WITH THE CURRENT turmoil in the world economy and oil price volatility, many companies in the Middle East will be reflecting carefully on their investment and capital expenditure plans, seeking new savings and efficiencies. In capital investment for plant and machinery, such as air compressors, this may lead to deferrals in the normal timescale for replacing equipment.
This is an understandable response and can produce good results, as long as short term thinking does not prevail too far. First, companies looking at this option should always do a full lifetime costing analysis as, in a number of cases, the higher levels of energy efficiency achievable with a new compressor, means that a higher return on investment is available by replacing the equipment. This is especially the case when low interest rates and financing options are available. Second, it is essential that companies review their service and maintenance plans, to ensure existing equipment is operating at peak efficiency.
Remember that over a 10 year life span of the typical compressor, the capital cost and installation is only 20 per cent of the total; maintenance is just seven per cent; whereas energy costs comprise a huge 73 per cent. Compressing air can also be very wasteful if done badly. Some studies even suggest that of the total energy going into a compressor as little as eight to 10 per cent may be converted into useful energy at the point of use. Industry figures also estimate that many compressed air systems can waste up to 30 per cent of the compressed air through leaks, poor control, poor maintenance or simply having the wrong compressor for the task. Dividends Add these figures together and it is very easy to see how in some cases replacing old equipment with the latest generation of energy efficient compressors, such as CompAir’s Quantima unit, can pay for itself within a few years. It is also easy to see how better maintenance pays quick dividends. The importance of regular maintenance was highlighted by an independent test on over 300 typical compressors in the UK market, which showed that energy savings of 10 per cent were achievable through low cost maintenance activities. So it is a simple calculation to show that, if maintenance absorbs on average seven per cent of a typical machine’s 10 year cost and energy use is 73 per cent, then saving just 10 per cent on energy (ie a 7.3 per cent saving overall) through better maintenance makes the maintenance itself effectively free.
Three approaches In reality the savings may be greater than this in some plants, as the older the machine the less energy efficient it is likely to be and so the greater the impact of having a thorough maintenance programme. In addition, with OPEC’s recent output cuts reducing production capacity, businesses may find it easier to schedule in downtime, making it an ideal time to review maintenance requirements. In essence, there are three approaches to maintenance work for compressors. The first can be called reactive or breakdown maintenance, where essentially the compressor is switched on and left to its own devices until something goes wrong and then it is repaired and fixed. This was not uncommon in many Middle East plants as little as five years ago, when the trend was often to simply replace components and, although less apparent today, it can still be an issue in some plants where the compressed air is not a critical service. There are several drawbacks with this approach.
It is inevitable that the compressor will fail at the most inconvenient time and that the necessary parts will not be readily available. This can lead companies down the dangerous the repair is then an emergency, the cost of the service team’s callout time will also be higher. Energy efficiency Recognising these problems, most sensible companies have moved to a programme of planned maintenance, whereby they have a service contract with the compressor manufacturer and maintenance is carried out to an agreed schedule of work and frequency. This means the maintenance is matched to the type of machine, its application, its operating environment and also for its impact on the overall plant operation. As well as looking at normal maintenance issues such as filters, lubrication, valves etc, Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) can also include more sophisticated testing such as vibration analysis, oil sampling and analysis and even thermographic imaging to detect overheating.
PPM has many benefits in keeping compressors operating around the clock and achieving both good energy efficiency and air output efficiency. By using the OEM’ s service team and approved spare parts there are no issues over void warranties and costs are reasonably predictable for budgetary purposes. Independent surveys indicate that the introduction of a comprehensive preventative maintenance system can result in a 70-75 per cent elimination of breakdowns, a 35-45 per cent reduction in downtime as well as a productivity increase of up to 25 per cent.
