Losman

Industrial Air Power Ltd is the authorised distributor for Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies products throughout Wales and the South West of England. The two companies have made a dramatic shift from being suppliers of equipment to providers of solutions. We are fully conversant with all aspects of air generation and equipped to carry out energy audits on any installed system, regardless of size or manufacturer.

A full system audit includes leak detection, measurement of energy consumption, and flow measurement including pressure, temperature and final air quality.

As utility rates continue to rise and firms continue to look to green initiatives, energy consumption has become a growing concern for manufacturers.

One of the largest energy users within a plant is the compressed air system. Energy recovery provides a cost-effective way for manufacturers to reduce their energy bills while simultaneously benefiting the environment by capturing the thermal energy created through the compression process and putting it to work. Where the heat produced from a compressor can be fully utilised, simple payback periods of less than two years are frequently achieved.

Having already worked with Carbon Trust on a variety of projects, Terram called on its expertise when faced with rising energy costs. The specialist manufacturer of geosynthetic materials, employing 95 staff at its manufacturing plant near Pontypool, worked with Industrial Air Power to eliminate energy inefficiencies and redesign and install a new air compressor system. The result was an industry best in terms of energy usage and savings of £202,000 per annum. It also produced:

* Energy savings of approximately 11.25 million kWh over five years
* Cost savings of approximately £1m in five years
* Emission savings of 7,390 tonnes CO2 in the same period
* Payback of approximately 24 months

David Roberts, control engineer at Terram Ltd, said: “The savings we are seeing now are unbelievable but just as important is the fact that we are reducing our carbon emissions and therefore benefiting the environment.”

Although Terram had already started to investigate the costs for new compressed air systems, it hadn’t looked at where, when, how much air was being used. Carbon Trust helped it identify this and used Industrial Air Power to design a system to meet its needs.

Having a tailor-made system installed in turn allowed Terram to capitalise on secondary savings such as heat recovery and compressed air leak reduction.

Ongoing monitoring of the fully automated system allows the savings to be quantified. Monitoring also ensures that the focus on savings is maintained and remains a high priority for Terram.

The new compressor system was located into the steam boiler house. This enabled Terram to recover the waste heat generated by the compressors and use this to raise the temperature of the water in the hot well, which feeds the boiler. Increased water temperature in turn reduces the amount of gas needed to generate steam.

The aggregated savings from the installation of the new system and implementation of the measures identified represented an 11.8 per cent reduction in the site’s energy consumption and overall a 38.7 per cent reduction in the electrical energy consumption directly associated with the generation of the compressed air.

An annual CO2 saving of 1,214 tonnes has been achieved plus an additional 264 tonnes from a reduction in gas usage due to the heat recovery process.

From monitoring the system, it was calculated that Terram was using on average 85m3/min of compressed air with an efficiency of 8kW/m/min, which equated to 7.2 million kWh per annum. By installing a new compressor set supplied by Industrial Air Power, it was calculated that the efficiency could be improved to 6kW/m3/min. Post-installation monitoring has proved that the new machinery provides an average efficiency of 5.8kW/m3/min – delivering significant savings. The gas savings are on top of this.

The benefits to Terram have been fourfold: a significant reduction in energy costs, the ability to protect plant integrity, reduced maintenance cost and the added benefit of reduced gas consumption from the increased water temperature in the steam boiler hot well.

Installing new Ingersoll Rand two stage fixed speed air compressors along with a Nirvana two stage trim compressor, fully automated via a control system provided Terram with primary energy savings. Secondary savings came as a result of the heat recovery process, lower maintenance costs and the leak reduction programme.

The exercise has been successful in achieving reductions of CO2 emissions and the overall costs of supplying the service of compressed air to the business.

A Carbon Trust Wales consultant worked together with Industrial Air Power and Terram engineers providing impartial, independent advice enabling the company to make an informed decision and deliver value for money. Carbon Trust independently validated the energy savings and confirmed that they exceeded Industrial Air Power’s initial projections.

Through our experience in carrying out hundreds of compressed air audits we have identified the majority of existing compressed air systems include one or more of these deadly sins. This will have and adverse affect on your reliability, productivity and energy consumption.

* System over-pressurisation resulting in increased artificial demand
* Excessive waste through air leakage
* False loading of compressors due to lack of system automation and volume
* Inefficiency caused by cycling fixed output compressors
* Excessive pressure drop

If you would like advice on calculating your savings potential and increasing your company’s profitability contact Industrial Air Power on 01656 658961, email sales@airpower.co.uk

Do I really need to get my meter or tester calibrated?

