For the UK and much of the EU, the cost of energy has almost doubled from this time in 2021, with prices now at 34.0p/kWh (versus just 18.9p/kWh in 2021). That’s 179% higher. In fact, gas prices have increased in 23 of the 24 EU Member States for which data are available, with the biggest jumps after the UK being seen in Estonia (+154%), Lithuania (+110%) and Bulgaria (+108%). This begs the question ‘how can energy-intensive industries survive in this climate?’ With large-scale industrial processes driven largely by compressors and vacuum pumps to operate machines and transport assets, that’s a critical question.
The answer is of course to look at your outgoings and real, tangible ways to cut expenditure on the factory floor. One way that is rapidly picking up traction among manufacturers across the breadth of the EU is to detect air leaks through acoustic imaging.
Why are air leaks so expensive?
Take, for example, a compressed air leak from a small hole of just 1.5 millimetres on a network of compressed air at seven bars of pressure. Two years ago, with a price of €0.07 per kilowatt hour, that alone would have cost a company roughly €1500 (£1300) if you assume an operating time of 6000 hours per year.
Of course, now the energy situation is worsening, which means that costs may be three, four, even five times higher in some cases – which could be a cost of up to £7500 a year for failing to identify a single small hole in a vital production component.
Driving down energy bills with the FLIR Si124 range
Newer acoustic imaging camera models such as the FLIR Si124 use a number of high-spec audible and ultrasound microphones to detect air leaks as they appear and boast an optimal bandwidth range of 2 – 65 kHz. This range yields unmatched detection accuracy and identification down to even the smallest breach.
If you’re a manufacturer struggling with the rising cost of energy, explore the new si124 range now to radically improve inspections in your facility.
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