The Magazine for ENERGY EFFICIENCY in Compressed Air Systems March 2016 Plastic Molding 12 Innovative Blow Molds Reduce Pressure in PET Blow Molding 18 PET Power Containers & Compressors aiR Us Design Expansion FOR 26 Demand-Side Demons at a PET Bottle 2 Blowing Plant BAUER ON-SITE N 32 GAS ASSIST INJECTION MOLDING COMPRESSED AIR WITH A VAST PORTFOLIO Powering You With Extraordinary Solutions Whether the compressed air you need is for machining, fabrication, material handling or finishing, we can help you save money while increasing your productivity. That’s a promise. www.atlascopco.us – 866-688-9611 Atlas Ad 8.375 x 10.875 - CABP.indd 1 9/1/15 11:20 AM T ire d o f d o w n tim e a n d s c ra p a s a re s u lt o f p o o r c o m p re s s e d a ir q u a lity ? M o is tu re is fo u n d in c o m p re s s e d a ir lin e s a n d e x h a u s tin g fro m v a lv e s a n d a c tu a to rs o n e q u ip m e n t th e re b y re d u c in g c o m p o n e n t life a n d m a c h in e e ffi c ie n c y . T ire d o f d ra in in g w a te r a n d o il fro m y o u r c o m p re s s e d a ir lin e s e v e r y s p rin g ? T ire d o f c le a n in g o r re p la c in g p n e u m a tic c o m p o n e n ts w e ll before their lifespan? T h e S o lu tio n : Rem ove the M oisture SMC Full S M C D r y e r s p r o v id e lo w e n e r g y c o n s u m p t io n a n d e ffi e c ie n t o p e r a t io n in s iz e s t o w o r k w it h a ir c o m p r e s s o r s � r o m � � � t o � � � h o r s e p o w e r � � �� � k w � t o � � k � � a n d � o w r a n g e s � r o m � � s c � m t o � � � s c � m � T he SM C Dryer Advantage: Environm entally friendly R134a/R407C Refrigerant Sim ple Control System , incorporating easy to read evaporator gauge Stainless Steel Heat Exchanger providing lo n g -life a n d lo w -p re ssu re d ro p s | 03/16 COLUMNS SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING FEATURES 12 Innovative Blow Molds Reduce Compressed Air Pressure in PET Blow Molding By Vincent Duvernois and Stephane Larcade (SKV Services) and Jean Pilnard (COMEP) 18 PET Power Containers and Compressors aiR Us Design Plant Expansion By Clinton Shaffer, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 26 Compressed Air Demand-Side Demons at a PET Bottle 12 Blowing Plant By Pete Rhoten (Hope Air Systems) and Greg Fitzpatrick (Compressed Air Technologies) 32 Bauer Compressors On-Site Nitrogen Generation for Gas Assist Plastic Injection Molding By Clinton Shaffer, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 39 Fiberglass Parts Plant Finds Savings Beyond the Air Compressor Room By Ron Marshall, Compressed Air Challenge® 18 COLUMNS 6 From the Editor 7 Industry News 46 Resources for Energy Engineers Technology Picks 47 Advertiser Index 50 The Marketplace 32 Jobs and Technology 4 airbestpractices.com | 03/16 COLUMNS FROM THE EDITOR Plastic Molding Here are some “plastics fast facts” provided courtesy of SPI, the plastics COMPRESSED AIR BEST PRACTICES® industry trade association, at www.npe.org. The plastics industry: EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Manager, Demand Side Ball Doug Barndt pp is the 3rd largest pp creates $374 billion Energy-Sustainability Corporation manufacturing in annual shipments Richard Feustel Senior Energy Advisor Leidos industry in the U.S. William Jerald Energy Manager CalPortland pp operates nearly Global EH&S/ Varroc Lighting pp employs nearly 18,500 plastics Jennifer Meier Plant Engineering Systems 900,000 workers facilities in the U.S. Manager Mission Point Thomas Mort Chief Operating Officer Our lead article is written by former Sidel employees who have formed SKV Services, a Energy Corporate Energy Team company dedicated to servicing PET blow-molding machines and introducing new blow Brad Reed Toyota Leader mold base technology able to lower compressed air pressure requirements. These French Koch Brad Runda Global Director, Energy gentlemen really know how compressed air is used in bottle blowing! Industries Industrial Energy Managers Uli Schild Energy Engineer Darigold PET Power Containers, a Canadian manufacturer of PET plastic containers, had plans to Corporate Energy Don Sturtevant Simplot add more blow-molding equipment. Our second article details the utility-incentive-winning Manager compressed air system assessment, performed by Shannon de Souza of Compressors aiR Energy Performance Michelin North Thomas Sullivan Us. His assessment was used, and a new compressed air system was installed to efficiently Manager America Paint & Energy Fiat Chrysler Bryan Whitfield support the plant expansion. Management Automotive US Director Marketing David Andrews Sullair Pete Rhoten, from Hope Air Systems, and Greg Fitzpatrick, from Compressed Air Technologies, Communications describe a plastics plant whose compressed air system suddenly couldn’t support the 5th Compressed Paul Edwards President SIPA blow molding machine