Aerospace Company Air Compressor Installation

Case Study Introduction:

KG Power Systems was contacted to provide a second quote for a new air compressor. The compressed air is used for high tech machinery and clean rooms. A competitive compressor distributor and service company had been handling this account for over a decade.

Problem/ Issue:

Upon our first visit we found an old 15HP and 10HP Piston compressor. The 15HP was running all the time on a 10-hour shift. We brought in the KG Power System install engineer and right away he found the issue. The compressed air piping system was made up of 75% hose and tubing. It was run in a drop ceiling and was leaking all over. Were it came down the wall galvanized pipe took over but in some areas only 1/4" tubing was found. This was causing a lot of artificial demand (demand caused by unauthorized uses like air leaks and pressure drop).

The customer had just spent 10K to repair the old Quincy compressor.  Not even a year later they still had issues. The incumbent service provider told them they needed replacement unit and to use the old one as a backup.

Solution: 

Instead of just quoting the customer new equipment like he wanted we also quoted a complete compressed air piping system with all new drops and hose. We told them that this was need first before we could properly size the air compressor. We could not figure out how much air he needed until we removed the artificial demand from his system.

Conclusion:

We were awarded the job and completed in approximately two weeks, without any interruptions to the system.

We eventually shut down the 15HP and sold him a 7.5HP Variable Speed compressor, dryer and filtration. The new unit runs at an 65% saving the customer "insert saving calculation here".

Update:

Not long after we were awarded the service contract and just recently completed a whole new system for a new building of theirs.

Key Takeaway:

If your compressed air system is not working correctly and your compressed air supplier quotes you more equipment without even a little investigation, hang up and call in someone else.