Compressed air installation of more than 5 years old has an average 20% of air leakage. Air leaks are a big waste of energy, but easy to ignore. In a typical industrial plant, compressed air accounts for up to 40% of the total electricity bill. Any leakage generated from compressed air will cause a huge amount on your bill.
What is Air Leakage?
What is Air Leakage?
When an extra or unwanted airflow breaks through a vessel, pipe, or sealed container, it is called compressed air leakage. Generally, air leakage happens from inside out – a flow of air from high pressure to low pressure – but may also occur from outside when ambient air flows into a vacuum vessel.
Either overlooked or identified much later, air leaks can be one of the biggest contributors to energy wastage at your industrial facility.
For instance, compressed air systems with five-year-old piping have been observed to cause leakage of up to 25%. In terms of monetary loss, a single quarter-inch of leakage at 100 psi may cost over $2,500 a year.
Therefore, addressing leaks is critical for reducing energy costs and maintaining sustainable production in your unit.
Do you know how much air leaks cost your company?
| Hole diameter (mm) | Air leakage at 7bar(g) | Power to air leaks *1 (kW) | Cost of leak *2 (AED / year) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liter / s | cfm | 168 hrs / week (non-stop operation) | 72 hrs / week | ||
| 0.50 | 0.20 | 0.42 | 0.06 | 220 AED | 94 AED |
| 1.5 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 0.54 | 1,981 AED | 849 AED |
| 3.0 | 7.1 | 15 | 2.1 | 7,705 AED | 3,302 AED |
| 6.0 | 28 | 59 | 8.4 | 30,820 AED |
13,208 AED |
Why does an Air Leakage occur?
Air leakages are one of the operating concerns of using compressed air systems. But timely leak tests and scheduled maintenance can help avoid compressed air leak and ensure the longevity of your compressor. Here are some reasons why air leakages happen.
1. Moisture laden air
Rich in moisture content, untreated or semi-treated air may enter the air network and begin damaging the internal parts of the pipes. This reason is by far the most common reason for air leaks.
2. Unfit material selection
Wrong material selection for piping your compressed air system is also a reason that leads to erosion of the pipes. For example, bare CS pipes can result in surface corrosion.
3. Loose joints and sealings
Undersized pipes and loose joints can also generate a high velocity, leading to pipe corrosion and subsequent air leakage.
Is your air compressor leaking air? Wonder how to detect them? Read our blog telling you the signs to look for when detecting air leakage in your compressor air system.
What is an Air Leak Test and why conduct it?
Conducting an air leak test at the right time can prevent the leakage issues from affecting the final user points. To put it simply, an air leaking test is an evaluative method to scan for leakage issues and analyze pressure in your air compressor. Following are the benefits of performing an air leak test:
- Leak standards are quantified
- Product efficiency is optimized
- Time and work saving with automation
- Operational and energy costs are reduced
- Measurement data ensure product improvement
Register for our air leak check and reap the benefits in the long run.
What are some Air Leak Testing methods?
Most of the time, users are not aware of the air leakage from their compressed air systems. By the time they detect the leakages, a lot of money and energy has already been lost. Although some leaks can just be found by listening, major ones are either inaudible or inaccessible.
Therefore, the most widely used approach is the ultrasound leak detection method for faster detection and prevention of air leakages. Since a leak site creates a turbulent flow with ultrasound components, ultrasound detectors can identify leakages no matter how noisy the environment is.
Should you want to identify and fix inaccessible leaks in your unit, count on Atlas Copco experts and solutions.
A quick fix solution for long term results
To prevent energy loss and ensure optimal performance of your air compressor system, Atlas Copco brings you a complete compressed air leak check program, providing leakage identification test with ultrasonic leak detector camera at the site without interrupting your production.
Our experience engineer will trace the complete compressed air line network to find out the leakage points, quantify the leaks in terms of volume flow to understand the severity of leaks and list the leakages with photographs and leak tag. At the end of the Air Leak Check program, you will receive a detailed report of in-depth evaluation of problems along with recommendations for leak repair, and save up to 30% of energy immediately by closing the energy gap.
✔ Quick
✔ Cost Saving
✔ Sustainable
Do you want to fix air leakages and see what differences it makes to your air system? Schedule an appointment with our expert representative and save your time and money.
Make your appointment today, get a FREE air leak detection demo.
Listen to our customer!
I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the extensive support from Atlas Copco team, have provided to our local and global teams during the recent discussions on air leakage calculations. Your expertise and dedication have been invaluable in helping us to clarify. We appreciate the time and energy you have invested in supporting our teams. Your contributions have helped to ensure that we have a clear understanding of the air leakage calculations, which will enable us to achieve our goals in other facilities around the world. Thank you once again for your commitment and support. It has been a pleasure working with you and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.
