Energy Recovery in Air Compressors: Harnessing Efficiency for Sustainability

In today’s world of increasing environmental awareness and the drive for sustainable practices, industries are actively seeking innovative solutions to reduce energy consumption and minimize their carbon footprint. If your business uses air compressors, focusing on energy recovery in air compressors is one area to pay attention too. 

Understanding Energy Recovery in Air Compressors:

While air compressors play a vital role in various industrial applications, generating compressed air for powering tools, equipment, and processes. However, using compressed air typically involves a significant amount of energy consumption, leading to substantial energy costs and environmental impact. Energy recovery in air compressors aims to alleviate these challenges by capturing and using the waste heat and kinetic energy generated during compression.

Heat Recovery:

During the compression process, air compressors generate a significant amount of heat as a byproduct. Instead of allowing this heat to dissipate, it can be captured and repurposed for other applications within your facility. Energy Recovery systems can be employed to transfer the excess heat to water or air systems for space heating, preheating process fluids, or even domestic hot water. By using this recovered heat, companies can significantly reduce their reliance on conventional heating systems, resulting in substantial energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Adding energy recovery systems in air compressors offers a range of benefits, both economically and environmentally. These benefits include:

  1. Energy Efficiency – by capturing wasted heat and kinetic energy, energy recovery systems improve the overall efficiency of air compressor operations. This reduces the need for additional energy inputs and lowers energy costs.
  2. Cost savings – Energy recovery systems can lead to substantial cost savings through reduced energy consumption, decreased reliance on external heating or power sources, and potentially even revenue generation through excess electricity generation.
  3. Environmental sustainability – Energy recovery in air compressors contributes to sustainability goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering the overall carbon footprint of the facility, and promoting a environmentally friendly operation.
  4. Regulatory compliance – Many industries are facing stringent regulations and emissions standards. Implementing energy recovery systems demonstrates a commitment to sustainable practices and can help companies comply with environmental regulations.
  5. Enhanced system reliability – Adding in an Energy Recovery system can improve the reliability and performance of air compressor systems, as they reduce the load on the compressor, minimizing wear and tear and extending the equipment’s lifespan.

Energy recovery in air compressors presents a promising opportunity for industries to optimize energy usage, reduce costs, and contribute to a greener future. As the demand for energy-efficient practices continues to grow, integrating energy recovery systems into air compressors is a proactive step towards a more sustainable future.

Do you have an idea for our #expertcorner? Let us know!

Useful links:

Book your Service here

Browse our Services here

Browse our Products here

Browse our News corner here

Browse our Sustainability focus here



Who we are and how Ash Air can help your business!

Ash Air has been around in New Zealand since 1979, and we’ve grown into a nationwide company with international support and a reputation for quality and reliability.We look after all things compressed air for your business!

  • Rotary Screw and Piston Air Compressors
  • Vacuum Pumps and Blowers
  • Nitrogen Generation
  • An extensive line of Air Treatment components
  • AIRnet Piping System and  Filtration
  • Mobile Compressors, Generators, and Light Towers

Ash Air's range of Chicago Pneumatic, ALUP, Pneumatech, and Atlas Copco products are used extensively around the world in industries ranging from oil and gas to food, automotive and farming, and we bring you these world-class compressors here in the land of the long white cloud.Our technicians are compressed air equipment experts and are dedicated to addressing customer needs. Supported with nationwide coverage, Ash Air offers one of the widest selections of compressed air, vacuum pump, and industrial gas equipment and parts available today in New Zealand.

Reliability and Efficiency

With Ash Air, you can count on reliability and high performance for even the most demanding applications. We focus our efforts on the following:

  • Increasing uptime
  • Reducing unexpected repairs
  • Reducing energy consumption and meeting our sustainability goals
  • Improving the cleanliness of compressed air


Talk to the team today:  CONTACT US CONTACT US

Read more from our #expertcorner


Just like any other equipment, a compressed air installation also requires the necessary maintenance work during its entire lifespan. Even though maintenance costs are only about 5 to 10% of a machine's annual operating costs, failure to budget for maintenance can have potentially disastrous consequences. …


The air dyer is one of the most ignored cooler in the system. A dirty condenser will cause water in the lines, or worse it will cause complete dryer failure. …


Using nitrogen is not about fully replacing CO2, but it can reduce their consumption of CO2 by close to 70%. Using nitrogen is about sustainability. Creating your own nitrogen is easy and will reduce the use of a greenhouse gas, which is better for the environment. It will also save you money as early as month one adding that savings to your bottom line. …


A question that is occasionally asked by our customers to Ash Air is 'what is the cost of compressed air?'  This article looks at the product costs involved with compressed air, as well as minimising the energy cost of compressors and cost allocation. When looking at these factors, we need to realise what causes dropped efficiency of your compressor, leading to increased costs of compressed air. …


You may have great fall protection measures in place to keep employees safe when working at height, but what about their co-workers below? Dropped tools and other falling objects are a major hazard – and one that isn’t always fully addressed.  …


Providing a safe working environment for operators is essential, especially when using pneumatic tools and compressed air. If there is a failure in the air network and the hose is not adequately clamped, the resulting whiplash could be devastating. Failure to follow best practice can result in injuries, associated production downtime and decreased productivity. …


A common questions asked is why do I need an air dryer for my compressor? Typically, air compressors produce water, and although the water can be drained, there can still be aerosol and vapour droplets that are present. This is because water cannoet be compressed. Water can damage your compressor by corroding the valves, pipes and machinery controls, which will cost you time and money to resolve. In the long run, the cost of a new compressor is a small price to pay compared to the loss of production that could potentially arise due to water damage in your compressor.





…


Air compressors can fail for an assortment of different reasons: Normal wear and tear, lifespan and age of the unit, poor maintenance, power surge, install issues are just a few the come to mind. Check out this blog to find out our top 7 tips to ensure your compressor is looked after!  …

Show More