It is instilled in us from an early age that planning for our future is important. Buying a car, a house, having a family, retirement all takes planning. Each of these plans stir up thoughts about timelines and costs. Well, this also rings true in business, especially if your business needs to expand. Planning for expansions can save you time, money, and many headaches.
When planning your compressed air installation, it is important to anticipate future plant expansions to help avoid both overloading the initial system and saving you time and money long term. The more air that must pass through the initial distribution piping, the higher the pressure drop between the compressors and points of use which could overload the system.
When designing this system there are a few things to consider:
- Designs should allow for a minimum of 25 percent expansion by oversizing piping, valves, and controls. Compressors, however, should not be oversized, but they should be sized and selected with controls to allow operation at optimal efficiency with prevailing rates of flow.
- If you are adding any end-use equipment, like compressors or dryers, review the complete system for best location to install it.
- In the future, when repairs are needed, consider the possible need for a rental compressor. To accommodate a rental compressor, in addition to normal connections, the primary receiver should have a connection and a valve.
- The maximum and minimum flow rates experienced in operation may be dramatically different from the average flow rate. While selecting components, the maximum flow rate should be taken into consideration.
- How many production shifts your plant operates is important to consider, especially if different shifts have different demands.
Planning for future expansions will help you avoid unexpected costs, save time and properly size equipment for end uses. For more information, contact an expert today.
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