output of the compressor, resulting in less wasted energy and reduced carbon emissions.

Another innovative solution is Atlas Copco's Oil-free CO2 compressors, which help customers turn their waste stream into substantial savings. By investing in this high-quality product and 24/7 customer service, customers can enjoy a sustainable future. These systems allow customers to capture and reuse CO2 while reducing their emissions by up to 80 percent. 

In conclusion, reducing carbon emissions and promoting green production has never been more important for businesses. Atlas Copco's innovative solutions provide effective ways to tackle this problem. By investing in modern industrial air compressors, fixing air leaks, reusing energy released from air compressors, and introducing green initiatives beyond their facilities, companies can make a positive impact on the environment and their bottom line.

We encourage readers to download Atlas Copco's brochure on 10 steps guide for green production and watch the webinar recording, which covers all areas for optimizing compressor room and achieving a more sustainable future. Let's work together to create a better tomorrow for all.