{"id":46844,"date":"2025-04-08T06:52:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T06:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=46844"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:59:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:59:45","slug":"why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/air-compressor-resources\/why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor\/","title":{"rendered":"Why to choose for a variable speed compressor vs. fixed speed compressor?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"supporting-text\">\r\n  <p>Having participated in hundreds of projects around <strong>compressed air<\/strong>, the question why to choose for a variable speed compressor vs. a fixed speed compressor is one of the most difficult questions to answer and surely one of the main of customers in all industries, ranging from Food &#038; Beverage, Automotive, General Manufacturing, etc. The answer depends on energy efficiency of the <strong>compressed air<\/strong> system, the cost of maintenance and the initial investment for the next 10 years. <\/p>\r\n<p>The answer to this question is not obvious in the case of a new installation, since there is no consumption history that can be studied to be able to categorically state &#8220;the best thing for you is a variable speed compressor &#8221; or &#8220;the best thing for you is a fixed speed compressor&#8221;. There are different theories that claim that, if there is any uncertainty about compressed air consumption, the most efficient would be a variable speed compressor, but I ask myself: to what extent is this true? Will it be valid? In the graph below we see the study of energy efficiency between a variable speed compressor and a fixed speed compressor similar to the power of a typical manufacturer:<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"row\">\r\n   <aside class=\"col-md-6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"CTP\" src=\"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/elgi-wiki-img1.png\" alt=\"CTP\" width=\"1079\" height=\"521\" class=\"img-fluid\" \/><\/aside>\r\n   <aside class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n      <p>The last part of the graph shows how the two curves intersect and it turns out that a fixed speed compressor with an average utilisation above 94% would be more efficient than a variable speed compressor. However, if the usage is less than 94%, then the variable speed compressor would be the solution that would save more energy for the same flow of compressed air consumed.<\/p>\r\n   <\/aside>\r\n   <!-- <aside class=\"col-md-3\"><\/aside> -->\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p>With this information we could help our customer by claiming that a variable speed compressor would be more efficient with 94% certainty, although there are other possibilities which raise further questions: what if we used two compressors at an industrial plant to provide all the compressed air flow required? Would this be a more or less effective combination for the compressed air system? This is another big question and to answer it I carried out the following study with different combinations of industrial compressors from the same manufacturer for a total compressed air power of 110 kW.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"row\">\r\n   <aside class=\"col-md-6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"CTP\" src=\"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/elgi-wiki-img2.png\" alt=\"CTP\" width=\"831\" height=\"539\" class=\"img-fluid\" \/><\/aside>\r\n   <aside class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n      <p>The graph gives us the following results on the best energy efficiency of the <strong>compressed air<\/strong> system for the same consumption rate:<\/p>\r\n      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/elgi-wiki-img3.png\" width=\"834\" height=\"283\" class=\"img-fluid\">\r\n   <\/aside>\r\n   <!-- <aside class=\"col-md-3\"><\/aside> -->\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p>In conclusion, if we do not know the average flow rate that we are going to consume, we have a 70% probability of obtaining the best energy efficiency if our compressed air system consists of a fixed speed compressor accompanied by a variable speed compressor. The rest of the options may also be viable, but the chances of getting the best energy efficiency in the entire system are much lower.<\/p>\r\n<p>When a compressed air system is required, it is always good to have an expert who can advise and help define the complete system.<\/p>\r\n<p>Questions about compressed air? Do not hesitate to contact us at  <a href=\"mailto:euenquiry@elgi.com\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">euenquiry@elgi.com<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8173,"template":"","tags":[310],"resource-category":[219],"industry":[304,300,306,308,305,301,307,303],"webinar-training":[],"class_list":["post-46844","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-air-compressor","resource-category-blogs","industry-pharma","industry-automotive","industry-recycling","industry-packaging","industry-chemical","industry-food-beverage","industry-metal","industry-manufacturing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.8 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elgi.com\/eu\/air-compressor-resources\/why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.8\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Air Compressor Resources\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Air Compressor Resources\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/tag\\\/air-compressor\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Air Compressor\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/tag\\\/air-compressor\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Air Compressor\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/tag\\\/air-compressor\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Why to choose for a variable speed compressor vs. fixed speed compressor?\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Air Compressor Resources\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/air-compressor-resources\\\/why-to-choose-for-a-variable-speed-compressor-vs-fixed-speed-compressor\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Why to choose for a variable speed compressor vs. fixed speed compressor?\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/tag\\\/air-compressor\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Air Compressor\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elgi.com\\\/eu\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ELGi Compressors s.r.l.\",\"description\":\"ELGi Europe aims to offer customers a diverse range of compressed air solutions with the lowest ownership cost experience supported by responsive service. 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