The Costly Air Cannon Conundrum

Air cannons are a mission-critical cleaning device for nearly all cement plants. Their cleaning power depends upon the effective supply of compressed air. Therefore, compressed air is a mission-critical power source for nearly all cement plants.

As referenced in a previous edition of World Cement, Paul Edwards described compressed air as, “likely the most inefficient source of power in the facility. He identified leaking air cannons (which sometimes consumed 40x their projected air consumption) as a major source of waste. Furthermore, leaking air cannons clean poorly because they often fail to reach sufficient air pressure.

Most plants underestimate the financial impact of leaking air cannons. These leaks waste hundreds of thousands of dollars in compressed air and dramatically increases operational and maintenance costs due to poor cleaning. Leaking air cannons represent a million-dollar problem.

There is, however, a better way. With three simple steps, Dracyon can economise air consumption and increase cleaning efficiency. The result is millions of dollars in ROI.

Step 1: increase the volume

The first step may seem counterintuitive. Economise air consumption by increasing the size of the air tank? Yes.

The first task of any air cannon must be to clean effectively. Many air cannons fail because their air tank is too small. Air stored in the tank is energy. A larger tank increases the kinetic energy and momentum of every discharge. Countless tests have confirmed that larger tanks clean more than smaller tanks. Before considering how to reduce air leakage, plants must ensure they have enough air in the tank!

Larger tanks do not increase air leakage. Therefore, they do not increase wasted air. There is, however, more to consider. Since larger tanks apply more energy to every discharge, they increase cleaning without increasing air consumption. In fact, they use compressed air more efficiently for the following reasons:

• Increased cleaning energy means fewer discharges are needed. The more powerful blast often reduces the total number of discharge points by as much as 50%. In the article, Edwards claimed that one leaking air cannon consumed as much air as 40. 20 leaking air cannons would consume as much air as 800!
• Improved technology requires fewer air tanks. Dracyon’s multiplier system supplies air to multiple discharge points with only one tank. With fewer tanks to maintain, maintenance personnel are less likely to leave leaking cannons unaddressed.
• Increased tank size enables superior installation practices. Smaller tanks must be installed very close to the discharge point because long pipe runs reduce their cleaning power. They are often installed in places that are inaccessible for safe and regular maintenance. If any of those tanks were leaking, it would be difficult to apply online maintenance. Larger tanks, by contrast, can clean effectively with long pipe runs, enabling plants to install them in easily accessible areas. Cleaning efficiency is directly correlated to reliability. When air cannons are easily accessible for regular maintenance, they are more reliable and, therefore, more effective. It does not matter how effective an air cannon is if it does not work!

Though it may seem counterintuitive, larger tanks are the first step to economising air consumption and increasing cleaning efficiency. It all starts with the increase in cleaning energy. This enables plants to clean with fewer discharges, extended pipe runs, and superior installation practices, all while dramatically increasing material movement.

Step 2: fill and fire

Step one may have been a bit counterintuitive, but step two is just common sense. The prevailing practice in the cement industry is to refill the air cannon immediately after its discharge. This practice stores air and maximises wasted air through leaks. It is irresponsible due to safety concerns and financial waste:

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/special-reports/09042025/the-costly-air-cannon-conundrum/