The aim of the Green Carbody Technologies innovation alliance (InnoCaT) was to save up to 50% of energy in the production of a motor car. In the sub-project ‘Planning the efficient use of compressed air’, Festo investigated compressed air applications in car body manufacturing together with project partners. Measurements and planning tools have shown that energy savings of up to 35% are possible. This is the first time that data on the use of compressed air in automotive production has been collated. The results were presented at the third Resource Efficient Production Congress in Leipzig.
The InnoCaT 1.2.2 subproject sets out to co-ordinate the use of compressed air on the part of manufacturers and consumers, and thus save energy. This involved co-operation between the company Boge Kompressoren Otto Boge, the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU), the automotive manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) and the automation specialist and subproject co-ordinator Festo. The relevant parameters were grouped together in a planning guideline of this three-year research project, in order to reduce the consumption of compressed air in body manufacture and to increase energy efficiency.
At the beginning of the subproject the following data were measured: energy consumption at production hall level, compressed air generation and distribution at plant and production hall levels, and compressed air consumption at system and component levels. Three software tools were developed in parallel to this. The first enables the distribution and generation of compressed air to be holistically analysed and optimally dimensioned. By means of the second tool, energy consumption can be estimated and the system life-cycle costs (TCO) calculated. The third tool facilitates the exchange of planning data on compressed air systems among various software applications.
Conventional body manufacture typically makes use of pneumatic components such as maintenance units, valves and valve terminals, clamp- and pin-pulling cylinders and servo-pneumatic welding tongs. Data and tools which would make energy consumption transparent have hitherto been lacking. In the process chain from the generation and distribution up to the use of compressed air, the planning process has only been co-ordinated to a limited extent; this precluded a holistic treatment of energy efficiency and the implementation of sustainable measures. The results from subproject InnoCaT 1.2.2 have yielded specific figures and suggested specific measures.
Although compressed air in body manufacture accounts for only 3,7% of overall energy consumption at the reference plant defined in the InnoCat project, the potential for up to 35% energy savings corresponds to an annual consumption of no less than 2232 megawatt-hours, or 1257 tonnes of CO2 equivalent at a standard production plant. These savings can be realised at reasonable cost and are easily attainable for new facilities by means of appropriate planning.
When judiciously used, pneumatic drive technology in body-in-white manufacture is a highly cost-effective technology characterised by speed, simplicity, cleanliness and overload protection. The full savings potential can only be exploited, however, when the entire functional chain is taken into account – from the generation and distribution of compressed air up to its application – over the entire life cycle. Festo produces both pneumatic and electric drive technology and offers its customers the most suitable energy-efficient and thus cost-effective solution for their specific application.
The Green Carbody Technologies innovation alliance is a consortium of 60 companies and research institutes in Germany. In this network, companies from the German supply and equipment industries develop new technologies, processes and tools for car body manufacture together with system partners, OEMs from the automotive industry and scientists.
For more information contact Tracey Swart, Festo, 08600 FESTO, [email protected], www.festo.com
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