Plant Utilities worked example

Compressed Air Storage Buffer with usable receiver volume of 7,500 gal: a worked example

Push usable receiver volume up to 7,500 gal and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when reviewing compressed air storage buffer for a utility budget, maintenance priority, capacity check, energy project, or production support plan.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Usable receiver volume: 7,500 gal (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 3,000)
  • Compressed air demand: 180 gal / min (unchanged)
  • Safety factor: 1.2 x (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Unprotected buffer time = usable receiver volume รท compressed air demand) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 34.72 min for protected days of supply, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 41.67 days for unprotected days.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 7,500 pieces for inventory.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 180 gal / min for compressed air demand.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where usable receiver volume sits at 3,000 gal and the headline result is 13.89 min, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 34.72 min.
  • It computes unprotected buffer time as usable receiver volume divided by demand, then divides by a safety factor to give a conservative protected buffer. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Protected days of supply: 34.72 min (headline result)
  • Unprotected days: 41.67 days
  • Inventory: 7,500 pieces
  • Compressed air demand: 180 gal / min

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Compressed Air Storage Buffer calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.