Shell saves well with Thorite compressor system 26 October 2012

Shell Lubricants' manufacturing plant at Stanlow, near Ellesmere Port, is reporting increased efficiency and excellent air quality from an upgraded compressor system.

Chris Turner, Shell Chemicals' engineering project manager, explains that the firm was concerned that existing compressors and dessicant dryers were being asked to operate beyond their service life.

Hence, Shell called in Thorite for help and advice on installing energy-efficient pneumatic equipment.

Thorite's power logging indicated that the three existing compressors, each supported by a dessicant dryer, were operating far from efficiently.

However, Shell Lubricants demands high standards of purity from its compressed air, so it was vital that any new equipment could meet or exceed these standards.

Thorite's solution was to install a high efficiency HPC DSD202SFC oil-flooded, variable speed compressor, sufficiently powerful to run the main plant under all load demands, but supported by two of the original compressors for emergency backup.

The firm also installed an intelligent HPC Hybritec Dryer to replace the existing three dessicant dryers. Its control system allows either the refrigerant or dessicant dryers to maintain a set dewpoint, providing minimal power consumption combined with high purity.

Thorite also installed a SAM4 controller with visualisation, which gives Shell's engineers remote access and demonstrates that the new fluid power system is optimising energy.

"The new compressed air generation system not only offers outstanding quality, but also gives us great peace of mind," comments Turner.

"Better still, it is well on track to provide energy cost savings of around $70K per year."

Brian Tinham

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