Blower Systems Reduce Operating Costs by Over 50% vs Compressed Air

Sonic Air Systems
Reduce Your Operating Costs, Increase Your Bottom Line

Compressed Air or Air Knife Drying System?
Most manufacturing facilities have compressed air available and it is relatively easy and inexpensive to purchase compressed air nozzles for a blow-off application. Compressed air nozzles, as compared to holes and liquid nozzles that are very inefficient at concentrating the compressed air at any force, are very useful for small coverage areas where the desired effect is to blow something off. Once the target area gets large enough, the resulting air consumption can become a significant factor. There are also practical limitations to what relatively low capacity compressed air nozzles can do as compared with blower air knives and nozzles.

Blow-off effectiveness and whether you have enough excess air capacity to use compressed air for blow off are two common reasons to upgrade to an air knife blower system. One factor that should be considered is the operational costs to using compressed air vs. a blower based air knife system. Beyond potentially forestalling another "investment" in a new air compressor, the reduction of your electric bill alone can result in an ROI within 6 months for a typical system We've supplied some systems that have paid for themselves in utility savings alone within 1 month.

Compressed Air Systems - Typical Example
The following chart illustrates the potential annual operational savings using a Sonic System as compared to other ways of providing the same coverage with compressed air. This example uses an energy cost of $0.09 per KWHR.

Blow-off Method	Blow-off* Coverage Area	Air Consumption	Required Horsepower	Annual Operating Costs
Blow-off Method	Blow-off* Coverage Area	Air Consumption	Required Horsepower	1 Shift	2 Shifts	3 Shifts
Air compressor with drilled piping	12" Long	204 SCFM @ 75 PSIG	51 Hp	$7,131	$14,261	$21,392
Air compressor with nozzles	12" Long	212 SCFM @ 75 PSIG	53 Hp	$7,428	$14,855	$22,283
Air Compressor with flat nozzles	12" Long	148 SCFM @ 75 PSIG	37 Hp	$5,185	$10,371	$15,556
Air compressor with air knife	12" Long	33 SCFM @ 75 PSIG	9 Hp	$1,155	$ 2,310	$ 3,466

Sonic Blower w/ Sonic XE Air Knife	12" Long	120 SCFM @ 2 PSIG	1.9 Hp	$261	$522	$783

How to Interpret These Results
Very often we are asked to improve upon an existing system. The nature of our blower systems, having single blowers capable of up to 3,000 SCFM, is that we can use far more SCFM that you could using just compressed air. Usually this is an inherent advantage for a Sonic Air Knife System - the desired results just cannot be realized by using compressed air.

Using the example above, we end-up using 24 or 36 inches of air knife length (perhaps 2 or 3 12 inch knifes), then our horsepower required and annual operating cost are not as dramatic. They are still significant, usually operating for about 50% or less of the existing compressed air system. This is the type of analysis we provide at no cost when requested during the quotation process. You can use our online Cost Calculator to forecast potential savings based upon your particular situation and energy costs. If you have any questions, Please let us know.

	T.P.S., Inc. Columbia NJ 07860
	Phone: 908.496.9020	Fax: 908.496.8080	inquiry@fluidproducts.com