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APPLICATIONS FOR COMPRESSED AIRAfter water, gas, and electricity, com-pressed air, also known as ‘the fourth utility’, is an essential element to mil-lions of businesses around the world. The main sectors reliant on com-pressed and pressurised air include the electronics, food, medical, plastics, steel, construction, environment and recycling, automotive, oil & gas, and chemical industries.

Electronics and ManufacturingIn purity-critical compressed air ap-plications in the manufacturing sec-tor, where air comes into contact with the production process, such as in pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging, chemical and petrochemi-cal processing, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, automotive paint spraying and textile manufactur-ing, contamination of the air, by even the smallest quantities of oil, can re-sult in damaged products or product batches, high rejection rates and costly production downtime and cleanup. In order to overcome these issues, oil-free compressed air has become

vital for day-to-day operations in these industries.

Food and BeverageModern food facilities rely on com-pressed air in their manufacturing pro-cesses. Oil-free compressors can be used in direct contact with the product, while oil lubricated compressors can be used in packaging processes and in the operation of production machin-ery such as fi lling machines and pumps, or in the generation of other gases. For example, compressed air gener-ates the vacuum used in the packag-ing process and is used in conveying systems to move food and ingredients. For PET bottle-blowing, high pressure oil-free compressed air is fed into the bottle blower machine moulds where preforms are heated and the plastic is stretched to form the bottle.

Medical and HealthcareEvery hospital is equipped with air compressors for medical air. Hos-pitals use two distinct compressed air systems, supplying medical air for patients and equipment, and techni-cal air that is used for maintenance around the facility. Compressed air systems must comply with a range of statutory requirements and stan-dards, to ensure clean breathing air is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Power and transportationPower companies use air compres-sors to start engines. Last year, BOGE launched its marine product range for the shipping sector. BOGE’s starting air piston compressors provide a constant supply of compressed air to start up diesel engines. To prevent methane-emitting freight from causing damage to cargo tanks, ships require nitrogen

on-board to keep the dew point of its liquefi ed petroleum gas (LPG) fuel to minus 40° C. BOGE’s nitrogen genera-tors in the marine range provide a con-sistent supply to achieve this and prevent the gas from reacting with water vapour.

ConstructionIn the civil engineering and construc-tion fi elds, compressed air is used for powering various air tools and for pres-surised transportation of soil and sewer water etc.

COST-COMPETITIVE AND SUSTAINABLE COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEMSWhile compressed air has become an indispensable commodity in indus-try and other areas, it remains both energy- and cost-intensive. Energy accounts for 75% of a system’s life-cycle costs. Normally, the larger the system and the longer the operating hours, the higher this percentage will be. Fortunately, compressed air is one technology where businesses can im-prove effi ciency and thereby reduce associated energy expenditure. Through expert consultations, for example, comprehensive audits of businesses’ compressed air demands can be made, and all components can then be synchronised accordingly. Where appropriate, BOGE advises users to invest in a frequency con-trolled compressor that adapts to demand fl uctuations, while produc-ing the required volume at a constant pressure. Cautious users tend to run their systems at a higher pressure, but are unaware that for every bar of extra pressure, energy requirements in-crease by 6%. Identifying lead times and idle times of various compres-

Compressed air - a necessary input with wide-ranging uses Mr Nalin Amunugama, General Manager, BOGE Kompressoren Asia Pacifi c, Singapore, explains the importance of compressed air in the industrial as well as healthcare sectors, and touches on some of the contributions made by his company in this fi eld of engineering.

Mr Nalin Amunugama

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sors will also enable users to coordi-nate their systems so as to maximise capacity utilisation. Early detection and controlling of leaks, on the other hand, prevent further energy wastage. Intelligent control systems typi-cally prove to be reliable solutions. With the BOGE airstatus system, for instance, users have constant access to an overview of the process values of compressed air devices (includ-ing temperature, pressure, operating hours, idle hours and servicing sta-tus). Not only can the measured data be called up, graphically displayed, and evaluated at any time via a PC or smartphone, or using the BOGE app, the airstatus also provides infor-mation via text messages or emails, if faults occur or defi ned parameters are breached. This effectively short-ens the response time in eliminating ‘effi ciency killers’. BOGE recently introduced its high-speed turbo (HST) technology. The HST compressors are signifi cantly smaller and lighter, requiring the use of fewer components which are, however, of high quality, to ensure minimal wear (and lower attendant maintenance costs), as well as in-creased longevity. With the new design, effi ciency values are also ramped up. This is most evident in the compressor’s idle mode where the energy re-quired is below 1.9% of the rated power, partly due to the exclusion of an energy-consuming fan motor. The integrated frequency inverters installed in the compressors also al-low the volume fl ow rate to be ad-justed to specifi c compressed air de-mands, cutting back on wastage and energy consumption, while promis-ing a reliable supply of Class 0 oil-free compressed air. The advantages of HST compressors are particularly salient in sensitive production areas, as found in chemical, pharmaceutical, food, beverage and semiconductor industries. More than just an economic issue,

energy optimisation is also an eco-logical necessity. BOGE recognises the importance of recycling energy and offers innovative heat recov-ery options that help businesses put generated heat to use in other ways, such as in heating domestic or circuit water, or for process support. Often, such simple and relevant changes - whether harnessing waste energy or minimising plant inactivity - bring considerable benefi ts to both the en-vironment and the budgets of busi-nesses, including cutting energy costs by at least 30%.

