AFMC Command News

Upgrade already saving more than $534K annually

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  A project to replace the original compressed air supply system at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center is nearing completion and is already paying significant dividends, literally, according to an AEDC project manager.

"Add this energy savings to the money saved by not having to constantly repair and maintain the old system and we end up with over $534,000 saved each year," said Fred Hutchinson, a project manager for Aerospace Testing Alliance's project and design engineering department here. "This new system costs $345,000 a year in energy to operate and has reduced the maintenance cost to $65,000. That yearly energy savings grows every year as the cost of energy increases, and we recognize this perpetual increase in savings for the entire life of the system."

Mr. Hutchinson said that to appreciate those savings, it helps to know how much the system cost before the upgrades.

"The most current figures we have are from 2009," he said. "At that time our old system was costing us almost $800,000 a year in energy to operate. Maintenance cost added another $150,000. The energy savings we are already seeing with the new system will translate into a system that pays for itself in just a few years."

Mr. Hutchinson said understanding the role the service air system plays at a place like AEDC also helps put the cost of the upgrade and the resulting savings into perspective.

"What began decades ago as a need for compressed air to power the pneumatic tools in shops scattered around the base has grown to serve the test cells whose demand and volume of air needed far surpasses the shop needs," he explained. "As AEDC grew so did its need for compressed air, especially in the test cells where it is used for everything from running drills, to floating jet engines into the test cell on a cushion of air, to the huge amounts needed to crank up a jet engine. Simply put, if we didn't have this compressed air, we wouldn't be in business."

Mr. Hutchinson said the old system used a lot of energy, both from its inefficient use of electricity to drive huge compressor motors and the need to 'bleed off' a great deal of compressed air that it couldn't use.

"It's not quite this simple, but picture a compressor the size of a tractor trailer cranking up just so someone could put air in a tire," he said. "The old system was 'big' because sometimes we needed big. But when we only needed a little, we still got 'big.'"

So, what is the status of the project today?

"We currently have about 75 percent of our new system installed and up and running," Mr. Hutchinson said. "We're ready to enter the final stage of installation that will bring this project to completion near the end of 2011. But we don't have to wait until completion to start recognizing our energy savings. Our engineers who designed this system allowed for each package to be brought on line individually so that we could start using each new set of compressors as they were installed."

Mr. Hutchinson is clearly proud of what has already been accomplished on base.

"As a result of that forward thinking, the older, energy-inefficient compressors have been turned off and will not be used unless a large demand is called for prior to our final installation next year," he said. "What that means for us today is that we've been able to rely on our new energy efficient system for about 90 percent of our need over the past two years. And when completed by the end of 2011, the American taxpayers will be able to recognize some serious energy cost savings."