We have a quick question for you; do you really know how much air your current pneumatic installation consumes? Chances are that you don’t and you’ve been winging it. As a result, you may end up spending far more on the power you’re using than you’d ever have to. You shouldn’t need to use all that much, considering that compressed air-driven equipment is some of the most efficient and safe stuff you can normally get your hands on.
If you want to calculate compressed air consumption for any circuit, then it might not be that difficult to do. Under normal conditions, air consumption is always going to be directly proportional to the absolute pressure applied to or by the inlet. All you’ll need to find this is out is a bare minimum of math.
Airflow unit conversion is another common mathematical task that you’re going to want to approach if you’re going to be calculating actual consumption levels. If this at all sounds familiar to you, then you’ll want to give our online airflow unit conversion tool a try. It’s free to use. All you need to do is enter air velocity or volume airflow figures into it along with the duct area and then select the appropriate units.
That being said, even if you don’t foresee any need to convert units you’re still going to want to understand which units are right for your particular project. For instance, feet per minute, meters per second and miles per hour are all used to measure airflow velocity. Notice that two of these metrics make use of customary measures while the other uses metric.
Regardless of what kind of measurements you need to use in your specific place of business, the math itself shouldn’t be all that difficult.
Calculating Compressed Air Consumption For A Particular Installation
To find the ratio of absolute inlet pressure, all you need to do is a little conversion. Depending on the type of equipment you have installed and how it was configured, you may already know this figure.
Assuming that you’re able to get access to it somehow, you can multiply this figure by the known flow of air moving through the air circuit itself. Pull out a calculator or open an app on your smartphone or tablet, because once you’ve done this you already know the total overall consumption per each individual timed unit.
There’s no trick or anything like that because it truly is that simple and straightforward. Best of all, this system works regardless of whatever kind of units you have to use in your particular place of work.
For instance, if you know the absolute inlet pressures in bars, you’ll be able to solve this equation. Your known flow will be measured in SLPM, but this doesn’t matter. Likewise, those who know PSIG figures and measure the known flow in SCFM are able to walk away with total compressed air consumption measured exactly in SCFM, which is perfect for those who prefer to use customary measurements and are primarily working with consumers and manufacturing organizations that have a physical presence in the United States.
Keep in mind that while calculating the dimensions of rectangular piping versus tubing will be slightly different, everything works out once you’ve figured out the area in either measurement system. As soon as you do, you can convert between velocity units like feet per minute and volume airflow units such as cubic feet per minute or CFM without any further difficulty.
That’s excellent news for those who use more than one type of pneumatic tubing in their installation. Once you’ve discovered the actual compressed air consumption numbers, though, there’s a good chance that something might not match up with your calculations. Should this happen you’ll want to dedicate a few moments to improve your gear.
For that matter, if things look a little bit on the high side you could spend a little time patching things up as well. First, though, double-check all of your math and make sure you haven’t mixed up any of the units. It’s easy to measure something in cubic feet when you should have been measuring it in linear feet, especially considering the dynamic nature of airflow calculations.
How To Reduce Compressed Air Consumption In Your Workshop
Over time, you might want to swap out obsolete components for new models since these are usually more efficient and will put less stress on the equipment. Even a simple regulator can go a long way toward ensuring that you keep everything within spec.
On that note, you’ll also want to take a few moments to verify that you’ve never operated any of your gear out of spec. This is a surefire way to cause significant damage to your investments in high-quality pneumatic equipment.
At the same time, you’ll want to take a few moments out of your busy schedule to find leaks and anything else that might be taking up more airflow than the numbers down on paper would seem to indicate you were consuming. You might have corroded connectors that need to be replaced or some kind of fitting that’s become damaged over years of use.
Eventually, these parts will need to be swapped out. Replacing them with efficient stainless steel devices is an excellent way to ensure that the new equipment you put in will hold up for the long haul. As soon as you’re done with this, you’ll have a much more well put together piece of equipment that you can rely on in order to keep working longer.
Calculate Compressed Air Flow WIth Help From SMC Pneumatics
Do you need new parts for your compressed air system? SMC Pneumatics will help with all of the air compressors, rotary screws and other tools that you need. We’ll deliver on high air quality for you.
If you’ve been having trouble finding the parts that would match the specific amount of airflow you expect for your equipment, then don’t hesitate to contact us online and let us know what’s on your mind. An experienced member of the SMC Pneumatics team will get back to you as soon as possible and work with you to find the kind of gear that you need to get everything up to speed again.