BOGE KOMPRESSORENBOGE KOMPRESSOREN, founded in 1907 in the German city of Biele-feld, has over 100 years of history as a leading manufacturer of air com-pressors, such as high-speed turbo compressors, screw compressors and scroll compressors, to complete systems and individual devices. To-day, with more than 200 branch of-fi ces and service partners worldwide, BOGE is represented in more than 120 countries. The BOGE Asia Pacifi c offi ce was opened in Singapore, in 1996, to ca-

BOGE's HST control system can be adjusted to specifi c compressed air demands, cutting back on waste and energy consumption.

Compressed air has become vital for day-to-day operations in most industries including the automotive sector.

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ter to the rapidly developing Asian market - the fi rst offi ce to be opened by BOGE outside of Europe. In 2003, BOGE set up a plant in Shanghai to develop and manufacture products for sale in China, India and Southeast Asia. The Asia Pacifi c offi ce is responsible for markets in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore and Indochina. The Singapore offi ce also manages the subsidiaries in India and Australia. BOGE’s activities include sales and marketing, distributorship develop-ment, and consultancy services. Ear-lier this year, BOGE supplied its prod-ucts to a company in Tarjun, Indonesia, for the manufacture of biodiesel with crude palm oil.

Products and solutions With the increase in compressed air applications and the growth of the Asian market, investing in research and development has become a fun-damental part of our continual efforts to introduce cutting-edge innovations. Presently, the BOGE product range in-cludes powerful screw and piston com-pressors, compressed air fi ltration and treatment systems, as well as energy-effi cient solutions. BOGE also manufac-tures a complementary range of fi lters, dryers and condensate management equipment. A key feature of every BOGE com-pressor is the compact design that serves to minimise fl ow losses, while high quality air-ends optimise produc-tivity while reducing energy usage. The award-winning S-series range of BOGE screw compressors incorporates an uncluttered cabinet layout and ensures reliable daily operation. All oil-carrying pipes are made of steel and come with joints that are leak-proof and safe, even under high pressures. Standard S-series components are also assembled into one stand-alone package, to reduce footprint size and eliminate installation costs. While the S-series is ideal for the operation of larger volumes of air, the

C series is suited to small businesses, ga-rages and workshops, due to its space-saving and quiet screw compressors (up to 22 kW). All the necessary com-ponents are neatly integrated into the air-end block, instead of having separate oil/air separation vessels that require annual third-party certifi cations. In healthcare, the need to categorise compressed air into medical air and technical air means that two very dis-tinct compressed air systems operate concurrently. Although the same type of compressor can be used for all com-pressed air requirements, the main vari-ant is the specifi c software coordinating these compressors. In this case, BOGE offers the right technologies that not only deliver the appropriate redundancy and availability for breathing air, but also keep the total cost of maintenance and energy consumption low. In the shipping industry, BOGE’s marine systems are de-signed to be put to work immediately. These compressors deliver constantly high pressures and can withstand soar-ing ambient temperatures, while their low speed makes them durable, even in the tough conditions in the oceans. As we embrace the digitalisation of industry, diagnostics tools such as remote monitoring will continue to facilitate hu-man-machine communications. BOGE’s condition monitoring tools provide us-ers with real-time access to their systems’ data on their mobile devices, thus facilitat-ing the digitalised coordination of the en-tire maintenance process.

Effectively, our solutions promise fl exibility and adaptability. Production companies, like those in the food indus-try, turn to BOGE for individually de-signed installations for the manufacture of PET bottles, for example. Meanwhile, those with special compressed air qual-ity requirements will fi nd a match in our innovative, oil-free compressor range. And for users facing space constraints, the compact design of a great number of our compressors becomes an es-sential feature. BOGE’s customisation ensures that compressors are propor-tionately dimensioned relative to spe-cifi c air demands. BOGE plans, develops and installs systems capable of deliver-ing safe and effi cient compressed air for a range of temporary and permanent supply requirements.

A recent achievement Our German engineers were chal-lenged to come up with an optimum performance screw compressor for the 110 kW to 160 kW power range. The aim was to develop a screw compres-sor that would be the ‘best in class’ for its low absorbed power, low noise lev-els and price competitiveness. We have accordingly developed a compressor with specifi c power less than 5.9 kW/m3/min, as part of the fourth genera-tion S-4 Series which will be introduced to the market in the beginning of 2017. With this success, we hope to extend the S-4 series to the 55 kW to 110 kW power class, by 2018.

Compressed air buffers and medical compressed air treatment systems are designed with triple redundancy to guarantee a reliable supply.