A successful collaboration bet-ween AIM Enterprises Ltd and the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Malta was established during the past academic year to strive for a more sustainable future through industrial compressed air systems.

Dr Ing. Paul Refalo and Dr Ing. Emmanuel Francalanza have together supervised the final year engineering project of Kyle Abela, supported by AIM Enterprises Ltd, a leading supplier of automation components.

The project resulted in the design and construction of a compressed air system to act as a test bed in order to highlight the unsustainable effects associated with typical compressed air shortcomings found in industry.

Industrial manufacturing companies are recognising the financial, environmental and reputational benefits of meeting sus- tainable targets in waste, and excessive energy consumption.

A close relationship between academic institutions and industrial partners is beneficial to all

Compressed air systems, widely used in manufacturing automation and assembly, as well as inspection equipment, provide a significant improvement opportunity in this regard. Typical systems have a very low output efficiency of 10 to 12 per cent, with around half of the available compressed air lost due to leakages, inappropriate use and artificial demand (excessive system pressure). For this reason, compressed air systems comprise a growing field of research and innovation in both the academic and commercial sectors.

Preliminary tests carried out using the developed test bed show that fixing just one simple 1mm leak in a compressed air pipe saves around 1,600kWh of electrical energy a year, which costs about 190 euros annually, as well as resulting in 720kg of carbon dioxide emissions.

A typical compressed air network in a factory can have tens of unnoticed leakages.

“This partnership shows that a close relationship between academic institutions and industrial partners is beneficial to all parties involved,” technical sales engineer for AIM Enterprises Ltd Ing. Alistair Ciantar said.

“This test bed will give us the possibility to look further  into the impacts which various compressed air uses would have on sustainability.”

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