With regard to pneumatic systems, the single largest cost in any plant is - LEAKS. Walk through any plant, paying attention to your ears. You will hear, EVERYWHERE, the hiss of leaking compressed air. That sound is money being literally thrown away.
If one wants to save energy, reduce consumption, then the leaks must be found and fixed. Only after the plant floor stops hissing would optimizing the pneumatic system for efficiency make sense.
It's analogous to proper tire pressure and fuel economy. Keeping tires properly inflated is probably the simplest way to improve fuel economy, but is the most ignored.
Pneumatic component suppliers are painfully aware of the leak issue, TJ. But while they've improved on the problem, they still haven't eliminated it, even after many years of trying.
Seems like this is a problem that could be fixed without getting fancy, TJ. But again, I may be mistaken. Is the solution more expensive than the inefficiencies of the problem?
The solution can be as easy as some pipe sealant paste or tape, or repairing/replacing a cracked hose. A single 1-mm air leak can cost $200 / year (based on calculations found on the net). One leak may not sound like much, but even a small plant will have multiple leaks. Just 5 is a $1000 per year, and that is if they're as small as 1 mm.
Sounds like the cost of a repair would pay for itself, TJ. As for sounds in plants, I've heard some complaints from baby boomer plant managers who say that the young engineers coming into the workforce rely too much on computer technology and they're not learning to tell the health of the plant by sound and vibration.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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