National Energy Awareness Month may be over but, at American Highway, we are working year-round to reduce our company's carbon footprint, provide a better work environment for our employees and deliver a solid return on investment for our stakeholders. One of our recent Capex projects includes installing gas flow meters in our side frame machine air lines.
Every year, air leaks account for as much as 30% of a typical air compressor’s output. Even with a more energy-efficient variable speed drive (VSD) air compressor, air leaks result in the compressor working harder and longer—leading to additional energy consumption and cost. However, in a typical factory environment, leaks are hard to detect and are often overlooked or missed entirely.
Knowing this, Ken Bowen (American Highway’s maintenance manager) identified a solution that included installing gas flow meters to Kankakee’s air lines in our side frame department. The meters are already paying off by monitoring the amount of air flowing through the lines in real-time. By setting upper and lower control limits, Ken can monitor the air lines remotely and be notified of drops or increases in airflow.
Recently, a cylinder started to fail, causing a 300% increase in air consumption which was picked up by the flow meter and relayed to Ken’s office. Ken responded to the machine in question and was able to identify the failing cylinder even though the muffler system on the machine, which actively reduces decibels to the benefit of the operator, made it nearly impossible to identify audibly.
This is just one example of American Highway’s continued investment in IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) technology to enable real-time monitoring, improve our ability to accurately identify and resolve issues throughout our operations and reduce our carbon footprint. You can read about our other projects that led to an impressive reduction in energy consumption and significant cost-savings here.
