Tag: compressor room

Turn Your One Bedroom Fixer-upper Compressor Room into a Pent House Suite!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

First lets paint a picture, by starting with my first 400 Sq.Ft Bachelor pad in Holland Michigan. It was my first time after college living on my own and paying my own room and board! So I did what every fresh out of college 25-year-old male does, I scoured the internet for the cheapest possible living arrangements! And that was a one bedroom(ish) apartment that was one of three rentals they made from a small 1,500 Sq.ft house! It was rough, I could smell the smoke from my neighbors. I could tell what they were having for dinner by the smell and I could hear EVERYTHING! Needless to say the conditions were not the best to relax and properly live my life. (Just had a little PTSD thinking about it)

Yeah, that was a problem too……… (Longest 6 months of my Life)

I said all of that just to say the Environment Matters! For me, it was my living conditions and I learned that the hard way! But for your Air compressor it’s the compressor room in which it sits! While we don’t sell compressors, pretty much all of our products use compressed air so helping you generate and use it in the best and most efficient way is important to us!

Some of the mistakes that are commonly made in the compressor room are by design, and others are operational. Let’s cover a few;

  • Poor ventilation: Air compressors get hot. They’ve got a lot of moving parts, and many of those parts are moving under a great amount of force (pressure is literally defined as force per unit area), and at a high rate of speed. Add in the heat of compression (it takes energy to compress air, and that energy has to go somewhere, (something another colleague, John Ball, explains here). Add in all that friction, and you come up with a TREMENDOUS amount of heat. An industry rule of thumb, in fact, states that over 2500 Btu/hr of heat is generated, PER HORSEPOWER, by a typical industrial air compressor. If the compressor room isn’t big enough, you’ll need an exhaust fan capable of removing all that heat. Many compressors also have optional heat recovery systems as well.
  • Lack of filtration: Take a good, full breath in through your nose, right now. Did you smell anything unpleasant or irritating? I hope not…clean air is a “must” for your lungs (and the rest of your body), and the same is true for your air compressor (and the rest of your compressed air system). Keeping up with the maintenance on the intake filter is literally “starting where it all begins”…from the 1st paragraph.
  • Not removing moisture: Water & water vapor will have an adverse effect on many components of your compressed air system: it’ll cause rust in iron pipes, damage the seals in air cylinders, motors, tools, etc., and if you use it for blow off or conveying, it’ll contaminate your product.
  • Leaks: The compressor room is loud, so leaks are going to be pretty big before you can hear them. And to add insult to injury, the vibration of a running compressor makes the compressor room a prime location for them to occur. Even one small leak that you couldn’t hear in a quieter area will cost you over $100 over the course of the year, and maybe only take minutes to fix. Good news is, even if you can’t hear them, they ALL make an ultrasonic signature, and we’ve got something for that.
  • Ignoring maintenance. If you don’t schedule planned maintenance, your equipment will schedule “corrective” maintenance for you…oftentimes at greater expense, and with no regard to your schedule.
    • Moving metal parts that make metal-to-metal contact (or that have very tight spacing tolerances) HAVE to be lubricated properly. If you run low on oil, or let it get dirty or emulsified, severe damage will follow. Keeping an eye on the oil level, and changing it (and the filter) at the manufacturer’s recommended intervals, is critical.
    • Emulsified or otherwise contaminated oil can damage seals, gaskets, and o-rings. That’s obviously a big problem for the compressor, and when it carries over into the header, it’s a big problem for pneumatic cylinders & tools as well. Periodic sampling & analysis of your oil can provide timely notice of issues that can be corrected before they become catastrophic failures.
    • Depending on the type of compressor, and its drive system, the manufacturer’s maintenance recommendations may also include:
      • Checking coupling or belt alignment of the drive.
      • Checking bolts for loosening due to vibration (a “necessary evil”, especially with reciprocating compressors).
      • Adjusting the pistons to maintain valve plate clearance.
      • Tightening or replacing the mounts & vibration pads.

Don’t put your compressor in a room that smells like a cigarette butt covered in cooking grease that is infested with cockroaches. Set it up in the pent house, and it will reward you with dependable and efficient operation for a very long time! If you’d like to find out more about how EXAIR Corporation can help you get the most out of your compressed air system, give me a call.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

German Cockroach image courtesy of Sarah Camp , Creative Commons License.

Intelligent Compressed Air®: Common Compressor Room Mistakes, And How To Avoid Them

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

While we don’t sell, install, or service air compressors, EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products run on compressed air, so helping you get the most out of your compressed air system is important to us. Today, we’re starting where it all begins: the compressor room.

