Questioning old assumptions in electro-pneumatic design
23 July 2026 
Rising energy costs and greater scrutiny of operating expenditure are encouraging manufacturers to challenge long-held assumptions about compressed air systems. What was once viewed primarily as a maintenance concern is increasingly influencing specification decisions, procurement strategies and the way electro-pneumatic performance is assessed throughout the life of an asset
Nobody setting out to design a compressed air system intends to build inefficiency into it, yet many electropneumatic installations operating across UK industry still reflect decisions made under very different circumstances. Rising energy costs were not always a boardroom concern, sustainability reporting rarely featured in procurement discussions and a machine that met its production targets was generally judged to be doing its job. The assumptions underpinning those decisions are now being tested more rigorously as manufacturers look beyond throughput and reliability to understand what systems cost to operate over their working lives.
Few subjects generate less debate within the pneumatics sector than the cost of producing compressed air. What has changed is the extent to which that expense is influencing specification decisions. Customers purchasing new equipment increasingly want to understand how machines behave outside peak production, how much air is consumed during idle periods and what diagnostic information is available to support efficient operation after commissioning. Questions once confined to maintenance departments are finding their way into procurement meetings, capital investment discussions and sustainability reviews.
Reassessment matters
Evidence gathered by the British Compressed Air Society continues to reinforce why this reassessment matters. Through its 10% Taskforce, BCAS has called on UK businesses to take practical steps to reduce compressed air energy consumption by ten per cent, with the potential to save a combined £147.5 million in wasted electricity costs. Rather than presenting this as an argument for wholesale replacement of existing equipment, the campaign focuses on achievable measures that many organisations can implement using the systems they already have. Those recommendations challenge the longstanding acceptance that losses within compressed air systems are simply part of the cost of doing business.
Walk through enough factories and a familiar pattern begins to emerge. The same leaks appear repeatedly around frequently disturbed connections, hoses suffer wear in predictable locations and temporary fixes gradually establish themselves as permanent solutions. Maintenance teams have always repaired faults when they became obvious, yet rising utility costs are encouraging a more structured approach that seeks to understand why losses occur and how they can be prevented from returning. Ultrasonic detection equipment allows systems to be surveyed while operating, helping engineers distinguish between isolated defects and recurring weaknesses linked to installation practices, environmental conditions or component choice. BCAS guidance also notes that relatively small leaks can have a disproportionate financial impact, with a 2 mm hole potentially costing more than £1,249 per year in wasted energy based on the electricity assumptions used within its guidance documents.
Elsewhere in the same facilities, pressure settings often tell their own story about the history of a production line. Regulators increased to overcome restrictions, compensate for poorly performing actuators or satisfy changing process demands can remain untouched long after machinery layouts have evolved around them. BCAS guidance advises addressing the causes of pressure loss rather than generating compressed air at unnecessarily high pressures to overcome symptoms. Leaks, undersized pipework, poorly configured distribution systems and restrictions created by components within the network all warrant investigation before higher operating pressures become accepted as routine.
The Society also notes that, on average, every additional bar of generation pressure results in around a seven per cent loss in specific energy, reinforcing the importance of understanding why pressure increases have been introduced in the first place.
No universal formula
There is no universal formula capable of predicting the savings that pressure optimisation will deliver because every installation presents its own characteristics and constraints. Even so, organisations prepared to challenge inherited settings often discover that systems are operating according to assumptions nobody would consciously specify if designing them today. The important point for electro-pneumatic specialists is not that every system can be reduced by the same amount, but that many installations continue to operate according to historic decisions that no longer reflect current requirements.
Conversations between OEMs and end users increasingly extend beyond cycle times and reliability because customers now expect a clearer understanding of how electro-pneumatic systems will perform over the entirety of their service life. Throughput and repeatability remain essential, yet they increasingly sit alongside questions about standby behaviour, diagnostic capability and the practical measures available to control air consumption once equipment enters production. The result is a gradual shift in emphasis from immediate functionality towards lifetime performance.
Decisions surrounding valve architectures illustrate how that thinking is beginning to influence specification practice. The ability to isolate sections of machinery during periods of inactivity, provide visibility of system status through communication networks and simplify fault diagnosis offers benefits extending beyond convenience. Where production cells spend significant periods waiting between batches, changeovers or operator interventions, limiting unnecessary air consumption can contribute to measurable savings over thousands of operating hours without compromising performance when demand returns.
