Engineering Magazine – June 2019

20 JUNE 2019 ENGINEERING

Measured approach

Stef Lievens explains how compressed air technologies fit into the

smart factory transition

T

he “fourth industrial

revolution” is changing the

way manufacturing companies

operate by integrating automation

systems with cloudbased algorithms.

Also known as the Industrial Internet

of Things (IIoT), this digitisation of

industrial enterprises offers significant

benefits like optimisation and

predictive maintenance.

While the move to digitisation may

seem like a radical change, it is possible

for industrial enterprises to take a

measured approach to implementation.

Setting clear priorities for modernising

infrastructure and implementing

connectivity enables a step by step

process. Risks and rewards can be

quantified at each stage.

Compressor technology is one

component of industry that has already

been through some noteworthy changes

over the last few decades. It has become

widely recognised as the fourth utility and

is ripe to benefit from the improvements

in the realtime analytics and optimisation

that the IIoT offers.

Barriers to adopting digital

technology

Industrial enterprises are drawn to

the benefits of digital technologies,

but also experience some barriers to

adoption. Some organisations resist

the irreversible nature of moving from

a local datacentric infrastructure to a

cloudbased architecture. They have

questions about where to start, which

systems to prioritise and what capital

investment would be required to make

the change.

Compressor systems play a critical

part in many manufacturing processes.

A traditional approach to compressor

investment is based on limiting financial

and operational risks associated.

Business metrics, automation and

maintenance information all flow from

local datacentric applications. It may

be hard for some companies to justify

a complete rebuild of their digital

infrastructure to support IIoT.

Hardware solutions for IIoT

The life of a well-maintained compressor

averages between 8 and 10 years.

Mature units tend to offer much lower

instrumentation levels than modern

smart systems. This limits their usefulness

for IIoT, which relies heavily on the

quantity and quality of available data.

However, there is another solution

besides the capital investment of

replacing compressors.

Accessing the benefits of IIoT

without capital investment

Contract air schemes originated to

meet the needs of customers with aging

equipment or those with periodic extra

usage demands. They allow customers

to purchase the air supply rather than

the compressor itself through a variable

charge based on compressed air usage.

The advantage of a contract air

scheme is that it offers industrial

enterprises access to compressor

systems already integrated with IIoT.

These energyefficient compressors

are fitted with remote monitoring and

predictive maintenance technology.

Industrial enterprises get the benefit

of digital connectivity and IIoT,

while managing the expense in their

operational budget.

There may be some installations

where the capacity is too low to justify

the investment to digitise. However, a

25kW compressor could easily benefit

from this payasyougo arrangement.

Assuming it runs for 4,000 hours and

uses 100 kW of energy, electricity

would cost in the region of £10,

per year. The benefits of optimisation,

COMPRESSOR TECHNOLOGY