Is it the valve or is it the cylinder; whichever, it’s costing you a lot of money?
Reducing air leaks in your plant can save thousands of dollars annually. Compressed air is one of the most costly forms of energy you can use in your plant, of course, it’s one of the most versatile, fast and strong too.
When it’s “quiet time” in the plant, wander around the machinery and listen. You will often hear the gentle (or perhaps not so gentle) hissing of air escaping from the exhaust port of your air valves.
The sound of compressed air “chewing up your dollars” as it wafts to atmosphere can be muted if your air valves have mufflers in the exhaust ports, but nevertheless, it can be heard.
Also, there are commercially available ultra-sonic compressed air leak detectors on the market. If your plant doesn’t have a “quiet time”, which would enable you to actually hear the leaks yourself, investing in an ultrasonic leak detector can bring substantial payback in energy savings.
Usually you’ll have one air valve connected to one air cylinder. Usually that cylinder will be double acting –...