Energy audit of production equipment

Do you need to determine the actual running costs of your production equipment or compare technologies to improve efficiency? At a woodworking company, we carried out a comparison of operating costs for a vacuum pump used for suction versus a compressed air ejector. Using a calorimetric flowmeter capable of measuring flows up to 700 Nm3, we measured an average ejector consumption of 45 Nm3/h.

An earlier cost analysis established that producing 1 Nm3 of compressed air costs the company CZK 0.45.

A simple calculation showed operating costs of CZK 20.25/h, much higher than a vacuum pump with 2 kW motor shaft power (2 kW × CZK 2.50/kWh = CZK 5/h). Based on these figures, we recommended using the vacuum pump for suction.