How to Significantly Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Compressed Air System

As global temperatures rise and the effects of climate change become more acute, companies are becoming more and more focused on every part of the manufacturing process to lower its impact on our planet’s environment.

This shift towards sustainability also represents an opportunity. Green manufacturing offers the chance to introduce new technology, improve efficiency, and lower operational costs, all while helping the planet and meeting CO_₂ reduction targets.

If compressed air is a part of your manufacturing process, reducing your carbon footprint and increasing efficiency can save your company money, reduce machine downtime, and help raise your profit margin. Explore how a Tamturbo compressor can help your organization reduce its carbon footprint and save money.

Last summer in Europe was the hottest in nearly 500 years. Across the world, from stronger monsoons in South and South East Asia to droughts in the Andes Mountains, the effects of climate change have become more acute. More than just climatic conditions, the impact on human populations, including climate-based migrations due to desertification, will have enormous and still not fully understandable effects on nations worldwide.

These changes have become too great to ignore, and it is crucial that every industry steps up and does its part to help reach the United Nations’ climate goals.

Tamturbo’s proprietary magnet-based technology eliminates the need for polluting oil and uses electricity more efficiently due to a lack of electricity-consuming friction. This approach makes Tamturbo’s air compressors the greenest available on the market today and an excellent way to reduce your company’s greenhouse gas emissions.

amturbo is committed to manufacturing the most sustainable and efficient air compressors on the market. Today, air compressors consume approximately 5% of all electricity generated worldwide, corresponding to an enormous amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. It is nearly 28,466(*) terawatt-hours in 2021 or 12,314,229,427 million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) equivalent to emissions from 30,943 natural gas-fired power plants in one year (**).

This is primarily due to inefficiency in air compression technology. Most electricity consumed is lost in the compression process and transformed into waste heat. Only 12-15% of electricity consumed is used for its intended purpose of compressing air. This misstep represents an enormous waste of electricity and puts a strain on global resources.

amturbo’s oil-free touch-free technology represents a leap forward in air compression innovation. All air compressors create heat, a natural byproduct of the compression process; however, it is always a big challenge how to manage high temperatures during the compression.

Above 260℃, the plastic or Teflon based sealing components of pistons, screws, and turbo begin intensively wear and decompose, so the compressor’s design is focused on keeping temperatures low to preserve the components in the compressors. However, these lower temperatures make waste heat more challenging to reuse as the operating environments are too cold to run other heat-based appliances like boilers.

While 80% of a compressor’s carbon footprint may come from electricity use, excessive maintenance can add up to large carbon output. The standard air compressor design requires frequent intensive maintenance. Some may need care every 2,000 hours, while others may need it after every 4,000 or 8,000 hours.

At these intervals, companies must have parts brought to the facility where the air compressor is located, requiring carbon-intensive shipping. Quite a number of machine parts, like seals, filters, oil, elements of the valves, and other rubber accessories, may need replacing. These parts are manufactured in energy and resource-intensive processes, which adds to the overall environmental impact of the air compressor.

If we take into account this continual maintenance for a compressor’s 15-20 year lifespan, it will result in loss in terms of downtime for the machine, a substantial cost of replacement parts, and carbon emissions. Over only three years, for example, a machine might require six maintenance sessions, costing your company a significant amount of money.

Tamturbo accomplishes unmatched efficiency and cost savings using its state-of-the-art design. Each out of three stage compression elements are mounted on constant magnet motor’s shaft and levitating in the magnetic fields using constant magnetic bearings. This unique design allows the motor to function without friction as there is no direct contact between parts.

These levitating parts allow the machine to work through its entire lifespan without maintenance. All components are designed and fabricated using materials that can stand up to decades of use without replacement.

Tamturbo machines use a high-speed permanent magnet motor and active magnetic bearings with an integrated control system that doesn’t require any maintenance over the machine’s entire lifespan because there is no wear and tear.

Tamturbo machines have 24/7 remote monitoring and control that observes the device’s functioning and makes it possible for technicians and customers to interact with the compressor. Qualified specialists at Tamturbo can make real-time adjustments to the machine, do remote intervention on various parts, and control parameters to ensure maximum efficiency.

Tamturbo uses expert human technologies and integrates AI-augmented machine learning algorithms to collect an enormous amount of operational data. This data is then used to keep compressors running at a very high intensity and give variable, on-demand compressor performance to match the ever-changing needs for compressed air in a manufacturing facility.

This system prevents many failures that plague traditional machines and allows 80-90% of all servicing to be done remotely without any compressor downtime.

Compressed air has long been a part of industrial production. People used water to move millstones and power looms from the Middle Ages through the early Industrial Revolution. Compressed air came to replace water and was often used to replace electricity to power machines. This technology was safer and easier to use and became an industry standard.

Compressed air usage is growing with an ever-expanding list of applications, both high-tech like semiconductor fabrication and lower-tech like use in fabric drying at clothing factories. Despite this, air compressors have long been inefficient and produce excess non-usable heat energy, negatively impacting companies’ operational efficiency, cost of the final products and our environment.

Tamturbo’s innovations have revolutionized the air compression industry. Our Touch-Free, Oil-Free, and Care-Free compressors uses the latest technology to save companies money and help reduce carbon emissions.

Our innovative compression technology eliminates friction, lowering initial energy demand, and our use of high-temperature materials like titanium allows the machine to run at a higher temperature allowing companies to use excess heat for other industrial applications like heating boilers.

The magnetic levitation of the compressor core does not require maintenance over the machine’s lifespan. The AI-based monitoring system not only allows for precision optimization of compressed air outflows but also for preventative steps to ensure the machine runs at peak efficiency.