Flow

Measuring compressed air consumption and saving

energy
Compressed air is one of the most expensive forms of energy
at all. An intelligent use of compressed air holds enormous
savings potential.

Therefore a consumption measurement that can measure and

record the actual compressed air consumption and even the
smallest leaks quickly and reliably is very helpful.

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If we talk about operating costs in com- Furthermore you should know the stor- Determination of compressed air leak-
pressed air systems, we are actually age volume of the tank as well as of the ages with modern flow meters
talking about the energy costs, Because compressed air system.
the electricity costs make up about A modern compressed air consumption
70-80% of the total cost of a compressed For measurement first the tank and measurement resp. leakage measure-
air system. the compressed air system are set to ment should be able to measure the real
the upper cut-out pressure value. All compressed air flow and also the small-
Depending on the size of the system, compressed air consumers have to be est leakages quickly and reliably and
this means considerable operating costs. switched off. Then the compressor is record them.
Even in smaller systems, this may quickly switched off and there will be no com-
add up to €10,000 to 20,000 per year. pressed air feeding into the system. New: Flow measurement DS 400 for
This is an amount which can be consider- compressed air and gases
ably reduced – even in case of well oper- Now the time T which elapses until there
ated and maintained plants. is a pressure drop of 1 to 2 bar due to Worldwide unique with 3.5 inch, graphic
the leakages is measured. The pressure display with touch screen and print func-
In case of a three shift operation with 200 drop between which the measurement is tion.
kW compressor performance a bad com- taking place can be selected freely.
pressed air distribution can create redun- With the new ”ready for plug-in” flow
dant energy costs of more than 50,000 € However, in practice the described measurement DS 400 the current flow in
per year. method is very time-consuming, not ade- m³/h, l/min etc. as well as the consump-
quate and inaccurate due to the following tion in m³ or l can be measured.
This mainly relates to the detection of reasons:
leaks and the correct design of the com- The new flow station works according
pressed air lines to minimize the pressure • Storage volume, distribution pipe-
to the approved calorimetric measuring
losses. lines cannot be determined exactly
principle.
• The accuracy of the differential pres-
Energy resources like electricity, water or sure measurement and time mea-
gas are usually monitored and therefore surement has to be observed
the costs are transparent. • During the pressure drop, the com-
pressed air volume cools down and
Contrary to compressed air, a water therefore changes the volume flow
leak is usually found quickly due to the reference value.
visi- bility of the leak and therefore is • An online measurement with con-
fixed immediately. Leakages in the com- sumption report is not possible.
pressed air network „blow out“ unnoticed,
even on weekends and during production This method belongs to the so-called indi-
stops. rect measurements, like also the method
of the load and unload measurement
The compressors continue to run during during which the current intake is mea-
this time just to maintain a constant pres- sured by means of clamp-on ammeters
sure in the network. For mature com- and calculated back to the volume flow
pressed air networks, the leak rate can over the technical data of the compres- The heart is the flow sensor which has
be between 25 and 35 percent. sor. been proven and tested for years.
They are the most industrious consumers These indirect methods are antiquated It is characterized by a new thermally
working 365 days a year. and not suitable to detect leakages in the more efficient sensor structure which
lower measuring range. shown a higher chip temperature in case
Not considered in these considerations
are the costs of producing clean and of same electrical connection values.
dry compressed air. Refrigeration and Compared to other calorimetric measur-
adsorption dryers dry the air with signif- ing instruments the sensor has a consid-
icant operating costs, which then „blow erably lower mass and therefore a faster
out“ useless through leaks. response time.

With constantly rising energy costs, these

energy savings have to be implemented
in order to stay competitive within the
market. Potential savings can only be
exploited if the consumption of individual
machines or systems is known and made
transparent for all.

However, often there is no knowledge

about the leak ratio. In the following we
show you how leakage rate can be deter-
mined easily in your company.