Some of the mistakes that are commonly made in the compressor room are by design, and others are operational. My colleague Tyler Daniel wrote a great blog on design considerations recently, so I’m going to focus on the operational aspects, which include maintenance…and maybe some minor design stuff:

  • Poor ventilation: Air compressors get hot. They’ve got a lot of moving parts, and many of those parts are moving under a great amount of force (pressure is literally defined as force per unit area), and at a high rate of speed. Add in the heat of compression (it takes energy to compress air, and that energy has to go somewhere, something another colleague, John Ball, explains here), to all that friction and you come up with a TREMENDOUS amount of heat. An industry thumbrule, in fact, states that over 2500 Btu/hr of heat is generated, PER HORSEPOWER, by a typical industrial air compressor. If the compressor room isn’t big enough, you’ll need an exhaust fan capable of removing all that heat.
  • Lack of filtration: Take a good, full breath in through your nose, right now. Did you smell anything unpleasant or irritating? I hope not…clean air is a “must” for your lungs (and the rest of your body), and the same is true for your air compressor (and the rest of your compressed air system). Keeping up with the maintenance on the intake filter is literally “starting where it all begins”…from the 1st paragraph.
  • Not removing moisture: Water & water vapor will have an adverse effect on many components of your compressed air system: it’ll cause rust in iron pipes, damage the seals in air cylinders, motors, tools, etc., and if you use it for blow off or conveying, it’ll contaminate your product. We’ve written…again and again…about the importance of dryers, and which type might be best for you.
  • Tolerating leaks: The compressor room is loud, so leaks are going to be pretty big before you can hear them. And to add insult to injury, the vibration of a running compressor makes the compressor room a prime location for them to occur. Even one small leak that you couldn’t hear in a quieter area will cost you over $100 over the course of the year, and maybe only take minutes to fix. Good news is, even if you can’t hear them, they ALL make an ultrasonic signature, and we’ve got something for that.
EXAIR Model 9061 Ultrasonic Leak Detector “finds them all, big or small!”
  • Ignoring maintenance. If you don’t schedule planned maintenance, your equipment will schedule corrective maintenance for you…oftentimes at greater expense, and with no regard to your schedule.
    • Moving metal parts that make metal-to-metal contact (or that have very tight spacing tolerances) HAVE to be lubricated properly. If you run low on oil, or let it get dirty or emulsified, severe damage will follow. Keeping an eye on the oil level, and changing it (and the filter) at the manufacturer’s recommended intervals, is critical.
    • Emulsified or otherwise contaminated oil can damage seals, gaskets, and o-rings. That’s obviously a big problem for the compressor, and when it carries over into the header, it’s a big problem for pneumatic cylinders & tools as well. Periodic sampling & analysis of your oil can provide timely notice of issues that can be corrected before they become catastrophic failures.
    • Depending on the type of compressor, and its drive system, the manufacturer’s maintenance recommendations may also include:
      • Checking coupling or belt alignment of the drive.
      • Checking bolts for loosening due to vibration (a “necessary evil”, especially with reciprocating compressors).
      • Adjusting the pistons to maintain valve plate clearance.
      • Tightening or replacing the mounts & vibration pads.

If you’d like to find out more about how EXAIR Corporation can help you get the most out of your compressed air system, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Image courtesy of PEO ACWA Some rights reserved Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Compressed Air Distribution System, Keeping Pressure Drop to a Minimum

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Compressed air is used to operate pneumatic systems within a facility, and it can be separated into three categories; the supply side, the demand side, and the distribution system.  The supply side is the air compressor, after-cooler, dryer, and receiver tank that produce and treat the compressed air.  They are generally located in a compressor room somewhere in the corner of the plant.  The demand side is the collection of devices that will use that compressed air to do “work”.  These pneumatic components are generally scattered throughout the facility.  To connect the supply side to the demand side, a compressed air distribution system is required.  Distribution systems are pipes which carry the compressed air from the compressor to the pneumatic devices.  For a sound compressed air system, the three sections have to work together to make an effective and efficient system.

An analogy that I like to use is to compare the compressed air system to an electrical system.  The air compressor would be considered the voltage source, and the pneumatic devices would be marked as light bulbs.  To connect the light bulbs to the voltage source, electrical wires are needed which will represent the distribution system.  If the gauge of the wire is too small to supply the light bulbs, the wire will heat up and a voltage drop will occur.  This heat is given off as wasted energy, and the light bulbs will be dim.  The same thing happens within a compressed air system.  If the piping size is too small, a pressure drop will occur.  This is also wasted energy.  In both types of systems, wasted energy is wasted money.  One of the largest systematic problems with compressed air systems is pressure drop.  If too large of a pressure loss occurs, the pneumatic equipment will not have enough power to operate effectively and efficiently.  As shown in the illustration below, you can see how the pressure decreases from the supply side to the demand side.  With a properly designed distribution system, energy can be saved; and, in referencing my analogy above, it will keep the lights on.

Pressure Drop Chart

To optimize the compressed air system, we need to reduce the amount of wasted energy.  This can be caused from leaks or pressure drop.   Leaks can be hidden and are typically located at connections within the distribution system.  In a poorly maintained system, a study found that 30% of the compressor capacity is lost through air leaks on average.  Even though leaks are the “silent killer” to a compressed air system, they can be found with the Ultrasonic Leak Detector. 

