Compressed Air Leaks

[shawgrp]

I am stuck with the Compressed Air Leaks Formula....

There is a chart with leaks and savings associated but those charts are based on several assumptions. I would rather use a formula for my savings than refer to a chart.

Formula for compressed air leaks = [V*(P1-P2)]/[(Delta T)*14.7]

Where V = Systems Volume (Cubic Feet), P1 = Initial Pressure, P2 = Final Pressure, Delta T = time interval over which leaks are measured (minutes)

I am comfortable with all the parameters except the V i.e. Systems Volume....


How would I calculate the total systems Volume???

I would appreciate if anyone on the forum can guide me through the process or how to add up the total systems volume.


Thanks

[klove]

Measure and calculate the receiver size, measure or estimate the piping/tubing footage/diameter and calculate. Estimate or get the specs on inter- and after-coolers and accessories. There's your system volume. Measuring leakage is easy on a pure compressed air system. If you're dealing with a pneumatic control system, then the system isn't anything but one big engineered leak to start with, so it's almost impossible to tell what you have even if you were so detailed as to get component usage, because that's not a constant.

[shawgrp]

Thanks Appreciate your guidance. I will try to go through the Compressed air system and identify all the input parameters in order to get a total systems volume

[Air Dryer Tech]

I am stuck with the Compressed Air Leaks Formula....

There is a chart with leaks and savings associated but those charts are based on several assumptions. I would rather use a formula for my savings than refer to a chart.

Formula for compressed air leaks = [V*(P1-P2)]/[(Delta T)*14.7]

Where V = Systems Volume (Cubic Feet), P1 = Initial Pressure, P2 = Final Pressure, Delta T = time interval over which leaks are measured (minutes)

I am comfortable with all the parameters except the V i.e. Systems Volume....


How would I calculate the total systems Volume???

I would appreciate if anyone on the forum can guide me through the process or how to add up the total systems volume.


Thanks

I am not an engineer, but I have been in the compressed air service industry for 26 years. I work with an air systems auditor frequently and leak measurement and detection are big roll players in energy audits. We use data loggers to measure pressure, cfm, Kw and current. From that we can determine compressor performance and plant air demand. During a two week logging period, we hope there is a shift or a day in which there is not a production air demand so we can measure artificial air demand and air leaks. We also use a sonic measuring device to locate, document and repair air leaks. Air leaks are proportional to pressure. Obviously, the higher the pressure at the leak, the greater the air loss in cfm.

[shawgrp]

Thanks for the reply. I am trying to develop a tool so that Industrial/Commercial customers can conduct Air Compressor audit on their own. Data logging would be sort of out of scope but I was able to prepare a savings calculator based on the research carried by D.O.E.

[harshadkatre]

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[jpsmith1cm]

harsahdkatre

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Additional infractions may result in loss of posting privileges.