Energy, economic, and environmental analysis of the Malaysian industrial compressed-air systems

Compressed-air systems account for about 10% of the total industrial-energy use in Malaysia and some other countries. Compressed air is typically one of the most expensive utilities in an industrial facility. Opportunities for potential savings can thus be sought and identified. This article estimates the energy used by compressed-air systems in Malaysian industries. Various energy-saving measures, such as use of high efficient motors, variable speed drive (VSD), leak prevention, use of outside intake air, reducing pressure drop, recovering waste heat, and use of efficient nozzle, were applied to save compressed-air energy and then the results were compared with available literatures. For an electric motor used in a compressed air system, a sizeable amount of electric energy and utility bill have been found to be saveable using high efficient motors and applying VSDs in matching the speed requirements. Also, significant amounts of energy and emission are reducible through various energy-saving strategies. Payback periods for different energy saving measures have been estimated and found to be economically viable in most cases.