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.

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Kaishan USA - All In with Global Manufacturing and Engineering Center

By Mike Grennier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Today Kaishan USA, operates its global manufacturing and engineering center in Loxley, Alabama. The goal of the company, said compressed air industry veteran and Kaishan USA CEO Keith Schumacher, was to put the right pieces in place from the very beginning. “To that end, we’ve invested $20 million in our facility and created a team allowing us to develop technologies and manufacture products not only for the Americas, but also for export globally,” Schumacher said.  
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Lubricants for Centrifugal Air Compressors

By the Compressed Air & Gas Institute

Centrifugal air compressors efficiently convert energy utilizing a series of stages to compress and cool the air as it continuously flows through the unit. A centrifugal compressor imparts kinetic energy into the airstream by increasing the velocity of the air using a rotating element and then converts this kinetic energy into potential energy in the form of pressure. In between each stage of compression, the air is cooled, and excess moisture is removed to further increase the efficiency and air quality. 
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Why a Centrifugal Air Compressor May Be the Better Choice

By Richard Huguenor, Business Development Manager for Oil Free Products at Sullair, LLC.

When selecting an air compressor for your manufacturing operation, the common choice is the industry-standard rotary screw compressor. Known as the work horse of compressed air machinery, the rotary screw compressor comes in a multitude of sizes and power levels. However, centrifugal compressors have seen some exciting technological progress in recent years and offer a wide range of pressures, flow and turndown. Long known for their longevity and durability, they offer higher efficiency, even qualifying for energy rebate programs offered by local utilities and all, notably, produce Class 0 oil free air.
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Importance of Maintaining Screw Air Compressor Valves

By ELGi North America

Conventionally when we talk about oil lubricated screw air compressor maintenance, it is mostly about replacing consumables such as filters and lubricant on time. While these consumables have a defined usable life and have a direct effect on the efficiency and the life of the air compressor itself when not replaced on time, there are a few critical valves in the air compressor that require maintenance as well. 
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Air Compressor Inlet Issues with Airborne Contaminants

By Hank van Ormer and Don van Ormer, Air Power USA

Just as many ambient air issues with regard to the actual equipment operating environment are created by personnel and can be corrected by personnel, inlet air contamination is always created by humans and there is almost always a correction that will either eliminate the issue or mitigate the effect.
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Selecting the Right Food Grade Lubricant for Your Air Compressor

By Ingrid Ooms, Global Technology Manager, Anderol B.V. 

Growing awareness of the importance of food grade lubricants for consumer safety and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations, as well as increasing consciousness about Kosher and Halal registrations triggered an increasing demand for high performance food grade lubricants.
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Delivering Value Starts with Compressed Air Sales Engineer Training

By Mike Grennier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

Uptime. Profitability. Quality. Sustainability. Those goals are shared by leading manufacturers who have another thing in common: They use compressed air to achieve their goals, which is why those who make, sell and service compressed air systems say anything less than top-notch training of sales engineers is unthinkable considering how the sales team directly influences whether a compressed air system will fall woefully short, or deliver immeasurable value for years on end.
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Air Compressor Sizing for High Ambient Temperatures

By Neil Mehltretter, Technical Director, Kaeser Compressors

Room temperature, or ambient temperature, has a significant effect on plant operation. The amount of space, or lack thereof, for compressed air equipment and the cooling flow all have an important impact on plant operation; because if the air compressors are down; so are you!
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Exploring the Total Cost of Ownership of Oil-Injected vs. Oil-Free Compressed Air Systems

By Sullair

The purity of the compressed air that contacts finished goods and their packaging is scrutinized more than ever before. As a result, oil-free air compressors comprise a larger segment of the compressed air market than ever before. In fact, Grand View Research, Inc. projects a CAGR of 4.8% for the oil-free market as compared to a CAGR of 3.8% for the market as a whole (2019-2025).
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