Not so long ago, identifying emerging problems within electro-pneumatic systems depended heavily upon experience, intuition and the ability of engineers to recognise subtle changes in machine behaviour. Greater access to data is providing another layer of insight. Flow meters, pressure sensors, cycle counters and IO-Link-enabled devices allow trends to be identified before they develop into failures capable of disrupting production. Rising consumption during idle periods may point towards leakage, unstable pressures can reveal restrictions elsewhere within the network and changes in actuator response times may indicate wear before operators notice any deterioration in performance.
Condition-based maintenance becomes far more persuasive when linked to these observable behaviours rather than presented as an abstract ambition associated with digitalisation. Replacing components simply because a calendar dictates their removal rarely represents the most effective use of resources, yet waiting for failure can prove equally expensive. Monitoring the characteristics most closely associated with common pneumatic faults enables interventions to be planned according to evidence, reducing unnecessary expenditure while supporting equipment availability.
The distinction between efficiency and reliability also deserves reconsideration because the two objectives frequently reinforce one another. Eliminating leaks improves pressure stability, correcting deficiencies within distribution systems reduces variability and selecting components suited to the demands of an application lessens avoidable stress on equipment. While utility savings often attract initial attention, many organisations discover that improvements justified on energy grounds contribute equally to reducing downtime and improving process consistency.
Within food and beverage manufacturing environments, where production schedules leave little room for disruption and sustainability reporting expectations continue to evolve, maintenance teams face the challenge of improving performance without compromising output. Structured leak management programmes, periodic reviews of operating pressures and targeted use of monitoring technologies provide practical opportunities to improve efficiency while maintaining reliability in demanding operating conditions.
Responsibilities that once sat almost exclusively within engineering departments are gradually being shared more widely throughout organisations. Finance teams seek reassurance that investment proposals reflect lifetime value rather than initial purchase price alone. Sustainability specialists require evidence to support emissions reporting. Senior leadership increasingly expects visibility of costs that were previously absorbed into overheads without detailed examination. Compressed air performance therefore attracts attention from people who may never study a pneumatic circuit but nonetheless influence the decisions shaping its future.
Workforce capability
Meeting those expectations places renewed emphasis on workforce capability. Engineers who understand pneumatic principles alongside electrical controls, diagnostics and data interpretation are better equipped to explain why specification choices influence long-term operating costs. Fault finding remains essential, although identifying waste, recognising recurring inefficiencies and communicating their commercial implications have become equally valuable skills within maintenance and project teams.
Purchase price continues to exert a powerful influence over procurement decisions because it is immediate, visible and easy to compare. By contrast, the consequences of excessive air consumption accumulate gradually through electricity bills, maintenance interventions and reduced efficiency over many years. Unless total cost of ownership forms part of the discussion, seemingly economical choices can prove expensive long after equipment enters service.
Many of the systems now being examined more critically were commissioned at a time when energy attracted less scrutiny and production output remained the overriding concern. The opportunities emerging today rarely depend upon revolutionary technologies or wholesale replacement programmes. More often, they arise from questioning assumptions that have survived unchallenged through familiarity, reviewing whether established practices still make sense and recognising that compressed air is not an unlimited utility but a resource whose efficient use deserves the same attention afforded to every other aspect of manufacturing performance.
References
British Compressed Air Society (BCAS). New 10% Taskforce aims to save £147.5 million in wasted compressed air energy costs. Available at: https://www.bcas.org.uk/article/new-10 taskforce-aims-to-save-1475-million-in wasted-compress-101.aspx (Accessed June 2026).
British Compressed Air Society (BCAS). Taskforce 10 – Reduce leaks, save energy. Available at: https://taskforce10.bcas.org.uk/blog/reduce-leaks-save-energy/ (Accessed June 2026).
British Compressed Air Society (BCAS). Manage air leaks. Taskforce 10 guidance document. Available at: https://taskforce10.bcas.org.uk/wp content/uploads/2022/09/2BCAS_A5_2PP_ ESG_MANAGE_AIR_LEAKS_LOWRES_FIN AL.pdf (Accessed June 2026).
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