New compressor technology makes it possible to save enormous amounts of energy: the energy consumption of a variable-speed compressor is up to 40 per cent lower than that of a traditional screw compressor. The rotation speed is optimized with a frequency converter. Product development cooperation between Finnish companies is generating considerable savings.

The compressors of the Tampere-based company Gardner Denver are state of the art in their own particular field. Exceptionally low energy consumption has been achieved when a frequency converter developed by Vacon Oyj at Vaasa has been added to adjust the compressor's rotation speed.

Compressed air vital to industry

Industry on every scale, from small workshops to big processing plants, needs compressed air for its processes. An EU survey states that 8 to 10 per cent of industry's electricity usage goes to produce compressed air. The need for compressed air varies by application, but all of them need capacity control.

Control brings savings

In most traditional applications a compressor often operates uneconomically. Energy consumption is reduced most efficiently when the compressor's rotation speed can be controlled to meet the actual compressed-air requirements.

Control with a frequency converter is an increasingly popular solution. The energy consumption is minimized when the compressor's running speed is controlled to exactly match the need for compressed air. As a result, the compressor's power consumption follows the compressor's air flow precisely. Savings are also generated when over-compression is avoided. A variable-speed compressor keeps the pressure exactly at the target pressure. This way the compressor runs evenly, and it reduces the mechanical wear and tear of equipment and extends the compressor's service life considerably. A compressor with the new technology pays for itself at best in under a year.

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