Compressed Air Leak Survey Services
Find and Fix Compressed Air Leaks before they Cost You
Large industrial operations lose 30-40% of their compressed air supply to system leaks. A single compressed air leak survey often pays for itself once the leaks are repaired. Our trained technicians use precision ultrasonic leak detection tools to scan your facility while systems are operating. We locate, tag, and quantify compressed air leaks and deliver a prioritized repair report with estimated energy savings and payback.
30-40%
of Compressed Air Supply is Lost to Leaks in an Unmaintained System
25-30%
of Energy Lost to Leaks is Recovered after 1 Leak Survey
5-15%
Realized Plant-wide Energy Expenditure Reduction after 1 Leak Survey
$5k-$100k +
Massive Savings Potential – Varies based on Plant Size and Last Leak Survey
A Faster Way to Identify and Quantify Air Leaks
Compressed air leak inspection services provide a practical way to uncover hidden losses without adding more work to your maintenance team.
Using ultrasonic leak detection equipment, our technicians can scan piping systems, fittings, hoses, and air drops while the system remains in operation. Each leak is tagged, documented, and quantified so maintenance teams can focus repairs where they will have the greatest impact.
Instead of spending weeks searching for leaks, facilities receive a clear report showing leak locations, estimated air loss, and potential energy savings.
What are Compressed Air Leaks Costing You?
Compressed air is very common in manufacturing. But it is also very expensive, even small leaks can quietly waste large amounts of energy while forcing compressors to work harder to maintain system pressure. Before we arrive, it’s common for our customers to be losing 20–30% of total compressed air demand to leaks, turning a reliable utility into a hidden operating expense.
Left unchecked, compressed air leaks:
increase cost of electricity
reduce available system pressure
force compressors to run longer
accelerate wear on equipment
Air Leak Detection Leads to Fast Return on Investment
SDT’s Industrial Air Leak Detection Services are fast, practical, and measurable. Surveys routinely uncover leaks responsible for 30–40% of compressed air losses in a facility and after repairs are made, some customers have noticed up to a 15% drop in plant-wide energy consumption.
In addition, their compressors run less, system pressure stability improves, and emissions are reduced. Often times, the savings identified during a single compressed air leak survey pays for the service in the first few hours.
Why Compressed Air Leak Surveys Often Get Delayed
Maintenance teams know compressed air leaks waste energy, but finding and fixing them isn’t often prioritized for many reasons.
Leak detection can be time consuming, especially without the right tools, dedicated resources, or implemented processes. Production demands, staffing limitations, and competing maintenance tasks makes consistently inspecting compressed air systems in-house a challenge.
For many teams, the challenge is not knowing leaks exist, it is having the time and equipment to locate and document them effectively.
Most Common Leak Spots
Compressed air leaks can occur anywhere along a distribution system, some of the Most Common Leak Spots occur at the fittings, hoses, regulators, and drain devices.
Internal diaphragms wear and crack over time, allowing compressed air to leak through the regulator.
Damaged O-rings and heavy use make quick couplers one of the most common compressed air leak points.
Rubber hoses are easily damaged by traffic, abrasion, and bending, leading to cracks and air leaks.
Faulty drain valves and fittings can leak compressed air while removing condensate from the system.
Ultrasound Compressed Air Leak Detection
Ultrasonic turbulence is generated as high-pressure air passes through an orifice into the low-pressure atmosphere. These high-frequency sounds are easily detected with ultrasonic instruments.
Ultrasound leak detectors convert these high-frequency signals into sounds technicians can hear through headphones and visual signals they can see on a display. This allows inspectors to quickly scan piping systems, fittings, hoses, and air drops to pinpoint the exact location of leaks.
Because SDT’s ultrasound equipment filters out audible background noise and focuses only on high-frequency emissions, technicians can reliably detect leaks even in loud industrial environments where traditional listening methods would fail.
Our Leak Detection Tools
Ultrasound makes leak detection fast, easy, and reliable. Modern ultrasound tools allow technicians to not only locate leaks, but also document, quantify, and track them over time. This turns a leak survey into a measurable energy savings project rather than just a maintenance inspection.
