Piping, Drying & Air Quality

The pipework between compressor and tools is easy to ignore because it has no motor and no bill, yet it sets a floor under the whole system's energy use. Undersized or badly routed distribution creates pressure drop; pressure drop gets compensated by raising the generation setpoint; and the 1 bar rule then charges roughly 7% of compressor energy for every bar of compensation, forever. Air treatment (drying and filtration) adds its own drops and its own running cost. This lesson covers the distribution and treatment decisions an energy manager should check.