However some people criticise PPM on the grounds that the scheduled service may not always be required. The machine may be working fine, the in-house engineers may have been scrupulous in monitoring the compressor and resolving the most obvious problem areas through early intervention …yet the service engineer will still turn up on schedule. Benefits That is why Predictive Maintenance, the third and latest development in maintenance, has emerged as the fastest growth area with new equipment such as the Quantima compressor. With Predictive Maintenance, the compressor is fitted with a range of monitoring and sensor devices, which are then connected to a remote monitoring/telemetry system operated by the compressor OEM.
The system then automatically monitors the compressor around the clock and can use the data to predict when maintenance is required or when a part may be under stress and could fail. The OEM service team can then be proactive in collating exactly the parts needed, visiting the site and carrying out any necessary maintenance or repair before the problem actually occurs. This system has all the benefits of PPM but ensures that maintenance is only carried out when needed.
It is, by definition, tailored and customised to fit each compressor installation. According to a recent study by the US Department of Energy, predictive maintenance can result in savings of 8-12 per cent over a programme using solely preventative maintenance. If the organisation is still using reaction-based breakdown maintenance, then savings of up to 30-40 per cent can be reached easily through the use of predictive maintenance. CompAir offers an inclusive predictive maintenance package, called Q-life, with all new Quantima compressors. Quantima was designed to feature predictive maintenance from its inception as the compressor design has no gearbox, no oil, and is engineered to deliver industryleading reliability Having only one moving part spinning in a magnetic field, the Q-drive compression assembly has its rotor and direct-driven compression elements levitated by active electromagnetic bearings to allow them to reach speeds of up to 60,000 rpm.
This results in a much quieter and more compact, variablespeed product. CompAir engineers have considered Quantima’s energy performance at every stage of the design, delivering a compressor range that has the lowest offload power consumption of any compressor on the market at just 2.5 per cent of full load power, equating to only 7Kw for a typical 300kW unit. This high energy efficiency means that customers replacing an existing compressor with a new Quantima unit can make energy savings of up to 25 per cent, reducing overall running costs dramatically.
To take just one recent application, the use of a Quantima compressor with the Q-life maintenance package has cut service costs by 64 per cent at a food processing and exporting plant in Australia. Plant managers also receive regular, detailed reports of the compressor’s overall system performance, helping to further improve plant efficiency. Summary So, in summary, given the need for economy and cost savings in many operations, it is important plant managers and engineers take a proactive and considered approach to compressor life cycles and maintenance costs. To support this, CompAir offers a free consultation service, where an engineer will assess the current compressor performance and recommend the most appropriate maintenance schedule, showing the indicative potential savings as well as the costs.
The report can also advise on the breakeven point at which it will still make financial sense to replace the machine with a new high performance unit, such as a Quantima compressor.
Siemens Energy has secured a US$130mn order to supply gas turbine packages to Saudi Arabia. The components are to be installed in the Hail Extension II and Al Qurayat Expansion II power plants. The purchasers are the Alfanar Construction Company and Saudi Services for Electromechanic Works (SSEM) respectively and they will perform the project on a turnkey basis for the Saudi Electric Company (SEC) utility. Delivery of the components is scheduled for 2010 and 2011.
Power and automation technology group, ABB, has won an order worth US$89mn from the Saudi Electricity Company to build a new substation to ensure reliable power supplies for the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. The substation will be close to the financial centre and feed four smaller substations situated within the district. The project is expected to be completed in around 22 months.
Air blowers using internal compression instead of external compression can set a new standard for energy efficiency in the low-pressure market according to a new technical whitepaper from Atlas Copco’s oil-free air division. The whitepaper explains the differences between screw technology and the traditional ‘Roots’ type lobe technology and says that screw technology, which is used in Atlas Copco's ZS screw blowers, is on average 30 per cent more energy efficient. The manufacturer recently launched its full range of ZS screw blowers that are designed to improve energy efficiency for low-pressure applications and industries such as wastewater treatment and pneumatic conveying.
