Did you know that compressed air generation amounts to over 40% of a plant’s total electricity bill? And that energy consumption can account for over 80% of a compressor’s lifecycle cost? For businesses serious about increasing their profits, energy consumption is an obvious target. It was therefore one of the leading design priorities for the GA 180-315 VSD+ and GA 200-250 VSD Hybrid compressors.
Reducing consumption throughout your process
Energy-saving components
Our engineers took every opportunity to reduce energy consumption in these compressors. SmartInjection provides the element with exactly the right amount of oil to ensure it always works at peak efficiency. The IE4 (Fixed Speed) and IE5 (VSD⁺) motors are designed for high efficiency. An integrated energy recovery system is available as an option, while a dual speed or VSD fan saves costs when temperatures are lower.
Variable Speed Drive (VSD)
Atlas Copco pioneered VSD technology in the compressed air industry to offer major energy savings while protecting the environment for future generations. Today, we offer the widest range of integrated VSD compressors on the market. VSD technology automatically adjusts the motor speed to air demand, reducing energy consumption by up to 35% and cutting the compressor’s life cycle cost by an average of 22%. In addition, lowered system pressure with VSD minimizes energy use across your production.
42% = Energy
35% = Energy savings with VSD
12% = Investment
11% = Maintenance
A = Losses
B = Speed
1 = Total losses traditional element
Elektronikon® Mk5 Touch control
Most production processes create fluctuating levels of demand which can lead to energy waste in low use periods. The Elektronikon unit controller maximizes the performance of your compressors and air treatment equipment under a variety of conditions.
You can switch manually or automatically between two different setpoints to optimize energy use and reduce consumption when demand is low. A sophisticated algorithm runs the drive motor only when needed. The desired setpoint is maintained while the drive motor’s run time is minimized, creating significant savings.
SMARTLINK for expert monitoring
Knowing the status of your compressed air equipment at all times is the key to efficiency and availability. SMARTLINK provides customized reports on your compressor room’s energy performance as well as early warnings, and timely component replacement to increase uptime and prevent production loss.
Optimizer 4.0 system pressure controller
The Optimizer 4.0 compressor room controller minimizes excess compressed air generation by starting and stopping compressors. Its user-friendly interface allows you to set multiple pressure bands to adapt to varying circumstances, such as non-productive hours. It also helps you benefit from the full energy saving potential of VSD by regulating the system to ensure the compressed air output is proportional to the demand. This prevents unnecessarily high pressures and excess unloaded running.
VSD Hybrid: the best of two technologies
VSD Hybrid combines the benefits of VSD and fixed speed drives to match specific load profiles, such as day/night and week/weekend. The smart control system regulates the combination to achieve even greater efficiency than a VSD on its own. Combining a variable and a fixed speed drive also contributes to a smaller footprint (compared to two units) and higher turndown than a VSD alone. For added flexibility customers can choose to run a single core (Independent Single Core Operation) if one core is unnecessary or not operational. This also means that the back-up compressor can be smaller.