Pressure drop is more of a wide range issue.  It is based on restrictions, obstructions, and piping surface.  Out of these, restrictions are the most common types of pressure drops. The air flow is forced into small areas, causing high velocities.  The high velocity creates turbulent flow which increases the losses in air pressure.  Flow within the pipe is directly related to the velocity times the square of the diameter.  So, if you cut the I.D. of the pipe by one-half, the flow rating will be reduced by 25% of the original rating.  Restriction type of pressure drop can be found in different forms like small diameter pipes or tubing; restrictive fittings like quick disconnects and needle valves, and undersized filters, regulators and valves.

As a rule, air velocities will determine the correct pipe size for the distribution system.  It is beneficial to oversize the pipe to accommodate for any expansions in the future.  For header pipes, the velocities should not be more than 20 feet/sec (6 meter/sec).  For the distribution lines, the velocities should not exceed 30 feet/sec (9 meter/sec).  In following these simple rules, the distribution system can effectively supply the necessary compressed air from the supply side to the demand side.

To have a properly designed distribution system, the pressure drop should be less than 10% from the reservoir tank to the point-of-use.  By following the tips above, you can have the supply side, demand side, and distribution system working at peak efficiency.  If you would like to reduce waste even more, EXAIR offers a variety of efficient, safe, and effective compressed air products to fit within the demand side.  This will include the EXAIR Super Air Knives, Super Air Nozzles, and Safety Air Guns.  This would be the pneumatic equivalent of changing those incandescent light bulbs into LED light bulbs.  If you wish to go further in optimizing your system, an Application Engineer at EXAIR will be happy to help you. 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Photo:  Lightbulb by qimono.  Pixabay Licence

Pressure Drop Chart by Compressed Air Challenge Organization.

Critical Factors to Consider When Designing Your Compressor Room

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

One common thing that can be easily overlooked is the importance of designing an efficient compressor room. After you’ve determined your overall requirements and selected the appropriate compressor, you can begin designing the layout of your compressor room. For starters, the compressor room should be located in a central location when possible, close to the point of use. This will help to minimize pressure drop as well as reduce installation costs as less piping will be required. If this isn’t possible, try to keep the compressor room close to the larger volume applications in your facility. Otherwise you will have to use larger diameter piping in order to ensure an adequate volume of air is available.

The diameter of the distribution piping should NOT be based on the connection size of the compressors, aftercoolers, or filters. According to the Compressed Air Challenge Best Practices for Compressed Air Systems handbook, piping should be sized so that the maximum velocity in the pipe is 30 ft/sec. When the distance between the compressor room and the point of use is lengthy, consider increasing the pipe diameter to minimize the pressure drop across the system.

Inside of your compressor room you’ll have a variety of different equipment, all dependent on the demand, quality, supply, storage, and distribution of your compressed air. Keeping all of the equipment in its own room will also provide some insulation from the noise associated with compressed air generation. It is crucial that the space selected as your compressor room is sufficiently large enough to accommodate everything without becoming cramped. As a general rule of thumb, keep about 3′ of space between equipment such as the compressor, receiver tanks, aftercooler, and dryer. This helps to prevent equipment from overheating as well as offers maintenance personnel adequate space with which to perform any regularly scheduled maintenance or repairs.

Once you’ve selected your equipment, piping, and determined the location, another thing to consider is ventilation. As compressed air is generated, the compressor gives off a good amount of heat. It is important that the exhaust air is not permitted to re-circulate throughout the compressor room. The exhaust needs to be ducted so that it the warm air is not drawn in at the air intake on the compressor. Some equipment, such as refrigerated dryers, require a substantial amount of cooling air. In these situations, an exhaust fan can be used to provide that additional airflow.

To further enhance the efficiency of your facility, the heat generated from compression can be re-purposed instead of simply exhausting into the ambient environment. This process is commonly referred to as compressed air energy recovery. Some industries require a source of heat for many of their manufacturing processes. In these scenarios, the heat energy that is produced during compression can be reused rather than having to generate another source of heated air. If the heated air can’t be used for any of your manufacturing processes, the heat can be used as a means to heat your water supply or even to heat the facility itself. This can drastically reduce your electricity or gas requirements during cooler periods.

To reduce the amount of required maintenance and ensure that your compressor is operating as efficiently as possible, the compressed air intake must also be free from particulate and harmful gases. When dust and dirt is drawn into the compressor, it can cause wear on the internal components. If the ambient environment contains a lot of dust and particulate, a pre-filter can be used to prevent any future problems. In these instances, it is important to consider the pressure drop that will be caused when designing the system.

Keeping these tips in mind will serve to make your life much easier in the long run. Once you have everything installed and set up, visit the EXAIR website or give us a call to speak with an Application Engineer. EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air Products  can help you reduce compressed air consumption and increase worker safety by adhering to both OSHA 1910.242(b) and 1910.95.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

Image Courtesy of  thomasjackson1345 Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)