Plans for the zero-carbon Masdar City project are to be revised, with details of the amended master plan to be announced “imminently” according to Masdar's head of supply-chain management, Richard Reynolds. “We’ll finalise the revised Masdar plan fairly imminently, in the next two to three weeks,” Reynolds was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “We’d only built part of it, so it made sense to stop and revisit.”
Saudi Arabia has taken the first step towards becoming energy efficient by holding its first ever public stakeholder meeting, the initial step in certifying an energy efficiency project under the rules of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), in Jeddah recently.
Power generation equipment and services supplier, Alstom, has announced the strengthening of its renewables portfolio through a partnership with BrightSource Energy Inc. Alstom's move into the high-growth solar energy market comes in the form of an investment of up to US$55mn in BrightSource Energy Inc, with an equity stake that positions Alstom as one of the main shareholders in the company. 
A high level delegation representing the energy sector in Dubai has visited China to look at the latest global practices in the area of sustainable energy and the diversification of its sources. The delegation exchanged knowledge on the usage of conventional power plant technologies (using ultra super critical power plant-coal and synthetic gas) to generate electricity and produce desalinated water.
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), a fund established by the government to aid the economic development of developing nations, has granted a loan to Bahrain worth US$50mn. The loan will be used to erect two electric transmission lines, of 220KV and 66KV each, to meet the increasing demand for electric power.
Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch (Transco) has placed an order with Siemens Energy to supply transformer substations and switchgear for the UAE power distribution network expansion project. The US$184mn order includes the turnkey supply of three 132/11 kV transformer substations and two 132/22 kV substations.
Power and automation technology group, ABB, has signed a service contract with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) to provide maintenance for equipment and systems at the Gulf Interconnection Grid's newly constructed substations. The two-year contract is worth US$8.3mn and will aim to optimise the grid's reliability through regular maintenance and provide technical and emergency assistance when required.
Abu Dhabi is considering a proposal to use solar energy equipment on rooftops in the city to generate about 500MW of power, according to the executive director at the city's Executive Affairs Authority, David Scott.
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions initiative, has appointed the bidding consortium of Total and Abengoa Solar as a partner to own, build and operate Shams 1, the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant (CSP). One of Masdar’s flagship projects and the first plant of its kind in the Middle East, Shams 1 will directly contribute towards Abu Dhabi’s target of achieving 7 per cent renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020.
Oman has awarded France's GDF Suez a US$1.7 billion contract to build two power plants. A tender board official told Reuters, “GDF Suez has signed a 15-year contract with the government in a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model for which the company will spend 700 million rials."
An executive from state oil company Saudi Aramco has said that renewable sources could account for up to 10 per cent of Saudi Arabia's power output by 2020 with prices coming down and a regulatory framework in place.
ABB, THE LEADING power and automation technology group, has won an order worth US$38mn from the Saudi Electricity Company, Saudi Arabia’s national power transmission and distribution utility, to improve the efficiency of 22 power distribution substations.
THE MIDDLE EAST has the opportunity to become a boom centre for solar energy in the next 10 years, according to AT Kearney.
THE INCANDESCENT LIGHT bulb is disappearing from stores. It has long been superseded by a new generation of light sources. In tomorrow’s multimedia society colour displays the size of an apartment will generate crystal-clear images, and entire sports stadiums will be lit by high-performance lamps.
Technical Review Middle East - Issue Three 2009 Power 60 IN THE PRESENT economic climate the fact that renewable energy can cut pollution levels may not be enough. As Phil Desmond discovers, some recent innovations in the field of cellular communications are being promoted not just as being better for the environment than conventional fuels but better for business too.
ARAMCO’S “FAIR” PRICE of US$75 a barrel has not yet been achieved but the giant Saudi economy is still surging ahead, prioritising the creation of new homes and diversified jobs in industry, social and other services to satisfy the needs of a 26mn young and wealthy population which grows at two per cent-plus every year. This means continued rapid progress on the development of the new Economic Cities, further and accelerated petrochemical and light industrial diversification, and the Middle East’s largest by far programme of dedicated passenger- and freightline rail construction. 
