Summer Heat Affects Air Compressors

May 24, 2016Ken Bean

SUMMER! It’s almost here. Can you feel the heat?

You’re not the only thing affected by Hot Weather –

Your Compressed Air System Suffers As Well!

The pain of hot weather on your compressed air system.

Hot weather brings a myriad of problems for your compressed air system. A complete maintenance plan can minimize the impact. Contact us today for a complete system evaluation!

Pain Points

1: Lower Flow Rates

Increased temperatures reduces the density of the ambient air. This means a lower volume of air is being drawn through the intake. While the decreased horsepower requirement might be helpful for the electric bill, the plant is receiving less air. Hopefully when you initially sized your compressor this was taken into account.

2: Reduced Turndown

The effective operating range of the compressor where efficient regulation through the use of a throttle valve or inlet guide vanes is possible is now reduced due to the elevated intake air temperature.

3: All Temperatures go up

The increase in ambient temperatures also effect the temperature of your cooling water (or air for an air cooled compressor). This means the inter-stage temperature increase further reduces your compressor efficiency.

4: More Water

The elevated ambient temperatures means the air can hold more water vapor. Added to the normal increase in humidity during summer months your filtration and drying system now have a much higher work load to provide the clean dry air your plant needs.

5: Automatic Drains

With the increased water loads, your automatic drains have to cycle more frequently to discharge the moisture removed from the system. This can quickly lead to failures.

What to do?

1: Change the oil.

If using petroleum based lubricants, Summer heat and humidity exact a heavy toll on the compressors oil. High heat and humidity can reduce the life of your oil by as much as half in some cases. Give your compressor a fighting chance by changing the oil and filter before the summer bake starts. Changing oil/fluid on schedule maintains proper viscosity for better lubrication and removes moisture, acids, wear metals and other contaminants. If your compressor is using a synthetic based lubricant perform an oil analysis just before the hot weather begins to assure it’s in the best possible condition.

2: Check the fluid system.

To ensure proper cooling and lubrication, and to prevent unscheduled downtime, ensure there are no restrictions in the compressor’s fluid circulation. Regardless of oil type now is a great time to change the oil filter.

3: Change the inlet filter.

Changing the inlet filter on schedule will keep compression efficiency up and maintain proper operating temperature. Remember there is less air drawn through the inlet so keep restrictions as low as possible.

4: Check your drive couplings.

Direct drive couplings are designed for long life but should be checked for signs of wear to avoid unexpected downtime.

5: Ventilate the compressor room.

Poor ventilation can increase operating temperature, reduce oil life and decrease compressor efficiency. Make sure that you are giving your units enough fresh, cool air to the compressor. The compressor room should have slightly positive pressure. Properly sized louvers and fans may do the job. Consider adding duct work to remove exhaust heat from the room. If you have duct-work with thermostatic controls, make sure it is working properly. Also check other equipment in the compressor room to make sure it is not adding excess heat.

6: Clean the coolers.

Keep the fluid and coolers free of dirt/debris to maintain lowest possible operating and compressed air discharge temperatures. This will make dryers more effective and extend fluid life. Change or clean cooler filter mats if you have them. Keeping the coolers clean is one of the most important things that you can do during the summer months.

7: Check your electrical cabinet.

Dirt and dust can form an insulating layer and build up heat on electrical components. Be sure the cabinet fan works and to clean or replace the filters on the electrical cabinet if present. Use appropriate precautions when cleaning the electrical cabinet!

8: Compressed air treatment equipment.

A majority of air treatment equipment is rated at 100 psig inlet, 100 °F inlet temperatures, and 100°F ambient temperatures. During hot summer months, an increase in any of these conditions can often act to decrease the capacity of the equipment. Keeping the aftercooler clean is the first step.

9: Maintain your dryer.

Refrigerated dryers work best when they have a steady supply of clean and cool air or water. Make sure that your dryer is well ventilated and getting the coolest air or water possible. Clean the condenser. If it is stopped up with dirt and debris it can’t do its job and may cause the dryer to overheat. Also check the refrigerant level.

10: Check all drains on tanks, dryer and filters.

Your dryers and filters work hard to remove the extra water that occurs during the hot, humid summer months. Make sure that your drains are functioning properly so that they get that water out of your compressed air. Many drains have test buttons. Adjust timer settings on timed drains if you have them.

Single Tower & Membrane Air Dryers

May 17, 2016Ken Bean

We’re in the home stretch now discussing the final types of compressed air dryers. Previously we’ve discussed why compressed air dryers are needed in most industrial systems. We’ve reviewed refrigerated dryers and various types of regenerative dryers. That brings us to the final few types of compressed air dryers, the deliquescent and membrane type compressed air dryers. A note of importance: The dryers discussed in todays post are not normally associated with large industrial manufacturing plants.

Single Tower Dryers

Single tower dryers are used in more specialized applications and are available in 2 different types. Typically these are point-of-use applications such as moisture-sensitive pneumatic tools, valves or other equipment. Pressure dew points from single tower desiccant dryers are as low as -40°F. Since these types of dryers are not self-regenerative, the desiccant must be replaced, or regenerated outside of the dryer, according to the amount of usage.