- Scan while systems are operating, no shutdown required
- Tag and quantify leaks with reporting tools like LEAKReporter or SonaVu Insights
- Estimate energy cost and prioritize repairs
- Build repeatable inspection routes for ongoing leak management
Simplify compressed air leak detection with the SDT340, a condition monitoring data collector that combines airborne & contact ultrasound with vibration to capture the full health of production assets.
Learn MoreSonaVu+ is an acoustic imaging camera designed to thrive in tough industrial environments. It visualizes ultrasound to find compressed air, gas and vacuum leaks, electrical faults, mechanical anomalies and more.
Learn MoreSonaVu InSights™ transforms every inspection into a professional and actionable report. Documenting then ranking leaks based on severity and impact, while energy losses are calculated to prove ROI.
Learn MoreThe LEAKChecker is a cost-effective, purpose-built ultrasound tool for detecting, documenting, and repairing compressed air, gas, and vacuum leaks. Reduce energy waste and improve asset efficiency with the LEAKChecker
Learn MoreSDT Ultrasound Solutions Approach to Condition Monitoring Services
No two plants operate the same way. Our service team works with your maintenance and reliability staff to tailor inspections, reporting, and implementation to your site priorities, ensuring compressed air leak detection and other condition monitoring services deliver practical results.
01
Define the Scope
We define the survey scope to your compressed air system and site priorities.
02
Detect and Tag Leaks
Technicians scan your system while it remains in operation locating and tagging each leak.
03
Quantify and Report Losses
Prioritize repairs by reviewing the provided report with leak locations and estimated savings.
Working Together
Spend less time searching for leaks and more time improving system efficiency and reliability.
Partnering with SDT Ultrasound Solutions
SDT Ultrasound Solutions has been supporting industry for more than 50 years, helping organizations around the world get more out of their production processes, condition monitoring equipment and reliability strategy.
Our purpose-built solutions, training, and services empower you to reduce unplanned downtime, optimize maintenance schedules, and protect your mission-critical equipment. When you partner with SDT Ultrasound, you gain more than a vendor. You gain a proactive partner prepared to support your reliability journey with the tools, training, and partnership needed for success.
Compressed Air Leak Detection Frequently Asked Questions
Compressed air leak detection is the process of locating and documenting air escaping from a pressurized compressed air system. Using ultrasonic leak detection tools, technicians scan piping, fittings, hoses, regulators, and more, while the system is operating and under pressure to identify and quantify leaks.
During a compressed air leak survey, technicians use ultrasonic instruments to scan the distribution system while it remains in operation. Each leak is located, tagged, and documented so maintenance teams receive a report showing leak locations, estimated cost impact of the leaks, and notes to prioritize repairs.
Compressed air leak surveys are often delayed because maintenance teams are managing many competing priorities. Leak detection can also be time consuming without the right tools, dedicated resources, or established inspection processes.
Ultrasound is effective because leaking compressed air creates high-frequency turbulence as it escapes from a high-pressure system into the surrounding atmosphere. Ultrasonic instruments filter out audible noise, and through a process called heterodyning, they translate ultrasonic turbulence into an audible signal, allowing technicians to pinpoint leaks quickly and accurately.
Yes. Ultrasonic leak detection allows technicians to scan compressed air systems while they remain in operation. This means inspections can be performed without shutting down equipment or interrupting production.
It is common for facilities to lose 30–40% of their compressed air demand to leaks before a survey is conducted. These losses increase electricity costs, force compressors to run longer, and reduce available system pressure.
Common leak locations include pressure regulators, quick couplers, air hoses, and automatic drain traps. These components experience constant pressure changes, vibration, and wear, making them frequent sources of compressed air leaks.
Compressed air leak detection often delivers a very fast return on investment. In many cases, the energy savings identified during a single leak survey can pay for the service within the first few hours after repairs are made.
After the survey, you receive a report that documents leak locations, estimated air loss, energy cost impact, and repair priorities. This allows maintenance teams to focus on fixing the leaks that will produce the greatest savings.