Setting up your compressed air system

 What setting up correctly unlocks 

Insight	Use it for	Requires
Efficiency (kWh/m³)	The headline number for your system: efficiency over time against your target and the previous period	All compressors linked, all main pipes selected
Compressor load (%)	How hard each compressor works relative to its full capacity. Read it as: 60–95% is the efficient range; sustained load near or above 100% points to a mechanical issue or a unit undersized for current demand; consistently very low load points to an oversized unit or sequencing that could be improved to save cost	Full load power per compressor
Flow against installed capacity	Capacity planning and sizing: air demand against the capacity you have installed	Installed capacity per compressor

 

 What you need

• Access to Settings → Compressed Air Settings (app.sensorfact.nl/settings/compressed-air)
• An electricity sensor on every compressor, including standby and backup units
• A flow sensor on every main pipe leaving the compressor room
• The datasheet of each compressor: total package input power and free air delivery at your working pressure
• Your internal efficiency target, if you have one

1. Select your main pipes

1. Open Settings → Compressed Air Settings.
2. Under Select your main pipe(s) from which to extract the total flow, select the flow sensor on every main pipe leaving your compressor room. Their readings are added together into your total flow.
3. Select one sensor only when the air leaves the compressor room through a single main pipe.
4. Leave these out:
   • Sub-meters on branch lines. The main pipe sensor already counts that air. Selecting both double-counts the volume and inflates your total flow.
   • Diagnostic sensors, for example a sensor at the end of a line to detect leakage in that section. Useful on their own, but not part of system output

Example 1:

Example 2: 

Example 3:

2. Link your compressors

1. Under Linked compressors, select the electricity sensor installed on the compressor.
2. Click + Add another compressor and repeat for every unit that feeds the system, including standby and backup compressors. Use the bin icon to remove a row.
3. Check Efficiency target (kWh/m³). The field is prefilled with 0.15 kWh/m³, the generally recommended benchmark. Overwrite it if you have an internally agreed target or an installation that makes a different figure realistic.
4. Enter Full load power (kW) for each compressor — see the next section.
5. Enter Installed capacity for each compressor and select the unit that matches your datasheet. Do not convert by hand.

 

2a Determine full load power

Full load power is the total electrical input power the compressor package draws at 100% capacity: the motor, its losses, and the variable speed drive where fitted. It is not the nominal power on the motor nameplate — that is mechanical shaft power and is always lower. Enter nominal power here and your compressors will appear to run above 100% load whenever they work hard.

1. Take total package input power at your working pressure from the compressor datasheet. This is the manufacturer's measured figure for the complete unit and the most accurate value available.
2. Take the figure from the nameplate, if it states input power or current draw.

Need help calculating Full load power? below the field to use the built-in calculation tool.

1. Click Need help calculating Full load power?
2. Enter Nominal power (kW) from the nameplate. Always required.
3. Set the VSD toggle correctly. A drive adds its own losses between the supply and the motor, so it changes the result.
4. Choose one efficiency input from the dropdown:
5. Click Calculate. The result fills the Full load power field. Overwrite it later if you obtain the datasheet figure.
   
   • Motor efficiency (%) — use this whenever your nameplate or datasheet states a figure. Most accurate.
   • Motor efficiency class (IE1–IE4) — the tool derives a typical efficiency for that class.
   • Manufacturing year — last resort. The tool assumes an efficiency typical for motors of that period, which can be some way off for an individual unit.

A calculated value is an estimate. Get the datasheet figure before you base a decision on the load profile — a capacity investment, a replacement, or a performance claim to a supplier.

Check your installed capacity figure

Installed capacity is the free air delivery of the compressor: the volume it produces at full capacity, at your working pressure. Confirm the datasheet figure is stated at a pressure close to the one your system actually runs at — delivery falls as pressure rises.

Fill this in for every compressor and the platform shows your actual air demand against the capacity you have installed. That is the basis for judging whether your compressor room is oversized, sized correctly, or running out of headroom.

 

 Where to look at if this doesn't work

• A KPI is empty — find the missing field in the table below.
• Efficiency looks better than expected — a compressor is missing, so total electricity is too low. Check that every unit has a linked electricity sensor, backups included.

• Efficiency looks worse than expected — a main pipe is missing, so total air volume is too low. Check that every main pipe flow sensor is selected.