There are companies who will sell you a Check Box and tell you that there is no need to send your meter away for calibration. Simply check it periodically yourself using the Check Box. To help you decide whether this is good advice you need to consider what you get for the money you spend on having the meter calibrated.

Proper meter calibration carried out periodically by a UKAS accredited electrical calibration laboratory, where the accuracy of the meter under test is compared with a standard of known accuracy, under repeatable controlled conditions will give you peace of mind and in depth knowledge about the performance of your meter across its full operating range. You’ll get a UKAS calibration certificate detailing the full measured results and a quantified statement of the uncertainty of those results.

A quick comparison with a check box “in the field” will not deliver the same level of confidence. Check boxes do however have their place. They are very useful for carrying out quick in-service checking of the major functions of a meter between calibrations. Especially useful when you are on-site, if the meter has been dropped or subjected to overload. Proper UKAS meter calibration is however the only way you can be absolutely sure that the measurements made with the meter are of known accuracy and can be relied upon.

Would you buy a second hand car without an MOT? Probably not. The risks and dangers are obvious. Similarly, the risks and dangers of relying on electrical measurements made using an un-calibrated meter should be equally obvious. To sum up then, check boxes have their place, but their use should not be considered an acceptable alternative to a proper calibration by a UKAS accredited laboratory.

In today’s harsh economic times, effective and dependable fire suppression within business critical areas such as data rooms remains essential, but securing it at the right price can be difficult. Ian Bartle examines some of the key challenges involved and explains what can be done to alleviate the pressure on those critical budgets.

It’s understandable that in all businesses, continuous examination of operating costs are routinely made. Within this, the cost of fire suppression is often considered to be a relatively high but necessary cost. However, there can be very few applications where the absolute reliability of operation of the automatic fire suppression equipment is more business critical than in a data room.

For instance, data rooms of any size will have an air conditioning system in place to control the temperature because of the tremendous amount of heat that’s generated on a continuous basis. Failure of the air conditioning system to function may lead to overheat situations placing stress on the equipment and components. This could cause an outbreak of fire with a resultant and devastating loss of all data within minutes. And don’t forget, we’re potentially talking here of data that’s taken many years to build.

So no question, data rooms need to be protected by a dependable automatic fire suppression system, but does the cost of the system have to give the financial director sleepless nights? The answer is a resounding no.

One thing that we all know is that high volumes of water and computers don’t sit happily together. That’s why for years now, chemical gaseous agents such as FM 200, Inert gas systems and now water mist have been employed to do the job of fire protection. They have performed the task of suppressing fires by physical cooling of the affected area or by decreasing the oxygen in the atmosphere to a level that no longer supports combustion. All utilise a system of high pressure pipework and nozzles to deliver the suppression medium into the risk area.

However, recent world wide shortages of raw materials have prompted dramatic increases in the cost of chemical gases, FM 200 in particular. This in turn has affected the cost of new fire system installations and that of recharge and service where gas needs to be replaced  (up to 40% in some cases), making them far less competitive on price. This fact has forced buyers of fire suppression systems to widen their search for equally reliable but more cost effective alternatives.

As already described, Data Rooms need the optimum in automatic fire suppression and extinguishers as do other special areas such as network infrastructures, art galleries, museums, antique centres, and power generation plants to name just a few. The objective is always to save lives and property. But innovative fire protection can now do a whole lot more. Today it combines science and economics and matches these qualities to total effectiveness and reliability.

In the case of Data Room protection there is now a system that not only beats the performance of chemical and Inert gases, it also provides a superior, environmentally friendly fire suppression. Not only that, the system known as Stat-X allows easier and more cost-effective installations for all these types of challenging applications.

Getting the maximum productivity from office space can be aided with Mobile Shelving Systems. You can double the capacity or half the space taken by your non moveable shelving system.

With mobile shelving there is no need for multiple access aisles; only a single aisle space is required. Aisles are created according to the location of the files required by moving the shelves apart.

Mobile shelving systems run on minimum friction tracks laid simply and quickly onto your existing carpets or floors - no fuss, no disruption. These can then take your existing or new shelving, cupboards or filing cabinets, and the mobile shelving is moved by either ultra-low friction manual wheels or simple 13A plug electrically assisted systems. It’s quick, simple and safe but highly space efficient too. Easy moveable shelving.

These shelving systems can also enhance the security of your filing system, as the mobile shelving can be closed or locked to restrict access to sensitive documents and offer a sleek contemporary design fitting to every office environment and is easy to reconfigure as the business grows or moves.

