Find and fix costly air leaks without stopping production
Compressed air is expensive to make, and a surprising amount of it never reaches the tool it was meant for. The US Department of Energy says that in a plant with no leak program, as much as 20 to 30 percent of compressor output can escape through leaks. You cannot see it, and over the noise of a plant floor you often cannot hear it either, but it shows up every month on the power bill.
Newton Industrial Solutions finds those leaks for North Carolina plants. Our technicians use ultrasonic equipment to pinpoint each one, then tell you how big it is, what it costs you per year, and which ones to fix first.
We work from Greenville, SC, about 90 minutes from Charlotte, and we survey while your system runs as normal. No shutdown and no lost production. It is the same approach we use in South Carolina and Georgia, and you can read more on our compressed gas leak survey page.
Up to 30% of compressor output can leak away (US DOE) | No shutdown we survey during normal production | Ranked list every leak costed, biggest savings first |
What you receive
- A scan of your piping, fittings, hoses, couplings, regulators, drains and the equipment that uses the air
- A numbered tag on every leak, with its location and a photo
- An estimate of how much air each leak is losing
- The yearly cost of each leak, based on your electricity rate and operating hours
- A repair list ranked by savings, so the biggest wins come first
- A short summary your maintenance manager can take to management
What a leak really costs
Size matters more than most people expect. At 100 psi, a 1/8-inch hole loses roughly 25 cubic feet of air per minute (cfm). Make it 1/4 inch and the loss is about four times that. To turn that into dollars, multiply the air lost by what it costs to compress each cubic foot, the hours you run, and your electricity rate. We do that math for every leak we tag, using your own numbers.
Hole size (at 100 psi) | Approximate air loss |
1/16 inch | about 6 cfm |
1/8 inch | about 25 cfm |
1/4 inch | about 100 cfm |
These figures are approximate and change with the shape of the hole and the pressure.
How the survey works
- We review your system. We look at your layout, operating pressure and compressors, and decide where to start.
- We scan it. With the system running normally, we use ultrasonic equipment that picks up the high-pitched sound of escaping air, even in a noisy plant.
- We tag and size each leak. Every leak gets a tag, a photo, a size estimate and a yearly cost.
- You get a ranked report. You receive the full leak list, the total estimated loss, and a repair order based on savings.
Where we work in North Carolina
Our surveys cover plants across the state:
Charlotte area: Charlotte, Gastonia, Concord, Kannapolis, Hickory and Statesville
The Triad: Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem and Burlington
The Triangle: Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill
Western NC: Asheville and Hendersonville
By arrangement: Fayetteville, Wilmington and Rocky Mount
Western NC is about an hour from our base, and Charlotte about 90 minutes. The Triad and the Triangle are roughly three hours or more, so we schedule those trips ahead of time and combine services where we can, which keeps your costs down.
Who this helps
- Automotive suppliers and metal fabricators, where pneumatic tools, presses and assembly lines use a lot of air
- Textile and furniture plants, which use compressed air across the whole facility
- Food and beverage plants, where air is used for packaging and conveying (see our food and beverage page)
- Plastics, chemical and packaging plants, where air runs process control and actuators
Combine it with a steam trap survey or oil analysis
If your plant runs both steam and compressed air, it often makes sense to survey both in one visit. See our steam trap survey for North Carolina and our oil analysis program for North Carolina. Doing them together saves travel and gives you one clear picture of where the plant is losing energy.
Questions we often hear
Do you offer compressed air leak surveys in North Carolina?
Yes. We carry out ultrasonic compressed air leak surveys for manufacturing plants across North Carolina, from the Charlotte area to the Triad, the Triangle and Western NC.
Do we have to shut anything down?
No. We survey with the system running at normal pressure. In fact we need it that way, because a leak only makes noise while air is escaping.
How long does a survey take?
For most plants, one to two days on site, depending on the size of the system. You then receive a written report with the ranked leak list.
How much could we save?
It depends on how many leaks you have, how big they are, how many hours you run and what you pay for power. The Department of Energy says unmanaged systems can lose as much as 20 to 30 percent of compressor output, while well-run ones lose far less. Our survey puts a dollar figure on each leak in your plant.
Can you combine this with a steam trap survey?
Yes. Both surveys happen while the plant is running, so we can do them in one visit and save you the extra trip. See our steam trap survey for North Carolina.
Ready to find out what your leaks are costing you?
Tell us where your plant is and a little about your compressed air setup, and we will take it from there.
Call: 864-432-3510
Email: info@newtoninds.com