Compressed air has become vital for operations in many industries and is used for a variety of purposes. It is used in electronics manufacturing for processes that are sensitive to contamination, in food and beverage production for packaging and conveying food, and in the medical sector to provide clean breathing air and power medical equipment. While compressed air is necessary, it is also energy-intensive. Companies can improve efficiency and reduce costs by optimizing their compressed air systems through leak detection and repair, pressure adjustments, and use of variable speed compressors. BOGE Kompressoren provides compressed air solutions and recommends system optimization strategies to help customers reduce energy use and costs.

1. 32 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER November 2016
UTILITIES ENGINEERING
APPLICATIONS FOR
COMPRESSED AIR
After water, gas, and electricity, com-
pressed air, also known as ‘the fourth
utility’, is an essential element to mil-
lions of businesses around the world.
The main sectors reliant on com-
pressed and pressurised air include
the electronics, food, medical, plastics,
steel, construction, environment and
recycling, automotive, oil & gas, and
chemical industries.
Electronics and Manufacturing
In purity-critical compressed air ap-
plications in the manufacturing sec-
tor, where air comes into contact
with the production process, such as
in pharmaceutical manufacturing and
packaging, chemical and petrochemi-
cal processing, semiconductor and
electronics manufacturing, automotive
paint spraying and textile manufactur-
ing, contamination of the air, by even
the smallest quantities of oil, can re-
sult in damaged products or product
batches, high rejection rates and costly
production downtime and cleanup.
In order to overcome these issues,
oil-free compressed air has become
vital for day-to-day operations in
these industries.
Food and Beverage
Modern food facilities rely on com-
pressed air in their manufacturing pro-
cesses. Oil-free compressors can be
used in direct contact with the product,
while oil lubricated compressors can
be used in packaging processes and in
the operation of production machin-
ery such as filling machines and pumps,
or in the generation of other gases.
For example, compressed air gener-
ates the vacuum used in the packag-
ing process and is used in conveying
systems to move food and ingredients.
For PET bottle-blowing, high pressure
oil-free compressed air is fed into the
bottle blower machine moulds where
preforms are heated and the plastic is
stretched to form the bottle.
Medical and Healthcare
Every hospital is equipped with air
compressors for medical air. Hos-
pitals use two distinct compressed
air systems, supplying medical air for
patients and equipment, and techni-
cal air that is used for maintenance
around the facility. Compressed air
systems must comply with a range
of statutory requirements and stan-
dards, to ensure clean breathing air is
available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.
Power and transportation
Power companies use air compres-
sors to start engines. Last year, BOGE
launched its marine product range for
the shipping sector. BOGE’s starting air
piston compressors provide a constant
supply of compressed air to start up
diesel engines. To prevent methane-
emitting freight from causing damage
to cargo tanks, ships require nitrogen
on-board to keep the dew point of its
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel to
minus 40° C. BOGE’s nitrogen genera-
tors in the marine range provide a con-
sistent supply to achieve this and prevent
the gas from reacting with water vapour.
Construction
In the civil engineering and construc-
tion fields, compressed air is used for
powering various air tools and for pres-
surised transportation of soil and sewer
water etc.
COST-COMPETITIVE AND
SUSTAINABLE COMPRESSED
AIR SYSTEMS
While compressed air has become
an indispensable commodity in indus-
try and other areas, it remains both
energy- and cost-intensive. Energy
accounts for 75% of a system’s life-
cycle costs. Normally, the larger the
system and the longer the operating
hours, the higher this percentage will
be. Fortunately, compressed air is one
technology where businesses can im-
prove efficiency and thereby reduce
associated energy expenditure.
Through expert consultations, for
example, comprehensive audits of
businesses’ compressed air demands
can be made, and all components
can then be synchronised accordingly.
Where appropriate, BOGE advises
users to invest in a frequency con-
trolled compressor that adapts to
demand fluctuations, while produc-
ing the required volume at a constant
pressure.
Cautious users tend to run their
systems at a higher pressure, but are
unaware that for every bar of extra
pressure, energy requirements in-
crease by 6%. Identifying lead times
and idle times of various compres-
Compressed air - a necessary input with
wide-ranging uses
Mr Nalin Amunugama, General Manager, BOGE Kompressoren Asia Pacific, Singapore,
explains the importance of compressed air in the industrial as well as healthcare sectors, and
touches on some of the contributions made by his company in this field of engineering.
Mr Nalin Amunugama

