It is very common in an industrial facility to have compressed air blowing applications installed at various locations to provide cleaning of sensing eyes and scanners. Β But it is important to keep in mind that this blowing demand can add up quickly β especially if there are many of these applications installed within the plant. […]
Air Compressors
Why is condensate disposal important in compressed air systems?
A wood products company had a two-compressor system installed on a mezzanine. Under the compressors and dryers were the piping and storage receivers. Each tank and each compressor had timer drains installed to expel the condensate that forms when the compressed air cools in the compressor aftercooler, piping, and storage vessels.Β The outlets of these […]
Compressed air fail: Flowmeter position
A local food company was resizing its compressed air system while renewing its plant operations. To get the sizing correct, the plant maintenance foreman purchased a flow meter to measure the output of the compressors. The meter was installed with a data logger to capture the flow profile of the plant. The readings showed that […]
Watch out for dangerous blow wands
Despite years of warnings β and the development of OSHA standards β there are still many dangerous compressed air blow wands in service at facilities throughout the world. Countless injuries and even deaths could have been prevented if safer devices were used or the blowing eliminated altogether. Fig. 1 shows a wand used to clean […]
VMAC releases its 2022 “State Of The Mobile Compressed Air Industry Report”
The 2022 edition of VMACβs State of The Mobile Compressed Air Industry Report has been released, sharing fascinating insights from mobile air users. βWe are pleased to release VMACβs latest research on the mobile compressed air industry,β said Tod Gilbert, President of VMAC Global Technology Inc. βThere is a lot of uncertainty with global events […]
A leak detection fail!
A recent question received by email:Β I need some help from you regarding air leak calculation.Β We just purchased a new air leak detector that calculates leakage flow.Β We have high air leakage in our LPG bottling plant and our leak detector showed a flow of 9130.2 L/S.Β If we convert this to CFM then it will total […]
Compressed air fail: Frankenstein controls
By Ron Marshall A wood products manufacturer decided to save money by hiring a small service company to maintain its compressors. The company had minimal experience in repairing compressors, but agreed to do the job. The company didnβt have parts available to replace the faulty controls on the two screw compressors β so they did […]
Compressed air fail: The mystery filter
By Ron Marshall A building products company had a compressed air system that featured one large 1,500-cfm compressor and three smaller ones. The compressed air flow had grown to a point where the large compressor could only be turned off during shutdown periods; when it was turned off, the plant pressure would collapse. The large […]
Global drinks manufacturer cuts air and inefficiencies
When a 40 bar turbo compressor situated within an internationally renowned British-based producer of soft drinks broke down, it was faced with two choices: repair or reconfigure. Choosing the latter, the producer found that the old proverb βas one door closes, another opensβ proved true. Founded in the late 1930s by an entrepreneurial chemist, Britvic […]
How can you use compressed air storage to reduce peaks?
A press operation used a pulse of compressed air for cleaning operations for 10 seconds, once every 10 minutes.Β The compressed air flow to the press during the cleaning was 400 cfm, a quite significant flow, and data logger measurements of the air compressors found that each time the blow happened, a 150-hp compressor would […]
