More product offerings for textile sector planned
Ingersoll Rand, a globally diversified company that caters to verticals like food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, textile, ceramics and printing, is further reinforcing its position in the textile industry in India. This is being done through new product offerings aimed at lowering energy consumption, apart from expanding the existing capacities.
The company is in the process of upgrading its manufacturing facility at Naroda near Ahmedabad for the textile industry, which ranks among the top three revenue contributing verticals. As per an official announcement made last year, a sum of Rs. 100 crores is being allotted for it. The first phase of the project has been completed.
“This strategic investment reinforces Ingersoll Rand’s overall growth strategy in India that is focused on driving innovation, technology and product development. Products and solutions manufactured at the Naroda plant will be distributed across Indian and global markets,” said Mr. Amar Kaul, Territory Vice President – India, Middle East and South Africa Compressed Air Systems and Services, Ingersoll Rand.
New offerings
Ingersoll Rand has a range of oil-free compressed air solutions for the textile industry. The fact that compressed air is utilized at almost every stage of manufacturing is something to reckon with. Large volumes of air are required for integrated cotton textile industries having airjet looms and in the polyester yarn industries. Compressed air is also required for value-adds like texturing.
While most textile companies rely on compressed air, compressor energy costs can account for 10 per cent or more of a company’s total electricity costs and make up approximately 80 per cent of a compressor’s total cost of ownership. Invariably a major portion of the energy used to run a compressor is converted into heat through the compression process, and this heat is normally left to absorb into the cooling cycle. Ingersoll Rand stepped in with its expertise in compressor technology.
“The Ingersoll Rand Energy Recovery provides a cost-effective way to reduce energy bills and benefits the environment by capturing this heat and putting it to work,” explained Mr. Kaul.
The company is also investing in new products to minimize the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), which includes capital, maintenance and operation costs.
A pulse on the market
As one of the early American investment companies in India (founded in Kolkata in 1921) Ingersoll Rand has a pulse on the Indian market. A portfolio of innovative products to drive productivity has been created, many of which are ahead of their times. Even as early as 1989, the company introduced centrifugal technology to the Indian textile industry and began manufacturing CENTACS or centrifugal compressors to eliminate inefficiencies, contaminants and breakdowns that can result in heavy downtime, product liability or damage to brand reputation, while reducing the total lifecycle costs.
Though the centrifugal compressor technology has been around for 100 years, Ingersoll Rand was the first to pioneer a fully-packaged integrally geared design, popularly known as Centac, and is the world leader with over 20,000 Centac installed worldwide.
All through Ingersoll Rand has been able to identify gaps in the Indian market and has managed to provide the missing link. Basically the company has tried to address energy guzzlers wherever possible. Take the case of the Nirvana range of compressors, designed to minimize energy consumption. These compressors use the transcendent technology due to which energy efficiency is at full load. It also helps produce most air with the least amount of energy.
Ingersoll Rand has all along honed its expertise on what it is best at, that being compressor technology. Having fully tapped the compressor circuit, the company diversified its offering to include air treatment and filtration solutions. “Selecting right air treatment product helps increase the working life of production equipment, providing consistent product quality, meeting ISO standards and legal requirements, lower service costs, energy saving and ultimately customer satisfaction,” said Mr. Kaul.
High quality air is essential in integrated textile units. However, the preparatory segments like ginning mills, spinning mills and process units can use lubricated compressors with a well-designed air filtration system. The annual operating cost of compressed air in medium to large textile industries may normally range anywhere between Rs. 30 lakhs and Rs. 500 lakhs. The company has arrived at what we can understand as cost cutting solutions seen in terms of its new technology air compressors which can replace the existing ones in old installations / plants. For example, it could be seen as considering a 2-stage rotary or 3-stage centrifugal compressor instead of the existing old reciprocating or single-stage screw compressor.
Holistic approach
With a philosophy of one-stop solution provider, the company not only provides energy-efficient air compressor systems but a whole range of other equipment like air dryers, filters, piping, variable frequency drives and control accessories which can make a significant difference in energy consumption. That’s how the company hit upon the idea of innovative solutions like heat recovery units (HRUs) that help reduce energy consumption of boilers.
Ironically, the gowing population and scarcity of power in all verticals, including textiles, are growth drivers. Air compressors being one of the most ubiquitous industrial workhorses energizing modern-day factories, hospitals, workshops and residential complexes, their demand is expected to be recurrent.
Snapshots of the textile industry
Offerings from Ingersoll Rand don’t go unnoticed. We can understand why textile companies partner with Ingersoll Rand to improve productivity and efficiency of their compressed air systems, minimize future capital costs, reduce operating costs and implement the necessary solutions. Besides partnerships, encouragement comes from the textile industry. “With contribution of 14 per cent to industrial production and 4 per cent to GDP, textiles play a major role in the Indian economy,” added Mr. Kaul.
It is one of the largest contributors to India’s exports with approximately 11 per cent of total exports. Backed by Government Initiatives, this sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last five years and is expected to grow from $99 billion in 2014 to $226 billion by 2023.
“This will create big demand for industrial compressors,” felt Mr. Kaul. Depending upon the size of the company and the type of product it delivers, there will be great opportunities for oil-flooded as well as oil-free rotary compressors, centrifugal compressors and air treatment products like air dryers and filters. “We expect the overall industrial compressor market for textile industry to grow at CAGR of 10-12 per cent for next 10 years,” he added.
With increased awareness and pressure of operating margins, textile manufacturers are far more energy efficiency conscious than ever before.
“Ingersoll Rand is very upbeat about the textile vertical. With the proposed changes in government policies and the overall global macro-economic scenario we are seeing textile companies are augmenting and upgrading their facilities,” Mr. Kaul signed off.
Possible saving opportunities in textile industries
* Migration to new technology air compressors in old installations / plants, for example considering 2-stage rotary or 3-stage centrifugal compressors instead of existing old reciprocating or single-stage screw compressors
* Proper evaluation on the performance of air treatment requirement such as dryers, filters & FR units installed near points-of-use
* Properly evaluating pressure requirement of different processes and if required segregation of low & high-pressure consumers
* System pressure optimization for unregulated consumers
* Evaluating usage of waste heat from compressors (use of waste heat recovery systems for use in boiler make-up or hot water application)
* Re-look at distribution & storage to minimize the pressure drops
* Optimize air consumption & pressure for cleaning air application (this is one of the largest wastage in most of the textile industries)
* Have effective controls on the operation of the compressors for better optimization & sequencing
* Effective leakage management program & designated team for the same