Varitech Inc.

Simply put, compressed air management controls manage your compressed air system, so you don’t have to. Like any good manager, they ensure demand is met, effectively and efficiently.

Think of your compressed air system as your company’s power plant. No, it does not generate electricity, but it does produce one of your most important and costly energy sources in your plant. Without compressed air, most production would simply halt. Unlike power plants, most compressed air systems operate for hours unchecked and/or without anyone really knowing what’s going on. Most compressed air problems are found after production is crippled… Do you want to leave your power plant unchecked?

In an ideal world, plant air usage is steady and the compressors are perfectly sized to meet the demand. However in the real world, plant air usage is often very unstable, creating large dips in plant supply pressure. The most common solution to these dips has been to increase the pressure and/or add compressors. The higher pressure and/or extra compressors enables the air system to meet the demand during usage spikes, but also causes the plant supply pressure to rise during normal or low usage periods. While this method seems harmless, the excess energy cost is dramatic, not to mention, many production and quality problems are directly linked to the fluctuating plant air pressure… Does this sound familiar?

Good compressed air management controls correct these problems and more.

To efficiently meet unstable demand, ClevAir™ control systems utilize a Base/Trim compressor arrangement, a proportional valve that acts as a pressure/flow controller, rate-of-change calculations, and algorithms that predict the need to start additional compressors. The base compressors feed the plant supply header directly at the minimum pressure necessary for plant operation, while one to four trim compressors supply storage at a higher pressure. The proportional valve isolates storage from the plant, which significantly increases usable stored air and allows most demand spikes to be satisfied with stored air instead of online horsepower. Compressor start, stop, load and unload commands are assumed by the ClevAir™ Control System. The result is near-constant supply pressure regardless of demand changes while running only the compressors needed in an energy efficient manner.

The ClevAir™ line was designed with ease of use, upgrade ability, and low cost in mind. On top of that, our products are packed with standard features like…

Modular design: ClevAir™’s modular design accommodates expansion and means you only purchase what you need, not what you may someday need.

Touch screen interface: The master site controller comes with a user-friendly color touch screen interface that makes system setup and changes a snap. It’s so simple a child can do it, but thanks to the tiered password levels they won’t. Whether it’s the first time or you’re returning to your compressed air system from a long break, you will appreciate navigating the easy to follow screens.

The color touch screen also provides an overview of the compressed air system. You can monitor everything from pressure, to flow-per-kilowatt and view the status of all your compressors from one central location. A graphical chart is provided for data trending. It provides a 12-hour history, enabling you to track demand throughout a shift. It is a great troubleshooting tool that can be used to justify compressed air needs or help you get to the bottom of air supply complaints. Our experience has shown the 12-hour history coupled with the properly managed compressed air system all but eliminates false complaints. Your plant engineers, managers and maintenance personnel will no longer waste time chasing down bogus air supply complaints.

Programmable: The ClevAir™ systems provide many user programmable set points. We find that after plant engineers get a better understanding of the ClevAir™ system operation and benefits, they are able to fine tune them to their specific needs. Very often they are able to reduce their system pressure to a lower value than they ever thought possible.

Networking: When it comes to communications, we raised the bar. ClevAir™ uses standard Ethernet protocol, bringing you into the now and taking you into the future. The benefits of using standard Ethernet protocols are almost limitless. You can go wireless or even see your compressed air system running in real time from across the globe. The master site controller includes a 16 port industrial Ethernet switch, giving ClevAir™ the ability to run as is, on a stand-alone network. It also provides an easy connection point for your existing network, which allows you to uplink compressors and/or remote interfaces throughout your plant, without the hassle of running a new network.

Compatibility: The compressor interface panels are compatible with nearly all makes of compressors. Specific compressor interface drawings are included which makes installation clear, concise, and hassle-free. That means you can put them on your old, new, and if need be, your replacement compressors with ease.

Plug and play: The plug and play features provide easy upgrades for the options we offer. It also means easy, low cost repairs. Although, our components and equipment are the highest quality and are extremely rugged, the industrial climate provides many instances where damage can occur. We kept this in mind. In most cases you can replace components yourself, in seconds.

Maintenance: Although, our components and equipment need little maintenance, we know the equipment they control does. We took that into account in our design. We have an OEM/Auto selector switch on each interface panel. It places the compressors on and off the system with ease. When a switch is placed in OEM, the compressor will function as if the controls were never there. When switched back to auto, the ClevAir™ system will automatically assume control of the compressor as if nothing happened. This allows plant and outside maintenance personnel the ability to easily shut down the equipment when performing maintenance.

Optional Features:

The ClevAir™ line offers everything from stand-alone pressure/flow controllers to full-blown system management. All controllers come preprogrammed and ready to install.

Varitech, Inc. can provide everything from turnkey installations to general technical support for the do it yourself customer. We can provide compressed air audits and cost savings estimates as well.