when it kicked on. The reciprocating compressors appeared to Air Consultants National Sales Manager, SPX Flow be working fine, so what had changed? This article describes the system assessment leading Jay Francis IPG Industrial to the discovery of the “demons” hidden inside the blow-molding machines. This project is Tilo Fruth President Beko USA the subject of our March 2016 Webinar titled, Purging Demand-Side Demons at a PET Bottle Blackhawk Chris Gordon President Blowing Plant (Details about the Webinar are on page 31). Equipment Vice President Erik Arfalk Atlas Copco Bauer Compressors is a leader in on-site nitrogen generation for gas-assist plastic injection Communications molding. Members of their dedicated Plastics Technology Group explain, in a feature article, Paul Johnson Global Sales Manager Parker Transair how nitrogen is used to pressurize mold cavities – rather than liquid mediums like melted Universal Air & Kurt Kondas President plastic. The benefits include reduced material waste, shortened cycle times and improved Gas Products Director Global Service product quality. Mark Krisa Ingersoll Rand Solutions ® Frank Langro Director Marketing Festo Thank you for investing your time and efforts into Compressed Air Best Practices . Compressed Air System Assessments Pierre Noack President Aerzen USA ROD SMITH Hank Van Ormer President Air Power USA Editor Wayne Perry Technical Director Kaeser tel: 412-980-9901 Atlas Machine Andy Poplin Sales Manager [email protected] & Supply Gardner Kenny Reekie Product Manager Denver Compressed Air & Gas Institute, Compressed Air Challenge 2016 MEDIA PARTNERS 6 airbestpractices.com COLUMNS 03/16 | INDUSTRY NEWS SPX FLOW Opens New Dehydration “Our testing capabilities validate product R&D Lab and Training Center performance to better serve our customers Through its Dehydration business, SPX FLOW in a highly competitive, global market place," is a global leader in the supply of compressed stated Jay Francis, National Sales Manager for air and gas dehydration and filtration Dehydration’s Industrial Product Group. solutions. The company recently announced SPX FLOW’s globally recognized Dehydration the opening of a new 10,000-square-foot brands include Hankison, Deltech, Pneumatic Research & Development Lab and Training Products, Delair and Jemaco. As part of SPX Center at its Dehydration headquarters in FLOW’s continual work to give better customer Ocala, Florida. The center offers advanced experience, the new facility also serves as an testing capabilities to conduct compressed The new SPX FLOW Dehydration R&D Center provides expert product sales and field service training the ability to test products to international standards and air dryer and filter performance validation to center for channel partners, service providers validate product performance to better serve customers. international standards. Other competencies and end users. include testing and performance validation of product and applications knowledge of channel filtration media, condensate drain valves and “We provide both in-depth classroom and partners that promote, maintain and service desiccant material.EOTM 03.pdf 1 2/2/2016 4:46:46 PM practical 'hands-on' training to enhance the our products," Francis added. Experience of the month C M Customer: A well-respected manufacturer of sintered metals in the Southeast required a robust, dependable, Y high capacity process chiller to remove heat from their ƉůĂŶƚĐŽŽůŝŶŐŇƵŝĚƐ͘dŚĞŝƌůŽĐĂůĚŝƐƚƌŝďƵƚŽƌĐĂůůĞĚŶĂŶŽĨŽƌ CM ĞdžƉĞƌƟƐĞĂŶĚĂƌĞůŝĂďůĞƐŽůƵƟŽŶ͘ MY Service: ŵƉůŽLJŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŶĂŶŽ ^dϭϯϬE ϭϬϬ dŽŶ ƉƌŽĐĞƐƐ CY chiller, the company was able to: CMY • extend the life of their hydraulic equipment K • ŐƌĞĂƚůLJƌĞĚƵĐĞĚŽǁŶƟŵĞĂŶĚŵĂŝŶƚĞŶĂŶĐĞĐŽƐƚƐ • ĚƌĂŵĂƟĐĂůůLJƌĞĚƵĐĞĐƵƌĞƟŵĞŽŶĮŶŝƐŚĞĚŐŽŽĚƐ • ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞƋƵĂŶƟƚLJŽĨŵĂƚĞƌŝĂůƐŵĂŶƵĨĂĐƚƵƌĞĚĂŶĚƐƉĞĞĚŽĨŐŽŽĚƐƚŽ market “nano and their local distributor calculated exactly what size chiller we needed and provided a product which met our needs and could be ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚŽƵƚĚŽŽƌƐ͘ƐǁĞĐŽŶƟŶƵĞƚŽŐƌŽǁ͕ǁĞ͛ůůĐĞƌƚĂŝŶůLJďĞďĂĐŬŝŶƚŽƵĐŚ͊͟ nano-purification solutions [email protected] 704.897.2182 airbestpractices.com 7 | 03/16 COLUMNS INDUSTRY NEWS Compressed Air Dryer Performance temperatures are controlled in the range 35˚F of coalescing filters for oil aerosol removal Validation (2˚C) to 130˚F (54˚C). Air saturation levels performance, Part 2 quantifying vapor removal To validate product performance, SPX FLOW are a critical design condition in air dryer capacity of adsorption filters, and Part 3 constructed an environmentally controlled capacity rating, and a moisture saturator is outlining requirements to test particulate laboratory in the new center to test further used to precisely control air saturation filters for solid contaminant removal.