AIR

COMPRESSOR

Introduction
Air compressor is a thermal machine used for
repeated compression of gasses known as
atmospheric air to produce high-pressure air.
Air is compressed of mainly 23% oxygen and 76%
nitrogen by mass along with small quantities of their
gasses such as carbon dioxide, argon, helium, neon
and water vapors
It is a main constituent of air near perfect gases; a
mixture of them will behave as a perfect gas,
following Boyle and Charles law. When air
compressed its temperature and pressure increase
as it volume is reduced.

Compressed air is used on board ship for a

number of purposes and at varying pressures
depending on that purpose.

High-pressure air 25 to 40 bar for the starting and

reversing of diesel engines by two or three stagereciprocating units.
Medium pressure air 7 bar for general service air,
deck air pneumatic systems, power positioners, servo
mechanisms and air puff soot blowers single or two
stage-reciprocating units.
Medium/low pressure air 4 and 5 bar pneu-press
and grinell sprinkler by single or two stagereciprocating units or by rotary vane units.
Low-pressure air 2 bar pneumatic control systems
by single stage or rotary vane units

Usage of compressed air

Onboard merchant vessels, the compressed air is
now actually the lifeblood of the ship for various
operations ranging from diesel engine starting to
cleaning purposes.
On land itself, Air compressors of various designs are
widely used throughout facilities in numerous
applications including the operation of equipment and
portable tools.
However compressed air may divided into three
different uses as follow;
Starting operation
Controller
General usage

Starting operation
(average 25 to 40 Bar)
Starting the compression ignition diesel engine
required total capacity normally 30 Bar or related
to it requirement with total capacity of the air
bottle must generally be sufficient to start 12
times consecutively of a reversible engine and 6
time for non reversible engine.
On generator starting air bottle system normally
connected to emergency air compressor driven
by small engine or manual operated
Prior to starting and finished with engine, blow
down or blow true is taken to remove any
condensate or residue in cylinder through
opened indicator cock in order to avoid damage
due to hydraulic lock

Controller - Control Air

(region1.4 to 7 Bar)
Pneumatically controlled controller or
instruments such as pressure, temperature,
level, speed, flow etc controller and valve
positional with working pressure usually fall
into the region1.4 to 7 Bar.
This variety of pressure may be obtained by
using a small reducing valve or solenoid
valve to supply air at the correct value

General usage (4 to 7 Bar)

Generally compressed air are used for any kind of tools which is
operated by compressed air to perform their duty such as
drilling machine, impact wrenches, hand grinder, lifting gear etc
considered as pneumatic tools.
Some additional auxiliary or deck machinery operated by
compressed air such as Wilden pump, lifeboat davit etc
Hydraulic jack for even tightening any of the studs now are
commonly used also use compressed air even some engine
makers design fuel injector testing using compressed air
system to ensure the injectors condition. Water Pressure Test
too.
A part from those usages, compressed air widely used for
cleaning purpose such as dust and cleaning at the narrow
space in such situation where brush and finger tips cannot be
reach the place where the cleaning should be made.
Cleaning any dust from the electrical machinery e.g. alternator,
motor etc

Requirements
Two starting air compressors must be fitted, of
sufficient total capacity to meet the engine
requirements.
Each compressor must be able to press up air receiver from
15 to 25 bar in thirty minutes
Two air receivers must be provided
Total air receiver capacity is to be sufficient for twelve starts
of reversible engines and six starts for non-reversible engine

Additional one diesel driven or hand operated (or if

possible both) emergency air compressor must be
fitted to start auxiliary engines of a dead ship
Safety valves or preferably bursting discs must be
fitted on the cooling water casing to give ample relief
of pressure, should an air cooling tube burst
Cont.

 Each compressor must have a safety valve designed

so that the accumulated pressure, with the outlet
valve closed, will not exceed 10% of the maximum
working pressure .
The air compressor cylinders, covers, intercoolers
and after coolers are tested by hydraulic pressure to
twice their working pressure
The casing of the inter cooler and after cooler is
hydraulic tested 1.5 times cooling water pressure.
Thus for 4 Bar cooling water pressure, the casing will
be tested at 6 Bar pressure
A water separator or drain should be fitted on the air
side of each intercooler. The drain cock should be
used at regular intervals to prevent water from one
stage being carried into the following stages

Chart of air compressor

A IR C O M P R E S S O R
IN T E R M IT T E N T
FLOW

C O N T IN U O U S
FLOW

P o s i t iv e D i s p l a c e m e n t

D y n a m ic

E je c t o r

R e c ip ro c a t in g

R o ta ry

R a d ia l f lo w

M ix e d f lo w

A x ia l f lo w

M e c h a n ic a l p is t o n

S lid in g v a n e
L i q u id r i n g
h e lic a l s c r e w
s t r a ig h t lo b e

c e n t rif u g a l

M ix e d f lo w

A x ia l

Classification
Compressor can be classified according to
the principle of compression as follow;
Positive displacement compressor
Dynamic compressor

In addition some of special designed

compressor are used for specific purpose
further defined by:

The number of compression stages

Method of cooling (air, water, oil)
Drive method (motor, engine, steam, other)
How they are lubricated (oil, oil-free)
Packaged or custom-built

Multi stage compressors

They are used for three reasons:

By cooling between stages the air is kept in a

moderate temperature range,
By cooling between stages less work is
required to compress a given quantity of air
to a required pressure.
Lubrication difficulties will be minimised by
keeping air temperatures as low as possible.

 Temperatures in excess of 200C tend to carbonise

oil-leaving gum and carbon deposits on piston
rings and delivery valves. This in turn leads to
further problems and an impairment of the
efficiency of the machine.
Rotary vane units are limited by gas slip past the
seals and a differential of about 7 bars per stage is
about the limit.
The capacity of an air compressor is measured by
the number of cubic metres of free air discharged
per minute.

 The volumetric efficiency of an air

compressor is measured by the number of
cubic meters' of free air discharged per
minute compared with the displacement of
the LP piston in cubic meters' per minute.
Modern air compressors have a volumetric
efficiency of between 80 to 90%.

Intake Filtering (1): Incoming air must be filtered to remove dust and other contaminants.
Compression (2): The filtered air is compressed (typically to 80 to 110 psi) with motor-driven
screw, centrifugal, or reciprocating compressors.
Cooling (3): Compressing air raises its temperature dramatically, so cooling is required. Much
of the energy "lost" in making compressed air is in the form of removed heat. Cooling is also
important in the process of drying air. Much of the water vapor condenses as the air is cooled,
making it easy to drain away.
Air Storage (4): A tank called an air receiver typically is placed downstream of the cooler to
provide surge capacity for the system. Some systems provide additional receiver tanks in the
process area to accommodate widely variable demand.
Drying (5): Cooled, pressurized air still carries a significant amount of moisture and lubricants
from the compression process, virtually all of which must be removed before the air can be
used. Drying compressed air can be very energy intensive.
Distribution (6): A system of distribution pipes and regulators convey compressed air from the
central compressor plant to process areas. This system includes various isolation valves, fluid
traps, intermediate storage vessels, and even heat trace on pipes to prevent condensation or
freezing in lines exposed to the outdoors. Pressure losses in distribution typically are
compensated for by higher pressure at the compressor discharge.
Point of Use (7): At the intended point of use, a feeder pipe with a final isolation valve, filter,
and regulator carries the compressed air to hoses that supply processes or pneumatic tools.

Thank you