At a certain point, any industry utilising compressed air will become subject to inefficiency. This is primarily because an industrial air compressor consumes a lot of energy to produce the compressed air that is required. 

What's more, no process is 100% optimal - once the air is produced it can be prone to misuse as a result of human error. 

Your best bet in circumventing these issues is to calculate air demand and adjusting your operating procedures as appropriate. This step is invaluable in mitigating wasted air and ensuring that the air compressor pipeline stays efficient. 

Measuring the right variables

Computing your air demand starts by gathering a few data points, such as the compressed air flow rate and measuring your air requirements. Now, you might be wondering how to measure and calculate your compressed air requirements. A number of  different methods and tools have been established, depending on your specific needs and your industrial air compressor system. Naturally, some methods will be contingent on more expensive tools or services than others, while some provide more accurate results. Here are the three options you can try if you find the load profile of your system.

Option #1: This method involves timing the load and unload cycles of your industrial air compressor while logging the receiver volume as well as the pressure during loading and unloading. The advantage of this option is that it provides a quick estimation of the capacity of compressor and demand of the system without requiring a large time investment. This, however, comes at the price of accuracy.

Option #2: This option needs assistance from a professional who can connect a data logger to your system for a certain amount of time, gathering data points about your compression operations, including the trends and fluctuations that occur within it. As such, it provides an accurate result of your current air demand.

Option #3: Compared to the other options, this method provides the most accurate information. An inline flow metering device is used which logs data electronically and collects long-term data over a prolonged period of time. This information can then be used for ongoing monitoring and modifications of your entire air compressor system.