Energy Audit
Designated consumers under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 need energy audits, and for compressed air, our audit goes past leaks to compressor efficiency, pressure settings and piping.
Learn moreBEE-certified energy auditors and managers
Compressed Air Leakage Audit Services
PowerTech has conducted energy audits since 2014. Our leakage surveys are led by energy auditors and managers certified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and your production keeps running throughout. A German-made ultrasonic detector measures each leak's flow in CFM and photographs its location. Each leak is costed as per your power tariff, so your team fixes the costliest first.
- 1,200+ energy and safety audits
- Every leak measured in CFM
- No compressors to sell
Overview
The Real Cost of Compressed Air Leaks in Your Plant
In most cases, a compressed air leak does not stop the line, so it stays unfixed for months. Air escapes at pipe joints and couplings, and the compressors run longer to make up for it. According to the US Department of Energy, a poorly maintained system can lose 20 to 30% of its compressor capacity to leaks.
A compressed air leakage audit tracks down those leaks during production. We scan the network section by section with the LD 510, which reads out each leak in cubic feet per minute (CFM) and saves a photo of the spot. The readings become a leak register ranked by yearly cost, so management can schedule repairs in that order and have them verified at the re-audit.
PowerTech is headquartered in Pune, with offices across Maharashtra. Each leakage audit includes:
- Ultrasonic survey of the air network, compressor room to machine.
- Each leak's air loss and its yearly cost on your tariff.
- A re-audit after your maintenance team fixes the leaks, to verify each repair.
Our Clients
What's included
PowerTech Leakage Audit Checklist
Leaks can turn up anywhere the air travels, so the survey follows it from the compressor room to the point of use. These are the parts we check:
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Compressor room and receivers
Discharge pipework and receiver fittings, with the safety valves and auto drains, where a leak wastes air before any machine uses it.
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Dryers, filters and drains
Dryer bypass valves and filter housings plus each condensate drain. A drain stuck open can pass for normal venting.
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Headers and distribution piping
Main headers and branch take-offs checked joint by joint with their flanges and isolation valves, including overhead runs that rarely get a close look during routine maintenance.
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Point-of-use connections
Drop hoses and quick couplings, where daily handling wears the seals out first.
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Machine regulators and valves
Filter-regulator-lubricator units, also known as FRLs, and the pressure regulators and solenoid valves on each machine, where a leak can hide behind the guarding for years.
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Machines and pneumatic tools
Cylinders and blow guns plus air tools and the circuits inside each machine. Every leak is logged against the machine it sits on.
How it works
Steps in a Compressed Air Leakage Audit
From your compressor details to the re-audit, every job follows this order:
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Plant Details
We start with your compressor ratings and running hours along with the power tariff, which lets us put a rupee cost on each leak.
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Leak Survey
No estimates by ear. Our team walks the network with the LD 510 during production, reading each leak's flow in CFM.
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Leak Register
The report gives every leak a photo and location along with its flow and yearly cost, ranked so the worst leaks sit at the top.
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Rectification
Your maintenance team fixes the leaks. The register leads them to each spot by photo, costliest leak first.
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Re-audit
After repairs, we recheck the same leaks to confirm each one is fixed. We generally advise a fresh audit once a year.
Why PowerTech
Why Choose PowerTech for Leakage Audits
Four reasons plant teams choose us:
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BEE Certification
Our energy team includes BEE-certified Swapnil Gaikwad (EA-20121) and Atul Kakad (EA-23066), among others.
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Every Leak Measured
The LD 510 records each leak's flow in CFM along with a photo.
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Nothing to Sell
We sell no compressors, dryers or repair contracts, so nothing in the leak register ends in a quote from us.
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Repairs Verified
A re-audit after repairs checks whether each reported leak is fixed or not.
What Mercedes-Benz India Saved
Mercedes-Benz India's Pune plant reported saving 11,978 kWh and ₹1 lakh a month, and 116 tonnes of CO2 a year, after fixing the leaks found in our July 2019 audit.
Who we work with
PowerTech Air Audits and Leak Management Services for All Types of Industries
Compressed air runs something in almost every plant, right from looms and filling lines to paint shops and presses. Our team has conducted leak audits across the industries below and in other process industries. After your team's repairs, we come back to verify them.
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Automobile plants
Vehicle assembly and auto ancillary units, where body shop tools and paint lines use air on every shift.
Request a leak audit -
Textile mills
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Pharmaceutical plants
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Chemical plants
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Food processing plants
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Engineering and manufacturing plants
Compressed air leakage audit: FAQs
The questions maintenance heads ask us most often:
What is a compressed air leakage audit?
It is a survey of your compressed air network that finds each leak, measures how much air it wastes and prices that waste over a year. Every finding lands in one register, sorted by what each leak costs you. Also known as a leak survey or leak detection audit, it is narrower than a full compressed air system audit, which also tests compressor efficiency and pressure.
How are compressed air leaks detected and measured?
With an ultrasonic detector. Ours is the LD 510, made by CS Instruments in Germany and used by a team led by BEE-certified auditors and managers. A leak gives off a high-pitched sound well above human hearing, and the detector picks it up even over running machines. It then shows the leak's flow in CFM with a photo of the spot, and works out its yearly cost from your tariff.
Is a compressed air leakage audit mandatory in India?
No. Indian law does not require a standalone compressed air leakage audit. If your plant is a designated consumer under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, it must have energy audits done, and compressed air is one of the systems an energy audit examines. For other plants, the reason to audit is the power the leaks waste.
What does a compressed air leakage audit cost?
The cost is dependent on the size of the plant, how far the air network runs and how many machines draw air from it. Those three decide how long the survey takes. Send us your compressor list and a rough layout, and we will send a scope and quote before any work starts.
How long does a compressed air leakage audit take?
Typically 1 to 2 days on site. Where a plant falls in that range depends on how much of the network there is to walk. The leak register reaches you about 8 days after the site work, and the re-audit is booked once your maintenance team has finished its repairs.
Can the audit be done during production?
Yes. The survey runs while your lines are working, so there is no shutdown to plan. The LD 510 adjusts its sensitivity to the noise around it, which lets it pick out a leak next to a running press or loom. A working network is also fully pressurised, so every leak is live when the detector reaches it.
What does the audit report include?
A leak register. Each leak gets its own entry with a photo and location, plus its flow in CFM and yearly cost, sorted so your team knows where to begin. The report also totals the leakage across the plant and what it adds to your power bill in a year.
How much compressed air does a plant lose to leaks?
It varies from plant to plant. The US Department of Energy puts leakage in a well-maintained system under 10% of compressor capacity, against 20 to 30% in a poorly kept one. After our 2019 audit, Mercedes-Benz India's Pune plant fixed its leaks and recorded 11,978 kWh saved each month.
Who fixes the leaks, and how often should we re-audit?
Your own maintenance team does, since we take on no repair work. The register gives them a photo and location for every leak. When the repairs are done, we go back over the register line by line to see that each one has held. An annual audit is what we generally recommend, since hoses and seals keep wearing and new leaks open.
Request an audit
Book a leak audit for your plant
In most cases, a plant calls us over a symptom: pressure sagging at the far end, a second compressor being priced, or a power bill that keeps climbing. Send us yours, and a scope with commercial terms follows.
- We call you back A short call about your compressors and running hours, and where pressure falls short.
- You receive a scope A written scope with commercial terms, sized to the length of your air network.
- The leak survey runs Typically 1 to 2 days, during production. It is led on site by BEE-certified energy auditors.
- BEE-certified auditors and managers
- Independent of every compressor brand
- A photo and CFM reading for every leak
Start your enquiry
Calls are answered at once, emails within 24 hours.
Related services
Other Services That Pair Well With a Leak Audit
A leak audit shows where your compressed air escapes. The three services below pick up from there: how efficiently the compressors make that air, and how the plant's pumps and motors are holding up. All three come from the same team behind our 1,200+ energy and safety audits.
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Water Pump Energy Assessment
Pumps lose efficiency with age. The assessment measures each pump's efficiency and load against its duty, to find the ones using more power than the work needs.
Learn more -
Vibration Monitoring and Analysis
A failing bearing or a misaligned coupling shows up in vibration readings well before a compressor or motor stops. Monitoring catches such faults early, so repairs can be planned.
Learn more