Air Compressors
Basic Understanding of
Compressors
E.T.Masih
Type of Compressors & Basic
Fundamentals
Although air compressor operating specifications may
look the same on paper, their fundamental designs
and controls can make major differences in how they
perform.
Every compressed-air system begins with a
compressor - the source of airflow for all the
downstream equipment and processes.
Basic Fundamentals
The main parameters:
Capacity
Pressure
Horsepower
Duty cycle
It is important to remember that -
Capacity does the work.
Pressure affects the rate at which work is done.
Basic Fundamentals
There are a number of basic air compressor designs -
and variations of them but they all fall into two
general categories:
Positive displacement and Dynamic.
Although the operating specifications for two different
types of air compressors may be very similar on the
surface.
Other installation and performance factors can make
one design superior to the other in a real-world
application.
Types of Compressors
Reciprocating compressors:
Reciprocating compressors are positive-displacement
units that trap a charge of air and then physically
reduce the space that confines it, causing its pressure
to increase.
There are three basic selection decisions that must be
made about reciprocating compressors:
• Single- or double-acting operation,
• Single- or multi-stage configuration
• Air or water-cooling
Types of Compressors
Air-cooled units are generally designed for 50% to 75%
duty cycles
In water-cooled compressors, integral water jackets
surround the cylinders and heads.
Heat transfers through the metal to the water - more
effectively than through metal to air.
Most air-compressor manufacturers promote the two-
stage compressor as the optimum machine for
producing 100-psi class air - the base pressure level in
most industrial plants.
Types of Compressors
Oil-cooled rotary-screw compressors:
The rotary-screw compressor is
another positive-displacement
machine.
In an analogy with the reciprocating
compressor, the male rotor is like a
piston, pushing air along the female
rotor, which is like the cylinder.
The unique characteristic of this
compressor is that it is cooled by oil.
Types of Compressors
Continuous duty:
Compared to other types of continuous-duty air
compressors, oil-cooled rotary-screw compressors
offer a number of advantages:
• Oil cooling holds internal temperatures to an optimum level. As
a result, discharge air is relatively cool -no more than about 180°
F higher than ambient.
• Discharge air is clean - free from burned oil or carbon.
• The rotary design lends itself to higher speeds, particularly in
the larger sizes.
• Electric-motor-driven models are commercially available rated
from 75 to 85 dB at one meter per the CAGI Pneurop Test Code.
Types of Compressors
(The Compressed Air and Gas Institute (CAGI), the primary
compressed air industry trade association, has developed
performance testing standards.)
• Most models have fewer moving parts, and those parts run
under more ideal conditions - resulting in lower
temperatures and less vibration.
• Fewer parts make it easier to stock them for the rotary
designs, and the machines are easier to work on.
Oil-cooled rotary-screw compressors offer users a
continuous duty source of compressed air.
Types of Compressors
Non-lubricated rotary screw and lobe:
In addition to the non-lubricated reciprocating
compressors that have become so common over the
years, there are several versions of non-lubricated
positive-displacement lobe or screw rotary
compressors.
These units are referred to as clearance-type
compressors because the internal parts do not
contact each other
Types of Compressors
Because these are rotary units, they enjoy all the
advantages of rotaries over similar-sized non-
lubricated reciprocating units:
• Compact size,
• Smooth delivery of cool air,
• Ease of installation, and
• Simple (but critical) maintenance
Disadvantages:
• More sensitive to dirty inlet air.
• Lower efficiency - resulting in higher power cost.
