Industrial Utility Efficiency

Air Compressors

Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference Show Report

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, and Brooke Jones, Digital Content Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 

From October 29-31, 2024, professionals who operate, maintain and design industrial compressed air, vacuum, blower, nitrogen generation, process cooling and HVAC systems gathered at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, for the 6th annual Best Practices 2024 EXPO & Conference. The event featured two tracks of conference presentations and panels.

Read Full Story

Piping and Ventilation Guidelines for Proper Air Compressor Installations

By Atlas Copco Compressors

In an ideal world, we would all have plenty of space, time and money to create the perfect compressed air system. In practice, we have to balance our ideals versus what we can actually accomplish. Compressed air systems take considerable forethought and planning to achieve a perfect install; however, we can use some key takeaways from this article even if we are ever faced a less than ideal installation. Remember to keep the compressors cool, minimize piping pressure drop and to allow sufficient room around the equipment for service.
[ Read Full Story ]

Plastics Plant Saves 55% in Energy with VSD Air Compressor and Sequencer

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

The plant produces both molded and blow molded plastic parts on a 5 day per week, three shift schedule. Production and maintenance sometimes occurs on weekends, occasionally requiring the air compressors to run on a 24 x 7 basis so the practice was to leave the compressed air system always pressurized. The system consisted of three modulating lubricated screw compressors one sized at 150 hp and the others 125 hp (3 units), each controlled with their local compressor controllers.
[ Read Full Story ]

The ITER Project Builds on Sauer Helium Compressors

By William Koester, J.P. Sauer & Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH

A spectacular vision is gradually becoming reality in Cadarache in the south of France. Modeled on the sun, the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) fusion system uses nuclear fusion to generate energy in order to secure humanity’s supply of electricity. One of the biggest challenges is the high temperature inside the reactor. Technology by Sauer Compressors is a key factor in cooling the reactor. The manufacturer has supplied the world’s largest system for helium recovery.
[ Read Full Story ]

Oil-Free Turbo Air Compressors from Finland

By Rod Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Timo Pulkki (CEO), Hannu Heinonen (President, Tamturbo Inc.) and Mike Batchelor (Director of Sales Americas) from Tamturbo. Since the 1960’s, the Tampere region in Finland has been a birthplace of several air compressor innovations – many of which involved Kimmo Laine, a co-founder of Tamturbo. Mr. Laine was a leader in R&D in the air compressor business for many years since the 1960s. This included bringing a high-speed turbo air compressor to market later at Tamturbo. Working together in the 1980’s in a division of Tamrock, called Tamrotor-where Hannu Heinonen also worked, Mr. Laine met a gentleman named Jaakko Säiläkivi.
[ Read Full Story ]

Compressor Room Advantages with Oil-Free Centrifugal Air Compressors

By the Compressed Air & Gas Institute - Centrifugal Compressor Section

Today’s industrial manufacturing environment is extremely competitive, requiring companies to constantly search for cost saving opportunities and better efficiencies. In many cases, manufacturers find that centrifugal air compressors are a successful method for reducing the overall plant costs involved in supplying compressed air.
[ Read Full Story ]

Compressed Air Purification Fundamentals-the Compressor’s Job

By Tim Dugan, P.E. President, Compression Engineering Corporation

The air we breathe and the air compressors ingest is a mixture of gases, aerosols, biological material, and particulates. It’s a real mess! Particulate, for instance, is very harmful to humans, because lungs are complex oxygen separators, not filters. They tend to load up with particulate, this is harmful over time. There isn’t a sufficient “pre-filter” to prevent all harmful particulate from entering the lungs. However, humans prefer water in the air, gas, aerosol, and to a certain level, liquid form. A de-humidifier would not typically be a healthy addition to our built environments.
[ Read Full Story ]

Applying Centrifugal Air Compressors for Variable Loads

By the Compressed Air & Gas Institute Centrifugal Compressor Section

There are many choices of compressor technology and types of controls that can be used for variable demands. Some examples are rotary screw compressors with inlet valve control: variable speed drives: load/unload control; or centrifugal compressors with variable inlet guide vanes. However, in many cases, the efficiency of the overall compression process can be reduced significantly during lower flow demands, leading to more power per unit of air flow being delivered. It is very important to evaluate different available options and see how a plant can run most efficiently.
[ Read Full Story ]

Centrifugal Air Compressor Controls and Sizing Basics

By Tim Dugan, P.E. President, Compression Engineering Corporation

Larger air compressors, typically over 500 hp, in refineries, pulp and paper plants, chemical and other processing plants often have high-speed, multi-stage air compressors called “centrifugal” air compressors. As seen from a total system perspective, they are not much different than screw air compressors. They compress air to plant pressure from atmospheric conditions, and deliver it to the dryer. These types of air compressors have no internal wearing parts, besides bearings and seals, and are very reliable and efficient, at their best efficiency point. 
[ Read Full Story ]

Overhauling an Air Compressor: Cost Control, Rigorous Testing and Quality Parts

By Ingersoll Rand 

Knowing when to overhaul a unit is important, and there are certain signs indicating a unit needs attention. Performing routine fluid checks, taking oil samples and routinely checking for bearing vibration can unveil indicators suggesting an upcoming failure. Oil contamination with metal fragments usually indicates parts are wearing. It’s also important to take notice of airend temperature increases. If internal air compressor temperatures go up, it’s a good indicator the cooler may be failing.
[ Read Full Story ]