Bombardier

Encon analyses and optimises compressed air consumption

Bombardier Transportation uses compressors for the production and maintenance of its trains. These urgently required replacement. Encon assisted the company with customised engineering.

Anyone who occasionally travels by train will probably have already sat in a Bombardier carriage. After all, this Canadian group specialises in producing and maintaining trains, locomotives, metros and trams. The group also operates in aircraft construction - mainly private jets and smaller aircraft. Bombardier employs 63,000 people worldwide. The Bombardier Transportation division has since become the world leader in the railway sector. Approximately 34,000 people work in this division. It comprises more than fifty production, maintenance and engineering sites, spread over twenty-five countries. One of these sites is located in Bruges. Bombardier Transportation has already contributed to the development of innovative transport solutions for clients from throughout Europe from here for over twenty years. Furthermore this Belgian facility offers several essential services for rolling stock, which makes it one of the most diversified Bombardier Transportation sites in Europe.

‘We use compressed air here for many different applications,’ says Marc Wuidart, plant engineering manager. ‘Among other things for hand tools, in spraying plants, for jet –blasting applications and to vacuum the trains. However, our originally installed compressors were outmoded at the energy level and so the compressed air stock was due to be replaced. Furthermore, our compressed air consumption has fallen by a quarter compared with twenty-five years ago. After all we produced everything ourselves in the past, whereas we outsource many orders today. In a nutshell, our heavy compressors were no longer fully used. Flow measurements to map the current consumption profile had therefore become a pressing matter.’

FIRST PHASE: ANALYSIS

Encon was called in to analyse, optimise and replace the compressed air stock. ‘We selected this firm because we knew that its engineering team had a great deal of expertise,’ says Wuidart. ‘Moreover, we were aware of a number of good references in the compressed air field.’ The Bombardier compressed air stock was made up of two compressor rooms. The first was equipped with two oil-free compressors which each had a capacity of 470 kilowatts. Two oil-free compressors with a capacity of 132 and 230 kilowatts respectively were installed in the other compressor room.

In a first phase Encon performed an analysis of the existing installations on the one hand and of the compressed air consumers on the other. It quickly emerged that the jet-blasting and vacuuming applications were the biggest compressed air consumers. In the jet-blasting application trains are brought to a special cabin where they are then blasted with steel granules or aluminium oxide. This process initially accounted for no less than 29 percent of the total compressed air consumption. In the vacuuming application the remaining blasting agent on the trains (which comes from the blasting cabin) is vacuumed up again or possibly blown away. That process accounted for 12 percent of the entire compressed air consumption.

SECOND PHASE: MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGN

Encon carried out an extensive measurement campaign in a second phase. This made it possible to study the compressed air profile. This was done with the help of various pressure sensors which determine the compressed air pressure (power per second) at different locations in the compressed air network. The first measurements showed that sharp pressure fluctuations existed. It was also possible to map the total compressed air consumption by using a simulation program developed by the Encon engineers. This exposed very large peaks in the consumption profile. The measurement campaigns also revealed that the compressed air leakages share amounted to twenty percent of total consumption.

So the Encon analyses made it clear that Bombardier Transportation was due to acquire new compressors. These had to be well-dimensioned based on the measurement campaign. This is why it was important to investigate the influence of the large peaks and to optimise the pressure in the network. To do this, a specific flow measurement was carried out on the jet-blasting and vacuuming application in order to define the compressed air profile.

DEFINITIVE CHOICE

Based on the measurement campaigns carried out, the pneumatic and electrical engineering and an analysis of the locations Encon sent a request for a quotation to various suppliers for the installation of new compressors (of course, in consultation with Bombardier). ‘The bids and proposals were then carefully analysed,’ says Wuidart. ‘Among other things the energy consumption of the proposed installations was closely examined via simulation programs during this analysis. In a final phase an analysis was carried out on the investment and operating costs for energy and maintenance. Bombardier finally made a decision on the supply of the new compressed air compressors based on the results. Thanks to the specific engineering in the Encon analysis we only installed compressors that consume 480 kW. As a result a saving was also made on the purchase cost of the compressed air compressors in addition to the saving on the energy consumption and compressed air consumption’.

These compressors have since entered service. Today Bombardier is still very satisfied with the cooperation with Encon. ‘We shall cooperate even more intensively in the future,’ says Wuidart. ‘After all there is still a lot of work to be done in the lighting area at our site. We have already equipped our roofs with continuous-strip roof windows, but we are also considering replacing our old high bay lighting with more modern systems. Encon’s expertise can also help us here as well.’