SIERRA®
50 - 400 HP (37 - 300 kW)
AIRCOOLED ONLY
SIERRA® OIL-FREE ROTARY SCREW AIR COMPRESSOR
COMPRESSED AIR FLOW SCHEMATIC - OPERATION
System Flow Schematic -
Airside
Atmospheric air is drawn through
the inlet air filter (1), through the
butterfly throttle valve (2) into the
first stage airend (3). The first
stage airend compresses the at-
mospheric air to 25 - 35 psig. The
compressed air then flows
through a pulsation dampener (4),
used to remove any pressure
pulsations, into the intercooler.
The aircooled intercooler (5) re-
duces the air temperature before
it enters the second stage airend.
The air then flows through the
moisture separator (7). Moisture
which may have been condensed
by the intercooler, is separated
and allowed to flow to drain (14).
The cooled air flows out of the
separator through an expansion
joint into the second stage airend
(8).
The second stage airend com-
presses the air to the desired pres-
sure. The high pressure air then
flows through the second stage
pulsation dampener (9), through
the discharge check valve (10)
and into the aftercooler (12).
The aftercooler reduces the tem-
perature of the compressed air to
approximately 25°F above the
ambient air temperature.
The cooled air flows then into the
second stage moisture separator
(13). Condensed moisture is
separated to drain (14) and the
cool, clean oil-free air flows into
the plant air system.
During full load operation, the in-
let throttle valve (2) is fully open
and the blow-off valve (18) is fully
closed.
During unloaded operation the in-
let throttle valve (2) is fully closed
and the blowoff valve (18) is fully
open.
The open blow-off valve vents off
any compressed air in the com-
pressor through the blow-off si-
lencer (19) to vent.
The action of both the inlet throttle
(2) and the blow-off (18) valves
are controlled by the load/unload
control cylinder (17).
The inlet throttle and blow-off
valves are mechanically inter-
locked to provide for simultaneous
operation of both valves during
load and unloading.
 SIERRA®
50 - 400 HP (37 - 300 kW)
AIRCOOLED ONLY

SIERRA® OIL-FREE ROTARY SCREW AIR COMPRESSOR

LUBRICATION SCHEMATIC - OPERATION

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Although the SIERRA® compres-
sor is an oil-free compressor, the
bearings and gears contained
within the compression module
require a continuous supply of
clean, cool lubricating oil to in-
sure long and reliable airend/gear
life. The lubrication system used
on the SIERRA® compressor con-
sists of the following major com-
ponents:
• Gearcase Oil Sump
• Positive Displacement Oil Pump
• Pressure Relief Valve
• Aircooled Oil Cooler
• Oil Temperature Control Valve
• Oil Filter
• Oil Manifold
• Gearcase Breather
LUBRICATION SYSTEM
OPERATION
The direct driven oil pump draws
oil out of the sump through a
strainer. The oil flows out of the
pump to the oil cooler and oil
temperature control valve.
Oil pressure is controlled by a
flow control orifice. Excess pres-
sure is returned to the sump.
Cool oil from the oil cooler is
blended with the warm oil from
the sump to maintain the de-
sired operating temperature.
The blended oil from the control
valve flows into the oil manifold
for distribution to all gears, bear-
ings, second stage airend cool-
ing jacket and capacity control
system. In the 50 to 100 HP (37
-75 kW) units, the first stage airend
has oil cooled jackets, too.
Hot oil from all lubrication points,
along with oil from the capacity
control system is returned to the
gearcase sump.