A Guide To Compressors

Compressor Basics

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A Guide To Compressed Air Compressor Basics

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Types of Compressor
Displacement
These type of compressor seal a volume of a gas and then reduce the enclosed volume.

Oil-free Screw Compressors

These are twin screw compressors that do not have any cooling liquid inside the compression area. The rotors do not come into contact with each other or the compressor housing, removing the need for cooling.

Piston Compressors
This is the most common type of compressor and come in single acting, double acting, oil lubricated or oil free variants.

Liquid-injected Screw Compressors

These are basically oil-free screw compressors with a cooling liquid being used in the compression area and in the bearings. The purpose of liquid is to cool, lubricate and prevent leakage. Oil is commonly used for it good lubricating and sealing properties.

Diaphragm Compressors
Diaphragm compressors have mechanically or hydraulically acting diaphragms. Mechanical diaphragms are better at lower pressures and small flows while hydraulic diaphragms are commonly used at higher pressures.

Tooth Compressors
Tooth compressor operate with 2 rotors rotating in opposite direction. They draw air in the inlet and then compress the air by reducing the volume of the chamber it is trapped in. During this time the inlet is sealed by the rotors, and after compression the outlet is revealed by the rotors. Temperature difference between the inlet and outlet is the limiting factor with this compressor.
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Twin Screw Compressors

Twin screw compressor can be used in varying pressure conditions. They have male and female rotors that rotate in opposite directions while the volume between them decreases between them and the housing.

A Guide To Compressed Air Compressor Basics

Types of Compressor
Displacement
Scroll Compressors
These are usually oil free and produce little sound and vibration. The compression is done by eccentric rotating spirals that form air pockets with reducing volumes.

Vane Compressors
Rotor set of double tooth compressor

Vane compressor have to eccentric rotors that trap air in a volume and as they rotate will reduce the volume of the trapped air before letting it out of the outlet. They are usually oil lubricated.

Root Blowers
This is a valve-less compressor without any internal compression. Air comes in to the intake and then into the compression chamber, to be released to outlet and back into the housing. These are very noisy and not energy efficient and are only really used as vacuum pumps and pneumatic conveyance.

Root Blower Compressor

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Types of Compressor
Dynamic
These are sometimes called turbo compressors and come in axial and radial designs. Dynamic compressors work for a constant pressure at a constant flow.

Axial Compressors
Axial compressors have axial flow, in which the gases go along the shaft through rotating and stationary blades. The rotating blades increase the velocity of the gas and the stationary blades are used to convert the kinetic energy into pressure. Axial compressors are usually smaller and lighter than centrifugal compressor, and can therefore operate at higher speeds. They work best at constant high volume flow rates and a moderate pressure.

Centrifugal Compressors
These can be identified has the resulting flow of compressed air has a radial flow to it. They operate by taking air into the top end of an impeller and then forcing it using centrifugal force, into the lower volume bottom end of the impeller. They usually operate in multiple phases with a maximum compression ratio of 3. RPM of 15,000100,000 are not uncommon so oil film bearings are preferred to roller bearings. In oil free variants active magnetic bearings can be utilised. Every centrifugal compressor has to be sealed to reduce leakage around the shaft, at the point it enters the compressor housing. Labyrinth seals, ring seals and controlled gap seals are the most commonly used.

Modern Centrifugal Compressor

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Types of Compressor
Other
Vacuum Pumps
As the name suggests, these are used to compress vacuums back to atmospheric pressure and higher. Typically vacuum pumps will have a very high compression ratio and this means that multi-stage compression is common around the pressure range of 0.1 bar(a) to 1 bar(a).

Pressure Intensifiers
This is a type of booster compressor and is driven by the compressed air medium itself, which is commonly called the propellant. They are used in very specialised applications and are capable of converting 7 bar to 200 bar in a single stage or 1700 bar in multi stage. The pressure intensifiers are used where there is a very small volume flow rate. The pressure intensifier is more likely to be used with inert gases as with gases such as air, self-ignition is a hazard.

Booster Compressors
These compressors also work at a high compression ratio and are normally utilised when a large pressure loss has occurred due to a long pipeline or there is a sub-process that requires a high pressure. The compressors can be single stage or multi-stage, displacement or dynamic. Their power requirements increase with pressure ratio, and as the pressure ratio goes up the mass flow rate drops. The compression curves for booster compressors tend to be the same as the curves for vacuum pumps.

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Drying of Compressed Air

Drying Compressed Air
All air has some water content. Hotter air will have more water content than colder air. It is important considered the water in the air during compression as compression will increase the amount of water in the air, which can cause problems later on in pipe work and equipment. Therefore methods of drying are commonly used after compression. The Pressure Dew Point (PDP) is the temperature which the water in compressed air condensates back to liquid. The dew point at atmospheric pressure cannot be compared directly to the dew point of compressed air. Using a filter to remove moisture does not work as further cooling of the compressed air will lead to further condensation of water. The rule normally is the lower the dew point of the air the greater the cost of the drying equipment.

