# How much power does a Panipat textile unit save by cutting compressor pressure from 7.5 to 10 bar down to 6.5 to 7 bar?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/panipat-compressor-pressure-cut-7-percent-a-bar

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Panipat profile found compressors set at 7.5 to 10 bar for a need of 5.5 bar and prints 10 to 17% saving from 6.5 to 7 bar. Its own rule of 7% a bar, applied in a straight line, gives 3.5 to 24.5%, so the printed range sits inside it.

## What TERI found in Panipat

- Compressed air runs the stenter, polishing, cleaning and packing. Compressors run from 5 to 60 horsepower (hp) connected load.
- The highest pressure needed at the point of use is 5.5 bar. The set pressure on compressors was 7.5 to 10 bar.
- Intake air was 8 to 10 degrees Celsius above ambient because compressors sit near the boiler, heater or stenter.
- Screw compressors ran at 45 to 65% capacity utilisation with 35 to 55% unload period, on load and unload control.

## The three measures, as printed

- Set pressure from 7.5 to 10 bar down to 6.5 to 7.0 bar: saving 10 to 17%, payback immediate.
- Intake air from 38 to 40 degrees down to 30 to 32 degrees: saving 1.5 to 2%, payback up to 3 months.
- Variable frequency drive (VFD) on the screw compressor so the unload period is nil: saving 15 to 25%, payback up to 12 months.

## Does the printed 10 to 17% hold up?

The profile says as a thumb rule, 1 bar of extra pressure means 7% more electricity, and prefers load pressure about 1 bar above the need. At 7% a bar: 7.5 to 6.5 is 1 bar, 7%. 10 to 7.0 is 3 bars, 21%. The extremes, 7.5 to 7.0 and 10 to 6.5, give 3.5% and 24.5%, though a straight 7% a bar across 3.5 bars is itself a rule of thumb. The printed 10 to 17% sits inside that range, so it is a plausible middle, not a worst or best case. Our arithmetic.

The intake line also rebuilds: the profile says about 4 degrees more intake temperature means 1% more electricity, and an 8 degree cut is 2%, the top of the printed 1.5 to 2%.

Our page on compressed air pressure quotes 6 to 10% a bar from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) guide book. The 7% here is inside that band. Both are rules for planning; meter before and after to report.

## Do not add the three savings

Our reading: each percentage is on the compressor's electricity, though the profile gives no base. Each one then shrinks the base for the next. Pressure 17.5% then a drive saving 15% of what is left is 1 minus 0.825 x 0.85 = 29.9%, not 32.5%. The profile prints no combined figure.

## Example: a compressor using 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) a year, set at 9 bar

- Cut to 6.5 bar: 2.5 bars x 7% = 17.5%, so 35,000 kWh saved
- Left: 165,000 kWh. A drive taking 15% of that: 24,750 kWh
- Together: 59,750 kWh, 29.9% of 200,000
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) at 0.675 kilograms (kg) a kWh for financial year (FY) 2025-26: 59,750 x 0.675 = 40,331 kg, about 40.3 tonnes

The 200,000 kWh and 9 bar are example values. The 7% and 15% are the profile's rule and low end; metered kWh before and after decides what you report.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads electricity bills into monthly records, so a drop after a pressure change shows in the monthly kWh. It does not read production or meter the compressor; that needs a sub-meter.

- [Compressed air pressure and carbon dioxide](https://senseible.earth/answers/compressed-air-pressure-reduction-savings)
- [Panipat textile cluster fuels and carbon](https://senseible.earth/answers/panipat-textile-cluster-fuels-and-carbon)
- [Carbon calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)

Sources: [TERI, Energy Profile: Panipat Textile Cluster (SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/clusterprofile/PanipatTextileCluster.pdf), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 22.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Percentages are TERI's 2014-15 planning figures. Report your own saving from metered kWh before and after, adjusted for output. The grid factor follows your bill's financial year.