Abstract
Energy efficiency in industry is a continually expanding sector with significant financial incentives and potential environmental benefits for goals of reducing carbon emissions. Air compressor systems are integral to industrial operation as an easy-to-utilize and effective tool for a variety of processes or controls. An unfortunate aspect of compressed air generation is its high inherent inefficiencies, resulting in significant wasted input power. While some research focuses on reducing the overall energy use of compressors via improved control schemes, this work seeks to determine if modification of inlet conditions can be utilized as a viable method of energy efficiency enhancement in compressors. There is some prior testing performed within this subject, and the goal of this paper is to verify this theory. Testing is largely focused on the ambient and inlet temperature conditions as well as the ambient relative humidity and its effects upon the output flow rate and input electrical power. If successful, the outcome of this study will provide metrics for engineers to utilize in design of preconditioning compressor inlet air for purposes of reducing utility costs in an accurate manner.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 793-799 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Proceedings of the Thermal and Fluids Engineering Summer Conference |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2024 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 9th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC 2024 - Hybrid, Corvallis, United States Duration: Apr 21 2024 → Apr 24 2024 |
Funding
The Authors would like to thank the financial support provided by the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct this study via the Industrial Assessment Center program.
Keywords
- Compressed Air Systems
- Experimental Testing
- Inlet Conditions