Sustainability

Tamturbo develops and delivers 100% oil-free compressed air solutions for industrial use. In many plants, compressed air is one of the single largest consumers of electricity, so how it is produced has a direct effect on customer costs and emissions. Tamturbo’s technology is designed for exactly that point: energy-efficient and completely oil-free compressed air.

At Tamturbo, sustainability is not a separate programme. It follows from what the company sells. Every compressor delivered reduces the customer’s energy consumption, removes oil from the compressed air system and cuts oil-related waste. The same technology that makes the product commercially competitive also makes it better for the environment.

More energy-efficient industrial compressed air

Compressed air production accounts for an estimated 10 percent of industrial electricity consumption worldwide. At plant level it shows up in the electricity bill all year round, because compressors run whenever production runs.

The purchase price of a compressor is a small part of its lifecycle cost. The largest item is electricity. Efficiency therefore determines both operating costs and emissions, and part-load efficiency matters most of all. Industrial air demand varies with shifts and production volumes, so a compressor rarely operates at full load.

Tamturbo’s high-speed technology and variable speed drive match output to demand. When the compressor is not producing air that nobody uses and is not running unloaded, the savings accumulate over the entire service life. Waste heat can be recovered and used as hot water in the plant’s own processes or for heating.

Part-load performance is covered in more detail in Why Part-Load Efficiency Can Make or Break Your Energy Costs, and the difference between carbon footprint and carbon handprint in From Carbon Footprint to Carbon Handprint.

• In the company’s view, the lowest lifecycle cost, 20 to 30 percent below so-called “oil-free” screw compressors.
• 100% oil-free air, with no risk of compressed air contamination.
• In the company’s view, better energy efficiency, sustained throughout the compressor’s service life.
• Technology that is virtually maintenance-free.
• Savings in waste management: no waste oil, no oily condensate and no oil separation costs.
• Compact size and lower space requirement. The barrier to switching from conventional technology to Tamturbo is very low, because the units are physically smaller and the electrical and piping connections follow standard practice.

100% oil-free technology

In Tamturbo compressors, the rotor spins on active magnetic bearings with no metal-to-metal contact. The design needs no lubricating oil at all, so the compressed air it produces is oil-free without separate filtration or downstream treatment.

The difference shows up in three ways in day-to-day operation. The risk of contamination by compressor-generated oil is eliminated, which is decisive in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and electronics industries, where compressed air comes into contact with the product or the production space. Oil changes, oil filters and oily condensate handling disappear, which reduces the volume of waste classified as hazardous. Maintenance needs fall, because the machine has fewer wearing contact surfaces.

In Tamturbo’s solution, being oil-free is a structural property, not an outcome achieved through filtration. In practice this means the property holds for the full service life of the machine without separate maintenance work.

Environmental management and ISO 14001 certification

Tamturbo received the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system certificate on 27 April 2023.

ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management. It requires a company to identify the environmental impacts of its operations, set targets for them, monitor performance against those targets and improve its operations systematically. The certificate is issued by an independent certification body, and its validity is confirmed through regular audits.

For an investor, the relevant point is what the certificate says about how the company is run: environmental matters are handled through a documented system rather than relying on the memory and goodwill of individuals. Certification also makes it easier to meet the supplier requirements of large industrial customers and public procurement bodies, which increasingly ask for a certified environmental management system.

Sustainability from an investor’s perspective

For Tamturbo, energy efficiency is a sales argument, not a cost item. When a customer calculates the payback on the investment, the electricity saved is a major factor in that calculation. This ties sustainability directly to demand instead of leaving it as a cost separate from the business.

Regulation is moving in the same direction. Energy efficiency requirements, emission reduction targets and sustainability reporting are increasing the pressure on industrial companies to identify and fix the energy-intensive parts of their production. Compressed air is typically one of them.

Industry-specific air quality requirements narrow the supplier field. When oil-free operation is a condition of the process rather than a preference, fewer suppliers qualify for the tender and the emphasis in the purchasing decision shifts from purchase price to total cost of ownership. Tamturbo’s product advantage lies specifically in that lifecycle cost.

A certified environmental management system, in turn, reduces operational risk and speeds up customer supplier audits. It also gives the company a ready-made structure for collecting the environmental data that customers and investors ask for.

Frequently asked questions

Which industries use Tamturbo’s oil-free compressed air? Food and beverage, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, semiconductor and electronics, battery cell manufacturing, automotive and paint shops, chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, glass and packaging, metals and mining, and medical device manufacturing. Industry-specific descriptions: tamturbo.com/industries.

Why is oil-free compressed air better for the environment than oil-lubricated? An oil-free compressor consumes no lubricating oil, so oil changes, oil filters and oily condensate handling are eliminated. It also removes the risk of oil carrying over into the product or the production space with the compressed air.

Does Tamturbo have a certified environmental management system? Yes. Tamturbo has an ISO 14001:2015 certified environmental management system.

How much of industrial energy consumption goes to compressed air? Compressed air production accounts for an estimated 10 percent of industrial electricity consumption worldwide. At an individual plant the share varies by industry and process.

What makes a Tamturbo compressor energy-efficient? High-speed technology and active magnetic bearings remove metal-to-metal contact and the friction losses that come with it. The variable speed drive matches output to demand, so the compressor does not run unloaded or produce air that nobody uses. Waste heat can be recovered as hot water.