When evaluating processes that utilize compressed air and adhering to the Six Steps to Compressed Air Optimization, intermediate storage proves to be a critical role coming in at step number five. Intermediate storage tanks may already be in place within your facility and often times can be implemented as modifications to aid existing lines that are struggling to maintain proper availability of compressed air to keep the line at peak performance.
When determining whether or not a production line or point of use compressed air operation would benefit from a receiver tank/intermediate storage we would want to evaluate whether the demand for compressed air is intermittent. Think of a receiver tank as a capacitor in an electrical circuit or a surge tank in a water piping system. These both store up energy or water respectively to deliver to during a short high demand period then slowly charge back up from the main system and prepare for the next high demand. If you look from the supply point it will see a very flattened demand curve, if you look from the application side it still shows a wave of peak use to no use.
One of the key factors in intermediate storage of compressed air is to appropriately size the tank for the supply side of the system as well as the demand of the application. The good news is there are equations for this. To determine the capacity, use the equation shown below which is slightly different from sizing your main compressed air storage tank. The formulate shown below is an example.
Where:
V – Volume of receiver tank (ft3 / cubic feet)
T – Time interval (minutes)
C – Air demand for system (cubic feet per minute)
Cap – Supply value of inlet pipe (cubic feet per minute)
Pa – Absolute atmospheric pressure (PSIA)
P1 – Header Pressure (PSIG)
P2 – Regulated Pressure (PSIG)
One of the main factors when sizing point of use intermediate storage is, they are being supplied air by smaller branch lines which cannot carry large capacities of air. That limits your Cap value. The only way to decrease the V solution is to increase your Cap. The other key point is to ensure that all restrictions feeding into the tank and from the tank to your point of use are minimized in order to maintain peak performance.
If there are intermittent applications that are struggling to keep up with the production demands within your system, please reach out and speak with an Application Engineer. We are always here to help and we may even be able to help you lower the demand needed by utilizing an engineered point of use compressed air solution.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF