Thurton Foundries Choose Airchannel

17 Jan 2008

When a major failure occurred on their existing air compressor, Thurton Foundries were in need of urgent assistance to avoid costly downtime and lost production. Thurton turned to a company and a compressed air specialist that they knew they could trust, Airchannel, based in Norwich.  

Airchannel responded quickly and having agreed that the existing air compressor was beyond economic repair, they discussed, investigated and advised Thurton Foundries on the best long term solution for their future manufacturing; an energy efficient variable speed controlled SFC screw compressor from HPC Compressed Air Systems.  

Air is everything in the foundry as, amongst other things, it is used as a transportation mechanism to convey the sand used for the moulds and as a dressing for the castings. The objective of a Variable speed compressor is to provide a cost effective solution for a customer with a varying air demand whilst maintaining a constant system pressure and the HPC unit was ideally suited to this. 

Before a purchasing decision was made, Airchannel recommended that Ian Capps, Managing Director at Thurton Foundries, visit another successful Airchannel/HPC compressor installation at Norfolk based precision engineers, Mussett Engineering, to witness first hand the type and quality of equipment he would be investing in.  

“We had been using Airchannel to service our air compressor for some time” commented Ian. “When our old compressor packed up, they immediately provided a temporary standby machine to keep us going and to allow us sufficient time to make an informed decision on a suitable replacement”.  

Impressed as he was, Ian was concerned that the new 45kw HPC air compressor was going to be more expensive than his company had budgeted for. However, when assessed on the long-term energy savings and lifetime return of the HPC air compressor, the decision was far easier.  

Steve Holman of Airchannel explains, “All HPC compressors feature a host of innovative technical solutions resulting in some of the quietest, most energy efficient compressors on the market. Modern EFF1 electric motors are fitted as standard and these meet the energy efficiency criteria required to be eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA’s)”.  

Ian Capps concluded, “We received excellent advice and guidance from Airchannel and the HPC Compressed Air System they have installed provides a reliable, long-term cost effective solution to our present and future requirements. We are already realising some of the cost savings from our investment”.