ET22SWE0045 - Compressed Air End-Use Air Management System

A new energy-saving product called an air management system (AMS) has been developed as a drop-in replacement for compressed air filter-regulator-lubricator (FRL) assemblies. The AMS saves energy by reducing pressure to large pneumatic end-uses during idling and cutting off air supply during extended downtime. This saves energy by eliminating leak loads in complicated machinery that are otherwise unlikely to be addressed. Therefore, the product may be well-suited to production facilities with large, custom pneumatic end-uses that have intermittent usage such as food processing, packaging, paper products, and pharmaceutical industries. The product also has inherent air data collection capabilities that can be integrated into monitoring software or cloud services to improve overall plant management and compressed air system optimization.

The project will independently test the AMS at one or two sites to measure the impacts, cost-effectiveness, user acceptance, and installation feasibility of the product. Full M&V adhering to IPMVP protocols of the compressed air supply equipment and impacted end-uses will provide data for energy, demand, and cost savings analysis. Monitoring will establish baseline and post-intervention periods for a comprehensive evaluation of the product and statewide extrapolation to other conditions.

The findings will help address market barriers to the product, allow for manufacturer improvements, and determine best use cases. It will also provide valuable data for possible future development of controls products that integrate end-use data into compressor room controls. The product has large potential for utility benefits and programs in both new construction and retrofit applications in the difficult-to-address compressed air market base of the industrial sector. The study will evaluate per-unit savings as well as statewide potential, market conditions, and program recommendations for the encouragement of market adoption.