TEST OF AIR COMPRESSOR

Carrido. San Jose. Suarilla

AIR COMPRESSORS
Air Compressor is a device that converts
power (using an electric motor, diesel or
gasoline, etc.) into potential energy stored in
pressurized air. It is a compressor that takes
in air at atmospheric pressure and delivers it
at a higher pressure.

PARTS OF AN AIR COMPRESSOR

MOTOR-An air compressor needs an

electric motor to power up the machine.
The motor basically drives two belts and
a pulley which allows the transfer of
power from the motor to the pump
pistons and this is done through a
flywheel and a crankshaft. One important
thing you need to install, to avoid motor
damage in the event of an overload, is a
magnetic starter.
COMPRESSOR PUMP-The pump is the
instrument that allows air to be
compressed and discharged into the
receiver. It is very common to have twostage air compressors and these require
two cylinder pumps to work. These
compressors can produce from 145-175
PSI by compressing the air twice. This is
done by first compressing the air in the
larger, low pressure cylinder, then onto
the smaller, high pressure cylinder.
TANK-This is the compressor part that
stores the air being compressed. It is the
biggest part of the air compressor and it
can range from 1-10 gallons or even
more for bigger construction needs. But
if your purpose of getting an air
compressor is just for DIY projects at
home and small construction jobs that
are mostly done by you, then you can
settle for 3 gallon tanks or less
depending on where you will be using
this.
PRESSURE SWITCH-The pressure
switch automatically shuts down the
motor when the receiver reaches the
factory-set limit. Once the pressure level
drops to a pre-set level then the pressure
switch restarts the motor therefore

resuming the pumping of air by the

compressor. You can call this as an
emergency switch that regulates how
much pressure your tank can take.
DRAIN VALVE-The main purpose of the
drain valve is exactly what its name
implies. It drains the oil, dirt, moisture,
and other debris that might be trapped
inside the tank. Simple maintenance of
air compressors entail draining a tank
from impurities and debris from use.
Moisture and oil are the most common
reasons for rust to develop inside the
tank when not drained.
PRESSURE GAUGE-This gauge
measures compressed air pressure in the
tank of the air compressor. It lets the
user know that there is a problem if the
measurement is higher than the
regulated normal limit and serves as a
warning to inspect the air compressor or
stop the compression before the gauge
reaches even higher measurements. On
the contrary, if the reading is very low
from the normal allowed measurement,
it also indicates a problem with the
compressor such as a leak in the tank.
This should also be checked right away
to avoid any more complications and
accidents.

BASICS OF AIR COMPRESSOR

CYLINDER ACTION - It can be single

acting or double acting
CYLINDER TYPE - Lubricated and Non
lubricated. In former type piston wearing
ring (e.g. TEFLON) is provided to
maintain proper clearance between
cylinder and piston.
PISTON DISPLACEMENT Actual travel
of piston in one stroke
COMPRESSION RATIO Ratio of
discharge pressure to the suction
pressure of one particular stage
VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY Ratio of
Actual capacity to the piston
displacement
COMPRESSOR EFFICIENCY Ratio of
actual work to the input work

PISTON SPEED (RPM) x (Stroke

length)

MODELS OF COMPRESSION

ISOTHERMAL COMPRESSION-This
model assumes that the compressed gas
remains at a constant temperature
throughout the compression or
expansion process.
ADIABATIC COMPRESSION-This model
assumes that no energy (heat) is
transferred to or from the during the
compression, and all supplied work is
added to the internal energy of the gas,
resulting in increases of temperature and
pressure.
POLYTROPIC COMPRESSION-This
model takes into account both a rise in
temperature in the gas as well as some
loss of energy (heat) to the compressors
components. Compression efficiency is
then the ratio temperature rise at the
theoretical 100 percent (adiabatic) vs.
actual (polytropic).

TYPES OF AIR COMPRESSORS

POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT
COMPRESSORS-Positive displacement
compressors draw in and capture volume
of air in a chamber, then reduce the
volume of the chamber to compress the
air.
a) RECIPROCATING COMPRESSORSReciprocating Compressors are
positive displacement compressors
and can be found in ranges from
fractional to very high horsepower.
Positive displacement air compressors
work by filling an air chamber with air
and then reducing the chambers
volume. It works in a very similar
manner as does as internal
combustion engine but basically in
reverse process.
SINGLE ACTING RECIPROCATING
COMPRESSOR-Single Acting means
that air is drawn in and compressed
on one side of the piston. The other
side is exposed to the crankcase of
the compressor. In this case, the

downward stroke of the piston draws

in the air, and the upward stroke
compresses it.
DOUBLE ACTING RECIPROCATING
COMPRESSOR-Double-acting
reciprocating compressor are similar
to single-acting, but they have inlet
and discharge valves on both sides
of the cylinder. This gives you two
compression cycles for every turn of
the crankshaft.
MULTI STAGE RECIPROCATING
COMPRESSOR-A multiple-stage
compressor pumps up the air to one
pressure, and then uses another
cylinder with a smaller diameter to
pump to a higher pressure. Normally
the air is cooled in between the
stages with an intercooler. This
intercooler is a finned tube that runs
from one head to another or to one
side of the head to the other.
Sometimes you'll see a full heat
exchanger, that looks like a radiator.
b) ROTARY COMPRESSORS
ROTARY SCREW COMPRESSORS
-Rotary Screw Compressors work on
the principle of air filling the void
between two helical mated screws
and their housing. As the two helical
screws are turned, the volume is
reduced resulting in an increasing of
air pressure.
ROTARY SLIDING VANE
COMPRESSORS-The compressor
pump consists primarily of a rotor,
stator, and 8 blades. The slotted
rotor is eccentrically arranged within
the stator providing a crescent
shaped swept area between the
intake and exhaust ports. As the
rotor turns a single revolution,
compression is achieved as the
volume goes from a maximum at the
intake ports to a minimum at the
exhaust port. The vanes are forced
outward from within the rotor slots
and held against the stator wall by
rotational acceleration. Oil is injected

into the air intake and along the

stator walls to cool the air, lubricate
the bearings and vanes, and provide
a seal between the vanes and the
stator wall. After the compression
cycle, the oil and air must be
separated before the air can be
transferred to the air system.
DYNAMIC-DISPLACEMENT
COMPRESSORS-Rather than physically
reducing the volume of a captured
pocket of air, dynamic compressors
instead speed up the air to high velocity,
and then restrict the air flow so that the
reduction in velocity causes pressure to
increase. They are oil-free by nature,
and some are oil-less.

a) CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSORS-They
use very high speed spinning impellers
(up to 60,000 rpm) to accelerate the
air then diffuser to decelerate the air.
This process, called dynamic
compression, uses velocity to cause
an increase in pressure. In most
Centrifugal compressors, there are
several of these impeller/diffuser
combinations. Typically, these
machines have intercoolers between
each stage to cool the air as well as
remove 100% of the condensate to
avoid impeller damage due to erosion.