Jaguar juggles savings from thinner air
1 min read
Jaguar has upgraded the compressed air networks at its West Midlands-based plants; using an ongoing programme of energy audits to reduce air power consumption by 26% a year with a maximum two years' payback at each site.
To calculate the energy savings that could be achieved with a new compressed air system, the compressed air equipment specialist CompAir carried out a simple air audit on the existing units. A data-logging device was fitted to each machine to analyse a number of parameters including air use, pressures and energy consumption.
With readings taken every second over a two-week period, engineers were able to build an accurate overview of Jaguar's compressed air requirements and demonstrated a number of cost savings that could be made by upgrading to newer models.
As a result, Jaguar chose to upgrade the network to two fixed-speed and one variable-speed rotary screw compressor. The system is configured so that one fixed- speed unit and the variable-speed machine run constantly, with the remaining compressor coming online to cope with increased demand.
After one year of operating the new compressor system, Jaguar reported that the energy savings has exceeded the original calculations, resulting in a faster than anticipated payback period of less than two years.
The second stage of the programme saw the upgrade of the compressor system at the car maker's Browns Lane veneer-manufacturing centre.
The final site to benefit from the energy audit programme is the Castle Bromwich assembly plant. Here, there are four compressor houses; three serving the main ring network and one for the paint shop.
Jaguar is continuing to log the air usage of each system and to date has replaced one machine with a variable-speed compressor, to help meet demands from the network more efficiently.