2. 33November 2016 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
UTILITIES ENGINEERING
sors will also enable users to coordi-
nate their systems so as to maximise
capacity utilisation. Early detection
and controlling of leaks, on the other
hand, prevent further energy wastage.
Intelligent control systems typi-
cally prove to be reliable solutions.
With the BOGE airstatus system, for
instance, users have constant access
to an overview of the process values
of compressed air devices (includ-
ing temperature, pressure, operating
hours, idle hours and servicing sta-
tus). Not only can the measured data
be called up, graphically displayed,
and evaluated at any time via a PC
or smartphone, or using the BOGE
app, the airstatus also provides infor-
mation via text messages or emails, if
faults occur or defined parameters
are breached. This effectively short-
ens the response time in eliminating
‘efficiency killers’.
BOGE recently introduced its high-
speed turbo (HST) technology. The
HST compressors are significantly
smaller and lighter, requiring the use
of fewer components which are,
however, of high quality, to ensure
minimal wear (and lower attendant
maintenance costs), as well as in-
creased longevity.
With the new design, efficiency
values are also ramped up. This is
most evident in the compressor’s
idle mode where the energy re-
quired is below 1.9% of the rated
power, partly due to the exclusion
of an energy-consuming fan motor.
The integrated frequency inverters
installed in the compressors also al-
low the volume flow rate to be ad-
justed to specific compressed air de-
mands, cutting back on wastage and
energy consumption, while promis-
ing a reliable supply of Class 0 oil-
free compressed air.The advantages
of HST compressors are particularly
salient in sensitive production areas,
as found in chemical, pharmaceutical,
food, beverage and semiconductor
industries.
More than just an economic issue,
energy optimisation is also an eco-
logical necessity. BOGE recognises
the importance of recycling energy
and offers innovative heat recov-
ery options that help businesses put
generated heat to use in other ways,
such as in heating domestic or circuit
water, or for process support. Often,
such simple and relevant changes -
whether harnessing waste energy
or minimising plant inactivity - bring
considerable benefits to both the en-
vironment and the budgets of busi-
nesses, including cutting energy costs
by at least 30%.
BOGE KOMPRESSOREN
BOGE KOMPRESSOREN, founded
in 1907 in the German city of Biele-
feld, has over 100 years of history as
a leading manufacturer of air com-
pressors, such as high-speed turbo
compressors, screw compressors
and scroll compressors, to complete
systems and individual devices. To-
day, with more than 200 branch of-
fices and service partners worldwide,
BOGE is represented in more than
120 countries.
The BOGE Asia Pacific office was
opened in Singapore, in 1996, to ca-
BOGE's HST control system can be adjusted to specific compressed air demands, cutting back on waste and
energy consumption.
Compressed air has become vital for day-to-day operations in most industries including the automotive sector.

3. 34 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER November 2016
UTILITIES ENGINEERING
ter to the rapidly developing Asian
market - the first office to be opened
by BOGE outside of Europe. In 2003,
BOGE set up a plant in Shanghai to
develop and manufacture products for
sale in China, India and Southeast Asia.
The Asia Pacific office is responsible
for markets in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam,
South Korea, Philippines,Taiwan, Japan,
Myanmar, Singapore and Indochina.
The Singapore office also manages the
subsidiaries in India and Australia.
BOGE’s activities include sales and
marketing, distributorship develop-
ment, and consultancy services. Ear-
lier this year, BOGE supplied its prod-
ucts to a company inTarjun, Indonesia,
for the manufacture of biodiesel with
crude palm oil.
Products and solutions
With the increase in compressed air
applications and the growth of the
Asian market, investing in research
and development has become a fun-
damental part of our continual efforts
to introduce cutting-edge innovations.
Presently, the BOGE product range in-
cludes powerful screw and piston com-
pressors, compressed air filtration and
treatment systems, as well as energy-
efficient solutions. BOGE also manufac-
tures a complementary range of filters,
dryers and condensate management
equipment.
A key feature of every BOGE com-
pressor is the compact design that
serves to minimise flow losses, while
high quality air-ends optimise produc-
tivity while reducing energy usage.The
award-winning S-series range of BOGE
screw compressors incorporates an
uncluttered cabinet layout and ensures
reliable daily operation. All oil-carrying
pipes are made of steel and come with
joints that are leak-proof and safe, even
under high pressures. Standard S-series
components are also assembled into
one stand-alone package, to reduce
footprint size and eliminate installation
costs.
While the S-series is ideal for the
operation of larger volumes of air, the
C series is suited to small businesses,ga-
rages and workshops, due to its space-
saving and quiet screw compressors
(up to 22 kW).All the necessary com-
ponents are neatly integrated into the
air-end block,instead of having separate
oil/air separation vessels that require
annual third-party certifications.
In healthcare, the need to categorise
compressed air into medical air and
technical air means that two very dis-
tinct compressed air systems operate
concurrently. Although the same type
of compressor can be used for all com-
pressed air requirements, the main vari-
ant is the specific software coordinating
these compressors. In this case, BOGE
offers the right technologies that not
only deliver the appropriate redundancy
and availability for breathing air, but also
keep the total cost of maintenance and
energy consumption low.In the shipping
industry,BOGE’s marine systems are de-
signed to be put to work immediately.
These compressors deliver constantly
high pressures and can withstand soar-
ing ambient temperatures, while their
low speed makes them durable, even in
the tough conditions in the oceans.
As we embrace the digitalisation of
industry,diagnostics tools such as remote
monitoring will continue to facilitate hu-
man-machine communications. BOGE’s
condition monitoring tools provide us-
ers with real-time access to their systems’
data on their mobile devices,thus facilitat-
ing the digitalised coordination of the en-
tire maintenance process.
Effectively, our solutions promise
flexibility and adaptability. Production
companies,like those in the food indus-
try, turn to BOGE for individually de-
signed installations for the manufacture
of PET bottles,for example.Meanwhile,
those with special compressed air qual-
ity requirements will find a match in our
innovative, oil-free compressor range.
And for users facing space constraints,
the compact design of a great number
of our compressors becomes an es-
sential feature. BOGE’s customisation
ensures that compressors are propor-
tionately dimensioned relative to spe-
cific air demands.BOGE plans,develops
and installs systems capable of deliver-
ing safe and efficient compressed air for
a range of temporary and permanent
supply requirements.
A recent achievement
Our German engineers were chal-
lenged to come up with an optimum
performance screw compressor for the
110 kW to 160 kW power range.The
aim was to develop a screw compres-
sor that would be the ‘best in class’ for
its low absorbed power, low noise lev-
els and price competitiveness.We have
accordingly developed a compressor
with specific power less than 5.9 kW/
m3
/min, as part of the fourth genera-
tion S-4 Series which will be introduced
to the market in the beginning of 2017.
With this success, we hope to extend
the S-4 series to the 55 kW to 110 kW
power class, by 2018.
Compressed air buffers and medical compressed air treatment systems are designed with triple redundancy to
guarantee a reliable supply.