How Can Pressure Drops Cost You Money

Avoid unnecessary pressure-drops to save you money

Did you know that pressure drops and leaks are the two largest areas of energy loss on your air compressors? Itโ€™s easy to understand why a leaking pipe or fitting creates energy loss. Pressure drops are not quite as noticeable, since you cannot hear them.

What is a Pressure Drop?

According to Compressed Air Best Practices, โ€œPressure drop is a term used to characterize the reduction in air pressure from the compressor discharge to the actual point-of-use. Pressure drop occurs as the compressed air travels through the treatment and distribution system.โ€

Did you know that a small undersized filter would result in unneeded pressure drops in your system? Do not go for the cheap option because you will make up for that cost in energy consumption.

3 Most Common Reasons for Pressure Drops

The 3 most common reasons for unexpected pressure drops in your Air Compressor System. 1. Leaks 2. Improper sizing or maintenance of your Filters 3. Piping configuration

Suggestions To Help with Less Pressure Drops:

1. Unsure of your filter size? Go up a size. It will pay off in the long run.

2. Undersized piping can cause pressure drops. Make sure your pipe is large enough to handle your flow.

3. Reduce the distance the air travels through the distribution system.

4. Check for leaks! Air leaks can will result in using more power than necessary to supply compressed air & contribute to the system's air drops.

5. Increasing the size of your pipe, even from 2โ€ to 3โ€ ,can reduce pressure drop up to 50%. Shortening the distance that air has to travel can further reduce pressure drops by about 30%!

Did you know? Air leaks cause machines to cycle more frequently and by doing so can increase the running time of the air compressor. More running time leads to additional maintenance requirements and possible increased unscheduled downtime.

Remember, unnecessary pressure drops will result in poor system performance and excessive energy consumption. Any kind of flow restriction, whether it's a leak, poor piping configuration or a filter will play a huge role in a system requiring higher operating pressures than are needed, resulting in higher energy consumption.


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Ash Air has been around in New Zealand since 1979, and weโ€™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!

  • Reciprocating, Screw, air compressors
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  • Nitrogen
  • An extensive line of air treatment components

Ash Air's range of Chicago Pneumatic, Alup, Pneumatech, and Quincy compressors 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 by a 13 locations nationwide, Ash Air offers one of the widest selections of compressed air equipment and parts available today in New Zealand.

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With Ash Air compressors, 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
  • Improving the cleanliness of compressed air


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