Compressed Air Emergency Leads to Breakthrough 12% Energy Reduction for Aspen’s Paper Packaging Production with ELGi

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aspen Products, Inc. turned an unexpected compressed air equipment failure into an opportunity to improve energy efficiency and strengthen production reliability across its paper products manufacturing operation.

Electrical monitoring at Aspen’s approximately 600,000-square-foot facility shows its ELGi compressors operating around 12% more efficiently than the aging equipment they replaced. The company is also maintaining its standard operating pressure more consistently while reducing the energy required to support production.

Aspen prints customer designs onto rolls of paper before converting the material into finished paper plates and packaging them for shipment. Compressed air supports printing presses, converting machinery, packaging equipment, conveyors and robotic handling systems across two connected buildings.

“If our presses aren’t running, we’ve got nothing going on,” said Mike Gilvin, maintenance supervisor at Aspen Products. “Since bringing the ELGi compressors online, we’ve been able to maintain our standard pressure much more easily, and the difference in electrical consumption has been very noticeable.”

Aspen first turned to G3 Industrial Solutions after an aging 200-horsepower compressor suffered a major motor failure. G3 delivered a 100-horsepower ELGi EG75-125 rental compressor in approximately two and a half hours. With support from a G3 technician, Aspen restored temporary compressed air within about four hours of the initial call.

Aspen used the rental compressor for approximately two and a half weeks before purchasing the EG75-125 and permanently integrating it into the facility.

Several months later, another aging 200-horsepower compressor failed. Based on the performance of the first ELGi unit and G3’s responsiveness, Aspen purchased an ELGi EG160V-125 variable-speed compressor.

G3 recommended the variable-speed model to better match changing air demand across Aspen’s printing, converting and packaging operations. Together, the fixed-speed EG75-125 and variable-speed EG160V-125 are helping Aspen maintain more consistent system pressure while reducing energy consumption.

“They make a lot of air for the amount of power they use,” Gilvin said. “They run cooler, they’ve been reliable and we haven’t had any issues with either unit.”

G3 Industrial Solutions continues to support Aspen through quarterly preventive maintenance on both ELGi compressors, including oil sampling, filtration service and routine inspections. Aspen has reported no operational issues with either compressor to date.