Process of Drying

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Drying of Compressed Air

After-cooler
This is basically a heat exchanger that will cool down the compressed air and condensate the water content in the air. They can be found to be utilising water or air as a coolant and usually come with a separator supplied and have automatic drainage. Usually between 80-90% of the water content is removed. After-coolers are now normally sold inclusive with modern compressors.

Over-Compression
One of the easiest drying methods available. Air is compressed to above working pressure, increasing the amount of water vapour in the air. The air is cooled and water is then separated. The air will then be allowed to get to working pressure with a lower PDP. Due to high energy consumption, this method is only suitable for low flow rates.

Absorption Drying
This is a chemical process that is rarely used. An absorbent such as sodium chloride or sulphuric acid is used, meaning corrosion must be taken into account.

Relationship between dew point and pressure dew point

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Drying of Compressed Air

Membrane Dryers
In a membrane dryer a cylinder contains thousands of hollow polymer fibres with an inner coating. Filtered, wet, compressed air enters the cylinder and the membrane coating allows water vapour to permeate through the membrane wall and collect between the fibres. The air continues along the cylinder and has minimal pressure loss. Another benefit of membrane drying is that minimal maintenance is required and they have a low power requirement.

Refrigerant Dryer
Refrigerant drying is a process that cools the air to remove large amounts of water. As the name suggests refrigerants are used in this process, and after cooling and condensing the compressed air is reheated to room temperature to prevent condensation on the outside of the pipe. They operate between dew points of 2 and 10oC. Legislation on the permitted refrigerants to be used in this process states that only refrigerants with a low Global Warming Potential (GWP) can be used.

Typical parameter changes

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Filters
Particle diffusion occurs when a very small particle does not follow streamlines, because of Brownian motion and moves randomly across the flow. This mechanism is more and more important when the particle sizes are smaller. The particle separating efficiency of a filter is always a compromise. Particle filters will have different efficiencies at different particle sizes. All types of filtering result in a pressure drop and the finer the mesh of the filter the greater the pressure drop across the filter. Furthermore the finer the filter the often it will become clogged and need to be replaced.

The particles in the air stream that are smaller than 1mm can be removed using filters that will utilise 3 different mechanisms. These are impaction, interception and diffusion. Impaction occurs when large particles at high gas velocities do not follow the streamline around the fibres and instead impact with a fibre. This mechanism occurs with relatively larger particles and is more important the larger the particle becomes. Interception is when a particle does follow the streamline, but the radius of the particle is large the distance between the fibres.
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Control and Regulation

Applications will normally require a constant pressure to be supplied into the system. This means that the air going into the system needs to be regulated. This can be done by various different means. The method used will depend on the type of compressor, acceptable pressure variation and acceptable energy consumption. In a typical system energy consumption can represent 80% of the life cycle cost of a compressor, so the regulation system choice if done correctly can make a big difference. In an ideal world the compressors full capacity would match the required in the system.

Throttling the Inlet

This works by reducing the flow rate through the inlet. The reduced flow rate is achieved by increasing the pressure ratio across the compressor. The method is limited to a small range and creates a high energy requirement.

Pressure Relief with Throttled Inlet

This method is the most commonly used as it has a maximum regulation range with low energy consumption. The inlet valve is kept closed, with a small opening used as a blow off valve that releases discharge air from the compressor. The compressor therefore has a vacuum in the inlet and low counter pressure. This system requires an air receiver.

Pressure Relief
This is the most well known method for pressure regulation, and exist in spring loaded and serve valve variants. The flow has to work against the spring or servo resulting in a lot of work having to be done by the compressor, meaning higher energy costs.

Start/stop
Compressors below 10kW are sometimes controlled by turning the compressor off when the upper level of required pressure is on and turning the compressor back on when the lower level is reached. This method requires that there is a large difference between the upper and lower levels. The method is energy efficient if the number of starts is kept low.

Bypass
This is the same as pressure relief but the excess gas is not released into the atmosphere but taken back to the compressor inlet.

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Control and Regulation

Speed Regulation
Speed regulation involves controlling the speed of the motor that is connected to the compressor. This can control the flow rate. It is a good efficient method for controlling outgoing pressure and lowering energy consumption.

Variable Discharge Port

This method is related to screw compressors and controls the flow rate by moving the outlet along the screw. This method is not common and can have high power consumptions.

Suction Valve Unloading

Piston compressors are sometimes regulated by mechanically forcing the inlet valves open. This means air is pump in and out of the inlet valve. Energy loss is minimal, often less than 10%.

Load-Unload-Stop
This method is used for compressors with a capacity of greater than 5kW. It is a combination of the stop/start method and other off loading system.

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Dimensioning Installations
Compressor Unit

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Dimensioning Installations
Air Treatment

A Guide To Compressed Air Compressor Basics

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Dimensioning Installations
Cooling and Energy Recovery

A Guide To Compressed Air Compressor Basics

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Dimensioning Installations
Compressor Room and Air Distribution

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Dimensioning Installations
Electrical

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Dimensioning Installations
Sound

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Maintenance and Economy

General Cost

A Guide To Compressed Air Compressor Basics

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Maintenance and Economy

Possible Savings

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