Festo provides greentelligence through efficiency calculations
How many euros do users really save in machine construction and plant engineering through the implementation of energy efficiency measures? Which measures bring what savings? Festo can now supply concrete and verifiable sample calculations for many applications, from body-in-white production through to food production, small parts assembly, electronics and process automation. This is greentelligence in the truest sense of the word.
For example, users can achieve savings of no less than 73% with vacuum handling units whose vacuum generators are controlled by air-saving circuits. The Festo vacuum generators
OVEM and VADMI have been designed right from the start to incorporate these air-saving circuits and thus form part of Festo’s portfolio of energy-efficient products and solutions.
Surprising results
Major savings of up to 32% can be achieved by reducing tubing lengths in small parts assembly and electronics operations, since in these applications, each time a pneumatic drive is actuated, the associated tubing needs to be pressurized and exhausted. Shortening the tubing between valves and cylinders by half produces this saving.
But even in cases where percentage energy savings are not in double digits, the efficiency gain in absolute terms can still amount to several thousand euros. The leading solution in this area is one which Festo specialists implemented in the wastewater treatment plant of the town of Sindelfingen. In wastewater treatment, correctly deployed pneumatics can increase the efficiency of electric drives. The gate valves offered by Festo reduce the energy requirements of the pumps, enabling savings of up to 11,300 euros a year.
It all depends on the application
In other cases, the principle is: “Energy efficiency in automation depends on the industrial application concerned,” explains Dr. Axel-Andreas Gomeringer, Head of Innovation and
Technology Management at Festo.
Any industrial application has its specific requirements with regard to technical criteria such as speed, load capacity, power to weight ratio, accuracy, control behaviour, torsional rigidity, efficiency or robustness and also economic criteria such as cost (purchase price,
Press release
Number
HM 01/12
Date
1 February 2012
Our reference
TM-IP/HAUG
Legal form:
Limited partnership
Registered office: Esslingen a. N.
Register court Stuttgart
COR 211583
Value added tax id. number:
DE 145 339 206
General partner:
Festo Management
Aktiengesellschaft
Registered office: Vienna/Austria
Commercial register court:
Commercial court Vienna
COR FN 303027 d
Board of Director:
Dipl.-Kfm. Alfred Goll
Dr. Claus Jessen
Dr. Ansgar Kriwet
Dipl.-Kfm. Michael Mölleken
Dr. Eberhard Veit (Chairman)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Milberg
Festo AG & Co. KG
P. O. Box
73726 Esslingen
Phone +49 711 347-4032 haug@de.festo.com www.festo.com
Ruiter Straße 82
73734 Esslingen

commissioning, installation) and operating costs (maintenance, service life, energy costs).
Energy efficiency depends on the task at hand. “This task must be clearly defined before the user chooses a drive technology – electric or pneumatic or a combination of the two,” explains Gomeringer.
Pneumatic and electric
A comparison between electric and pneumatic grippers shows how choosing the right solution depends on a clear definition of the task. If we consider the energy consumption during the gripping process, a pneumatic gripper will be superior to an electric gripper in applications involving long cycles and with just a small number of gripping operations.
A pneumatic gripper requires pressure only once to initiate continuous holding. No more pneumatic energy is required for the duration of the gripping operation. An electric gripper needs electricity for the entire duration of the gripping operation and can be more energyefficient than a pneumatic gripper only if the application in question is composed of short cycles with many gripping operations.
Intelligent design
Engineering software helps in the dimensioning of systems. This allows components to be made smaller, avoiding an accumulation of safety factors. This saves effort and unnecessary costs in purchasing and operation.
Services for more energy efficiency
Festo Energy Saving Services provide pneumatics users with a tailor-made range of services to identify and achieve the best possible exploitation of potential savings. This service package for holistic and sustainable energy saving shows all pneumatics users how to avoid unnecessary compressed air consumption and thus energy consumption.
With its experienced consultants and its range of appropriate teaching formats and methods,
Festo Didactic train users worldwide – for example in making economic/ technological comparisons of drive technologies and in the optimum technical planning and maintenance of pneumatic systems.
Guide to energy efficiency
There are many milestones along the road to greater energy efficiency: air and electricity saving circuits, weight reduction, energy recovery, and also the correct dimensioning of

drives and the reduction of leakages, the correct choice of pressure level and tubing volume and the reduction of friction. Customers simply describe their applications, and Festo’s experts then analyze these and identify the most efficient alternative. Festo’s Internet
SupportPortal acts as an online automation technology platform and offers a way to access these services.
Please refer to: Festo press photo HM_0112_Energy_Efficiency_1.tif
Caption to illustration: 73% energy saving with vacuum handling units: the vacuum generator OVEM with its air-saving circuit is one of Festo’s energy-efficient products. (Photo: Festo)
Please refer to: Festo press photo HM_0112_Energy_Efficiency_2.tif
Caption to illustration: Greentelligence in wastewater treatment: savings of €11,300 per year with pneumatic gate valves from Festo fitted on the pumps of the sewage treatment plant in Sindelfingen, Germany. (Photo:
Festo)
Please refer to: Festo press photo HM_0112_Energy_Efficiency_3.tif
Caption to illustration: “Energy efficiency in automation always depends on the industrial application in question,” explains Festo’s energy

Please refer to: efficiency expert Dr. Axel-Andreas Gomeringer. The most efficient solution in this case was to install two “Tripod” high speed handling units in series. (Photo: Festo)
Festo press photo HM_0112_Energy_Efficiency_4.tif
Caption to illustration: The adaptive gripper DHDG is a prime example of an energyefficient gripper. It is light in weight and resource-friendly thanks to rapid manufacturing. It always depends on the individual customer application whether a pneumatic gripper or an electric gripper is more energy-efficient. (Photo: Festo)
Please refer to: Festo press photo HM_0112_Energy_Efficiency_5.tif
Caption to illustration: Training and Consulting of energy efficiency: Festo Didactic train users – for example in ways to compare the economy of different drive technologies or in the optimum technical planning and maintenance of pneumatic systems.
(Photo: Festo)