A Simulation-Driven Approach to Improving Compressed Air Efficiency

Compressed air is often the most expensive utility in a manufacturing plant, yet it is frequently managed through guesswork and safety margins. While traditional leak audits provide a snapshot of losses, they fail to account for the complex dynamics of distribution and end-use demand.

This article explores how a simulation-driven approach using digital modeling can help reduce operational costs by up to 50% by identifying areas in which efficiency gains can be achieved as well as actionable insights to provide a return on investment (ROI)-ranked roadmap for plant leadership.

How Energy Waste Typically Occurs in Compressed Air Systems

Plant engineering teams rarely choose to waste energy, they typically inherit it. Over years of operation, pneumatic systems undergo "drift" — production lines expand, quick fixes become permanent, and filters or dryers add pressure drops as they age.

To compensate for these invisible inefficiencies, plants often default to a high-risk strategy: raising header pressure. This band-aid fix masks local pressure drops but creates a "hidden tax" on the entire facility. Every unnecessary increase in pressure amplifies leak rates and drives up the compressor’s power consumption.

Simulation-driven engineering, however, can help make these hidden costs visible. By digitally modeling airflow and pressure drops, plants can test improvement scenarios, such as piping resizing or end-use substitutions, before spending a dollar on hardware.

Read the article “Compressed air: the hidden utility” to learn more about compressed air systems and how they can contribute to operational costs.

Case Study: Aluminum Recycling Plant Improves Efficiency with Digital Modeling

To demonstrate the positive impact digital modeling can have on improving a manufacturing facility’s compressed air system, let’s analyze an aluminum recycling plant system with an annual compressed air operating cost of approximately $365,000. The baseline assessment revealed an average demand of 2,295 scfm (standard cubic feet per minute, i.e., the flow rate of gas or air) at a compressor room pressure of 94 psi (6.5 bar).

By creating a digital twin of the facility, the model was calibrated to monitor demand with a deviation of only 5%. This high degree of accuracy allowed the engineering team to pinpoint exactly where the money was being lost.

Finding 1: The High Cost of Peak Demand

On Production Line 1, the model connected specific operating phases to massive consumption peaks. Specifically, a cleaning phase and a main operating block were quantified at 549 scfm, costing the plant $135,000/year.

The simulation revealed that high pressure losses at the air knives — a tool for blowing material off of a product — were forcing the plant to maintain a higher overall setpoint just to keep this one line functional.

Finding 2: The "Utility Misuse" Trap

On Production Lines 2 and 3, the model showed that pneumatic actuators (cylinders) represented less than 5% of total air consumption. The real culprits were high-flow utility users: cooling, blow-offs, and open tubes.

This is a common pattern in mature recycling plants; actuators get the maintenance attention because they move, but static blow-offs consume the budget.

Simulation Identifies Opportunities for Efficiency Gains

The simulation identified two primary levers that consistently deliver the highest ROI for heavy industrial environments.

Simulation-driven efficiency moves plant management from a reactive "fix-on-fail" mindset to a proactive, data-driven strategy. By making the compressed air chain transparent — from the compressor room to the air knife — industrial operations such as aluminum recycling plants can unlock savings of 20-50%.

More importantly, they gain a living model that can evolve alongside their production needs, ensuring that today's efficiency gains aren't lost to tomorrow's system drift.

This article was written and contributed by Dr. Elvira Rakova, CEO of Direktin which offers simulation software for compressed air systems.