ELGi Introduces Air~Alert – Smart Remote Monitoring and Alert System for Compressed Air Systems

12 Jul 2023

IoT-enabled data analysis technology to improve energy efficiency, pre-empt maintenance, and increase uptime of compressed air systems.

Belgium – 12 July 2023: ELGi Compressors Europe, a subsidiary of ELGi Equipments Limited, one of the world’s leading air compressor manufacturers, announced today the introduction of Air~Alert, its new IoT-based Machine Monitoring System. The ELGi Air~Alert smart 24/7 remote monitoring and alert system is now available to ELGi’s European customers for new and existing installations*.

Enabling data analytics and real-time monitoring of air compressor parameters, ELGi's Air~Alert is a data transmission and analysis service that monitors critical parameters to minimise downtime and maximise efficiency. The service enables customers to act in time and avoid potential failures with 24/7 remote monitoring of the compressed air system. It does this by delivering trend graphs and information about operating parameters including discharge pressure, oil temperature, variable frequency drive (VFD) speed, total running hours, trips and alerts on a live online interface accessible remotely from anywhere in the world.

Air~Alert also notifies customers and ELGi Channel Partners about scheduled maintenance, fault occurrence, and predicts commonly occurring failures. Monthly summary reports on overall health and operating parameters include upcoming planned service requirements, as well as preventative maintenance based on obtained data.

David De Pril, Director of Product Management and Marketing Organisation, commented, “Our European customers keep demanding solutions that can improve their operational costs and more importantly, energy efficiency. ELGi's compressed air solutions already deliver industry-leading energy efficiency, and we maintain our focus on technology and IoT to offer digitised, compressed air systems that deliver tangible cost of ownership benefits. The Air~Alert enables our customers to be constantly aware of the status of their compressed air systems and monitor them remotely. Predictive alerts are a step closer to prognostics for detecting and preventing failures. With Air~Alert, customers are assured of highly accurate advanced predictive machine downtime alerts and minimised unplanned downtime.”

The operational and performance data from the compressors are acquired by Air~Alert from the compressor controller, transmitted in an encrypted form, and sent to secure and dedicated Air~Alert servers in the cloud. Smart algorithms then work on the data sent to the cloud to enable intelligent prediction with actionable alerts, reports, and trends - which are returned securely to the operators as easy-to-read actionable dashboards.

Throughout the process, the data is structured and analysed to provide smart analysis that helps the users to plan their maintenance activities and provide insights into operational data, enabling energy efficiency improvements with the compressor. The Air~Alert failure prediction module predicts if the compressor is likely to fail in the future. At the end of the process, data is translated into comprehensible Alerts and Reports that allow the user to take timely action.

With ELGi's Air~Alert, users can track highly informative utilisation trends providing actionable intelligence and take corrective actions, such as:

Operating pressure band optimisation based on the utilisation rate;
Replacing an existing fixed speed unit with variable speed, VFD unit or adding a retrofit VFD;
Providing an energy efficient, lower size compressor in case of very low utilisation rate;
Detecting leaks based on an unexpected change to a higher utilisation rate over time.

*The Air~Alert device can be factory-fitted on new ELGi EG, AB and OF Series compressors, or retro-fitted on units with a Neuron III, III+ or IV controller.

About ELGi

ELGi Compressors is a global air compressor manufacturer with operations in nearly all European countries with a broad line of innovative and technologically superior compressed air systems. ELGi has consistently worked towards ensuring that its customers achieve their productivity goals while keeping the cost of ownership low. ELGi offers a complete range of compressed air solutions from oil-lubricated and oil-free rotary screw compressors, oil-lubricated and oil-free reciprocating compressors, and centrifugal compressors to dryers, filters, and downstream accessories. The company's portfolio of over 400 products has found wide applications across industries. For further information on the organisation and its products, please visit https://www.elgi.com/eu.