Assessment of the Market for Compressed Air Efficiency Services

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THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE MARKETThis finding is consistent with the distribution of the national list by numberof employees. The relatively large size of the companies should bekept in mind when interpreting other evaluation results.Total Compressed Air System Horsepower. Table 2-4 displays the distributionby SIC and another measure of size, self-reported compressorhorsepower. Again, most interviewed establishments fall into the mediumrange here as well.Hours of System Operation. The findings from both this study and thePG&E survey indicate that compressed air systems generally have veryheavy hours of operation. Table 2-5 shows self-reported hours of operationfrom customers to the Compressed Air Market Assessment and the PG&Esurvey. Sixty-three percent of the customers to this assessment reportedthat they run their compressed air systems more than 80 hours per week,as did 45% of the respondents to the PG&E survey. Nearly a quarter of thoseinterviewed during this assessment reported that their compressed airsystems run continually, as did 17% of the PG&E respondents. This highlevel of use suggests the importance of the compressed air systems insupporting overall manufacturing operations, as well as the importance ofhigh-quality system management and maintenance in realizing energysavings.Incidence of Compressed Air Systems. In an effort to learn more aboutthe presence or absence of compressed air systems in different industries,the assessment research firm recorded the number of establishmentsthat were screened out because they did not use compressed air systemsin their facilities. This screening question was posed to the contact fromthe subscription list or, if that person no longer worked at the facility, theplant manager, plant engineer, or maintenance manager. We are thereforeconfident that the customer could accurately answer whether thefacility had a compressed air system. Table 2-6 displays the results ofthis screening. Given the small size in each industry, the results cannotbe extrapolated to the population. However, the results closely resemblethose of the Motor Market Assessment, which found that 18% of allmanufacturing plants have no compressed air systems.Sixty-three percentof the customers tothis assessmentreported that theyrun their compressedair systems more than80 hours per week....Compressed Air System ManagementPosition of Person with Responsibility for Compressed Air SystemManagement. Maintenance Managers are responsible for the managementof compressed air systems in nearly two-thirds of the establishmentsassessed (See Table 2-7). Plant engineers and plant managers are responsiblein most of the remaining establishments. This suggests that compressedair system management is considered more as a maintenance functionand is not generally tied to decision-making on capital improvements.Objectives of Compressed Air System Management. Table 2-8shows customers’ responses to open-ended questions regarding theirobjectives in managing compressed air systems. Control of energycosts ranks very low among the objectives for managing compressed airsystems. Without prompting, just 9% of customers mentioned energyefficiency as their primary system management objective; only 22%mentioned efficiency at all as a system management objective.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY17
TABLE 2-6: Customers Screened Out by SICCompressed Air Market AssessmentSIC/Industry Group Number % Screened Out perScreened OutContact Reached20 Food and Kindred Products 3 13%22 Textile Mill Products 3 13%23 Apparel and Other Textile Products 6 23%26 Paper and Allied Products 6 23%28 Chemicals and Allied Products 2 9%29 Petroleum and Coal Products 7 24%30 Rubber and Miscellaneous Plastics Products 3 13%32 Stone, Clay, and Glass Products 3 13%33 Primary Metal Industries 1 5%34 Fabricated Metal Products 3 13%36 Electronic and Other Electric Equipment 3 13%Total 40 15%Maintaining continuous operation and ensuring an adequate supply ofair were the objectives mentioned most frequently by customers (71%of first mentions). This finding indicates the importance of system reliabilityas a customer value in promoting system efficiency services.Incidence of Compressed Air System Problems. Despite the orientationof compressed air system management activities towards the maintenanceof continuous operation, most companies reported incidentsof unscheduled downtime. Thirty-five percent of customers reportedthat their systems had experienced unscheduled downtime during theprevious 12 months. For 60% of these establishments, or 21% of allestablishments, the system was down for 2 or more workdays.Two-thirds of customers reported experiencing potentially serious problemsin compressed air system operations during the past year. Themost often cited problems were excess moisture in the compressed airand inadequate pressure, both within the system as a whole and atspecific points (See Table 2-9).Customer Knowledge of Compressed Air SystemEnergy Use and Efficiency Opportunities18U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGYThe survey conducted for this report did not probe customers’ knowledgeabout specific operating attributes of their compressed air systems.However, the survey conducted for PG&E did cover this topic. Thatstudy found that operators’ knowledge of fundamental aspects of compressedair system operations was very low. For example:• Over one-half of survey respondents did not know the dischargecapacity of their compressor(s). Additionally, over 40% of respondents
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Assessment of the Market for Compressed Air Efficiency Services

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