Energy saving, CO2 reduction and energy generation from renewable sources represent the three cornerstones of the energetic and environmental commitments of all the Countries in the World. These three elements are considered to be able to give a quantitative contribution to the sustainability in an industrial environment. Among those mentioned, the most important and the one which represents a driver in many sectors is the limitation of the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere: most recent data (2013) from NOAA-ESRL set at 395.55 parts per million (ppm) the CO 2 in the atmosphere and the continuous increasing trend will quickly allow the reaching of the 450 ppm level which is considered as a safeguard limit to avoid irreversible environmental and socio economics problems, [1]. Looking at the energy consumption side, energy saving is a key factor. Compressed air production doesn't escape this requirement and, for the compressor manufacturing industry, this can represent an opportunity with great potential benefits. Compressed air is produced by electrical energy and the consumption accounts as much as 10 % of industrial consumption of electricity, [2,3,4,5,6]. A lower estimate [7] places at 6 % this share but an additional 12 % is estimated to be associated with the commercial and residential markets (portable tools, air pumps, pneumatic heating, ventilation, air conditioning, etc...), so overall compressor needs are estimated equal to 20 % of the industrial electricity needs. Considering that industrial consumption of electricity represents a given share of the overall electrical energy consumption (it depends on the geographical context, social development, industrial level, etc....), with good approximation, compressed air can be associated to the overall electricity consumption and to primary energy consumption too. So, it can be compared with the others energy alternatives: when the data is reliable and correspondent to real situations, actions to promote energy efficiency in compressed air systems can be identified with their real importance and compared with all the others measures. From many independent studies [2,4,6] the most important energy saving measures are associated to the: (1) reduction of leakages on the distribution lines, (2) a more appropriate compressed air system design, (3) use of adjustable speed drives, (4) waste heat recovery. All these aspects, in a ten year period of operation, weigh 7 0-75 % of the overall compressed air costs [7,8,9,11,12]: compressor technology is, therefore, a key factor to reduce energy consumption including in it load control, variable speed operation, compressor sizing, etc... A great potential saving is associated with leaks, friction pipes, etc... but these actions are downstream of the compressed air production. After having discussed some issues concerning the future overall energy consumption and Co2 emissions, considering the development of the electricity market in the World in the near future, and overall energy characteristics of existing machines widely used in the compressed air market, the article goes deep inside a specific compressor technology which is represented by the sliding vanes rotary type. Principal processes inside these machines are discussed in the light of the recent scientific literature advancement of a theoretical and experimental nature. The general idea was that these machines are not so well known and their use is not so widespread: thanks to a deeper scientific interest over the past few years, these compressors have had a notable performance improvement, meaning this technology has a potentially greater industrial role to play than previously thought. Thanks to some specific intrinsic aspects of these machines some energy issues are presented and premium sectors discussed..

Sliding vane rotary compressor technology and energy saving

CIPOLLONE, Roberto
2013-01-01

Abstract

Energy saving, CO2 reduction and energy generation from renewable sources represent the three cornerstones of the energetic and environmental commitments of all the Countries in the World. These three elements are considered to be able to give a quantitative contribution to the sustainability in an industrial environment. Among those mentioned, the most important and the one which represents a driver in many sectors is the limitation of the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere: most recent data (2013) from NOAA-ESRL set at 395.55 parts per million (ppm) the CO 2 in the atmosphere and the continuous increasing trend will quickly allow the reaching of the 450 ppm level which is considered as a safeguard limit to avoid irreversible environmental and socio economics problems, [1]. Looking at the energy consumption side, energy saving is a key factor. Compressed air production doesn't escape this requirement and, for the compressor manufacturing industry, this can represent an opportunity with great potential benefits. Compressed air is produced by electrical energy and the consumption accounts as much as 10 % of industrial consumption of electricity, [2,3,4,5,6]. A lower estimate [7] places at 6 % this share but an additional 12 % is estimated to be associated with the commercial and residential markets (portable tools, air pumps, pneumatic heating, ventilation, air conditioning, etc...), so overall compressor needs are estimated equal to 20 % of the industrial electricity needs. Considering that industrial consumption of electricity represents a given share of the overall electrical energy consumption (it depends on the geographical context, social development, industrial level, etc....), with good approximation, compressed air can be associated to the overall electricity consumption and to primary energy consumption too. So, it can be compared with the others energy alternatives: when the data is reliable and correspondent to real situations, actions to promote energy efficiency in compressed air systems can be identified with their real importance and compared with all the others measures. From many independent studies [2,4,6] the most important energy saving measures are associated to the: (1) reduction of leakages on the distribution lines, (2) a more appropriate compressed air system design, (3) use of adjustable speed drives, (4) waste heat recovery. All these aspects, in a ten year period of operation, weigh 7 0-75 % of the overall compressed air costs [7,8,9,11,12]: compressor technology is, therefore, a key factor to reduce energy consumption including in it load control, variable speed operation, compressor sizing, etc... A great potential saving is associated with leaks, friction pipes, etc... but these actions are downstream of the compressed air production. After having discussed some issues concerning the future overall energy consumption and Co2 emissions, considering the development of the electricity market in the World in the near future, and overall energy characteristics of existing machines widely used in the compressed air market, the article goes deep inside a specific compressor technology which is represented by the sliding vanes rotary type. Principal processes inside these machines are discussed in the light of the recent scientific literature advancement of a theoretical and experimental nature. The general idea was that these machines are not so well known and their use is not so widespread: thanks to a deeper scientific interest over the past few years, these compressors have had a notable performance improvement, meaning this technology has a potentially greater industrial role to play than previously thought. Thanks to some specific intrinsic aspects of these machines some energy issues are presented and premium sectors discussed..
2013
9781782421696
978-1-78242-169-6
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11697/94724
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