•    Easy to specify, install and relocate.
•    A mobile shelving system is installed on top of your existing floor without the need for fixings.
•    Minimum disruption during installation.
•    Fully modular - the moveable shelving system can be easily relocated or extended as circumstances change.
•    Rolled Edge Shelving and storage accessories are a common fitting to all frame styles - so you can adapt your industrial shelving as future needs change without worrying about compatibility. Accessories feature clip-in fitting so that any changes are quickly and easily made.
•    A major advantage of rolled edge shelving are the slim profile shelves and frames which give runs of shelving a neat, coordinated appearance. This design feature, coupled with the colour options on the frames and optional decorative end cladding makes it ideal for use in offices and commercial environments, where the slim profiles minimise wasted linear space and optimise use of the storage area.
•    Whether for front of office storage of ‘live documents’ or long-term archiving, rolled edge shelving is the ideal solution.
•    Having the right industrial shelving systems and storage shelving units key to operating an effective document and data management system. This is especially true now that the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts are placing further pressures on organisations to comply quickly and efficiently.
•    Rolled edge mobile shelving Manchester, with its wide range of sizes and accessories, is the right solution to meet the needs of today’s modern office environment.

Dredging is required for various reasons including environmental, commercial and industrial uses.

Environmentally, examples of the use of dredging are to clear waterways also to collect sand in order to repair coastal erosion. Industrial and commercial uses dredging are for example the collection of materials used in concrete production and the dredging for valuable trace substances.

Dredging has become an essential operation in process of flood prevention through increasing an area’s capacity for holding or carrying water away.

Dredging requires not only the correct craft but also the correct dredging equipment which is mainly the dredging bucket. Each type of dredging project requires a different type of bucket as each location and material required to be dredged is different.

Dredging buckets are made by the process of the fabrication of steel through welding. They are either constructed in a workshop or onsite depending on the nature of the usage and location. Dredging buckets can range from 3m3 to 25m3. The first process is to design the bucket using CAD software and then the drawing service. It is these critical initial stages that enable the bucket to be fabricated.

The materials used in the construction of dredge buckets, excavator buckets and mining buckets are highly sophisticated. The steel is high strength and abrasion resistant with tungsten or chromium carbide wear protection systems. Each bucket is ESCO wear resistant encompassing their protection systems and are bushed and line bored.

As mining, excavation and dredging buckets are often used in challenging and demanding situations, it is important to keep on top of refurbishment. A professional dredge bucket manufacturer should also offer the service of repair and refurbishment.

The refurbishment and repair of mining and dredging buckets is as skilled a job as manufacturing. The welding and fabrication processes are as complex and so a fully equipped workshop is required with a lifting capacity in the region of 15 tonnes. The welding should be to ASMA 9 standard or higher with a mobile line boring facility. Once the welding & fabrication has been completed the process of the abrasion resistant and steel plate coatings can be implemented.

With one of the most critical parts of non slip flooring being the adhesive, it is odd that a non slip flooring company will rarely get asked about what adhesives are utilised on their anti slip flooring but to them, it is something that occupies a great deal of effort. A non slip or safety flooring range has widely disparate uses; everyday the director and his colleagues in sales discover a new application for a product that they have been selling for over 18 years!  As the uses are so varied that subsequently means the adhesive has to adhere securely to a variety of substrates.  Like most chemicals pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) have constantly improved their capabilities, the adhesives we use on our range of non slip flooring is vastly superior to the materials we supplied back in the 1990’s.  Levels of tack, shear and temperature range have improved dramatically, all to the benefit for our customers ensuring total quality.  Please find the most common adhesive questions below.

What PSA does Heskins use?
Heskins generally use modified acrylics (there are a tiny handful of exceptions for specific non slip flooring applications).  They like the all round capabilities that modern modified acrylic PSAs offer, as mentioned previously their product has many varied demands made of it, they appreciate that the modified acrylics allow high tack levels, high shear levels and superb temperature ranges encompassing extreme minus ºC to high ºC.  All the transparent range has a further PSA modification to ensure no UV problems, please enquire for specific grey scale tests for each product if this is a concern.

Do you offer different adhesion levels?
Heskins do.  In over 99.9% of cases their adhesives on the non slip flooring are more than sufficient, however, for clients with a special demand for higher tack levels we also coat the HG adhesive.  For customers who take our HG x-coarse product, this adhesive is standard on their materials, for all others it can be coated dependent on quantity.  Our HG offers exceptionally high tack levels without any compromise on the other parameters.
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