Formerly the simple but inaccurate con-

tainer method was applied very often. A
simplified determination of the leakages
is possible by means of the emptying of
the tank. To carry out this measurement
you just need a clock and a manometer.

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 Flow

An additional pressure and temperature Special features:

compensation is not necessary. The
advantage is that the user can use the • 3.5" graphic display – easy to use
flow meters in different pressures and with touchscreen
temperatures without any further com-
pensation. • Zoom function for accurate analy-
sis of measured values
In addition to compressed air, other gases • Consumption analysis with daily/
such as weekly/monthly reports
• nitrogen • Colored measurement curves with
names
• oxygen
• Mathematical calculation function,
• CO2 e.g. addition of several consumers
So the user can take a look at the stored
• argon measurement curves also without any to a total consumption or energy
computer at any time on site. This grants costs per kWh/m³
• natural gas a quick and easy analysis of the com- • Print key: optional indications can
• helium pressed air or gas consumption. be stored as image files directly
on a USB stick and sent by e-mail
With the print key, the current screen can without any software
can also be measured. be saved as an image file on the internal
SD card or on a USB stick and can be • 2 alarm contacts for threshold
printed out without additional software on value exceedance
a PC.
• Freely adjustable alarm delay for
Ideal for documentation of the measured both alarm contacts with reset
values/measurement curves on site. Col- function
ored measurement curves can be sent by • Up to 4 sensor inputs for: addi-
e-mail as image files or integrated into a tional flow meters, dew point,
service report. pressure, temperature sensors,
electrical effective power meters,
The internal data logger enables the optional third-party sensors
storage of the measured data for several can be connected: Pt 100/1000,
years. 0/4…20 mA, 0-1/10 V, Modbus,
pulse
The measured data can be evaluated via • Integrated data logger 8 GB
Threshold value exceedance can be a USB stick of via Ethernet by means of
reported optically and acoustically. 2 the comfortable software CS Soft Basic. • USB, Ethernet interface, RS 485
relays for pre- and main alarm are freely • Web server
adjustable. Particularly comfortable is the consump-
tion analysis at the touch of a button.
An alarm delay can be set for each relay.
This grants that only really long-term The CS Soft Basic automatically draws
threshold value exceedances are indi- up daily, weekly and monthly reports.
cated.

Additionally every alarm can be reset.

The intuitive operation with the 3.5 inch

touch screen graphic display with zoom
function and print key is one of its kind in
the world in this price class.

The graphic display with zoom function

shows the actual flow, the peak values
and the leakage at a glance, the values
are stored in the data logger.

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 Flow

Installation VA 500 under pressure

VA 500 flow meter for compressed air and gases

Even under pressure, the flow probe VA 500 is mounted by means of a

standard 1/2" ball valve.

During mounting and dismounting the safety ring avoids an uncontrolled

ejection of the probe which may be caused by the operating pressure.

For the mounting into different pipe diameters, VA 500 is available in the
following probe lengths: 120, 160, 220, 300, 400 mm.

The flow probes are thus suitable for being mounted into existing pipes
with diameters of 1/2" to DN 1000 upwards.

The exact positioning of the sensor in the middle of the pipe is granted
by means of the engraved depth scale. The maximum mounting depth
corresponds to the respective probe length.

Configuring the measuring site

If there is no suitable measuring site with 1/2" ball valve, there are two
simple possibilities to set up a measuring site:

A Weld on a 1/2" screw neck and screw on a 1/2" ball valve

Engraved depth scale for
B Mount spot drilling collar incl. ball valve (see accessories)
precise installation

Installation depth = x + y By means of the drilling jig, it is possible to drill under pressure through
dA = outer diameter the 1/2" ball valve into the existing pipe.
x = dA
2 The drilling chips are collected in a filter. Then install the probe as
180 described above.

Due to the large measuring range of the probes, even extreme require-
170 ments placed on the consumption measurement (high volume flow in
small pipe diameters) can be met.
160 (The measuring range depends on the pipe diameter).
y

Safety ring
x

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