Adsorbing Dryer

The single tower dryers that adsorbs water vapor with traditional desiccants (activated alumina) are capable of -40 degree F dew points. This type of dryer will stay on line until the desiccant reaches saturation at which point the desiccant is changed or the desiccant is removed and regenerated outside of the drying vessel. As you can imagine, the air flow is typically very low as the the single tower adsorbing dryer requires a great deal of maintenance.

Absorbing or Deliquescent

Single Tower

Deliquescent Type Dryer

The deliquescent dryer is most often the thought when single tower dryers are discussed. The deliquescent desiccant type dryer uses a hygroscopic desiccant material having a high affinity for water. The desiccant absorbs the water vapor and is dissolved in the liquid formed. These hygroscopic materials are blended with ingredients to control the pH of the effluent and to prevent corrosion, caking and channeling. The desiccant is consumed only when moist air is passing through the dryer.

Deliquescent dryers normally are designed to give a dew point depression from 20 degree F to 50 degree F at an inlet temperature or 100 degree F. This means that with air entering at 100 degree F and 100 PSIG, a leaving pressure dew point of 80 degree F to 50 degree F may be obtained (a reduction of 20 degree F to 50 degree F from the inlet pressure dew point). This type of dryer actually dries the air to a specific relative humidity rather than to a specific dew point. The deliquescent dryer can actually handle large flow rates up to 6000 SCFM @ 100 PSIG but require large amounts of desiccant material to maintain the desired dew point suppression making maintenance an even larger burden.

Advantages of Single Tower Deliquescent Desiccant Type Dryers include:

Low initial capital and installation cost.
Low pressure drop.
No moving parts.
Requires no electrical power.
Can be installed outdoors.
Can be used in hazardous, dirty or corrosive environments.

Disadvantages of Single Tower Deliquescent Type Dryers include:

Limited suppression of dew point.
Desiccant bed must be refilled, replaced or externally regenerated periodically.
Drainage of dissolved solution (Absorbing).
Regular periodic maintenance.
Desiccant material can carry over into down-stream piping if there is no after-filter and if the dryer is not drained regularly. Certain desiccant materials may have a damaging effect on down- stream piping and equipment.
Some desiccant materials may melt or fuse together at temperatures above 80°F.

Membrane Type Dryers

Membrane technology has advanced considerably in recent years. The structure of the membrane is such that molecules of certain gases (such as oxygen) are able to pass through (permeate) a semi-permeable membrane faster than others (such as nitrogen) leaving a concentration of the desired gas (nitrogen) at the outlet of the generator.

When used as a dryer in a compressed air system, specially designed membranes allow water vapor (a gas) to pass through the membrane pores faster than the other gases (air) reducing the amount of water vapor in the air stream at the outlet of the membrane dryer, suppressing the dew point. The dew point achieved normally is 40 degree F but lower dew points to -40 degree F can be achieved at the expense of additional purge air loss.

Advantages of Membrane Type Dryers include:

Low installation cost.
Low operating cost.
Can be installed outdoors.
Can be used in hazardous atmospheres.
No moving parts.

Disadvantages of the Membrane Type Dryers include:

Limited to low capacity systems.
High purge air loss (15 to 20%) to achieve required pressure dew points.
Membrane may be fouled by oil or other contaminants (pre-filtration required).

Regenerative Air Dryer

May 3, 2016Ken Bean

Last weeks post discussed the use and types of refrigerated air dryers. This week we begin a review of the 2nd most popular type of compressed air dryer, the regenerative type. As several different types of regenerative (desiccant) dryers are available, this weeks post will cover the general aspects of the desiccant dryer and the heatless type of regenerative dryer.

These dryers use a desiccant, (typically activated alumina (which adsorbs the water vapor in the air stream. A distinction needs to be made between adsorb and absorb. Adsorb means that the moisture adheres to the desiccant, collecting in the thousands of small pores within each desiccant bead. The composition of the desiccant is not changed, and the moisture can be driven off in a regeneration process by applying dry purge air, by the application of heat, or a combination of both. Absorb means the material that attracts the moisture is dissolved in and used up by the moisture. Absorption takes place in a deliquescent desiccant type dryer.

Regenerative desiccant dryers normally are of twin tower construction. One tower dries the air from the compressor while the desiccant in the other tower is being regenerated after the pressure in the tower has been reduced to atmospheric pressure. Regeneration can be accomplished using a time cycle or on demand by measuring the temperature or humidity in the desiccant towers or by measuring the dew point of the air leaving the on-line tower.

You will find most all regenerative dryers with a stated flow rating at 100 PSIG and 100 degree F incoming air rating for pressure and temperature. The regenerative dryer can remain a viable option with higher or lower pressure and temperature requirements but caution must be used to size the dryer at the worst possible conditions. This being the lowest possible pressure and the highest possible temperature. A regenerative dryer is sized based on how many pounds of desiccant material must be incorporated into each tower such that it has the capacity to adsorb the water vapor load throughout the entire cycle. If the capacity of the desiccant is not adequate to adsorb all water vapor then the moisture that is not absorbed will be passed downstream. The reason for the caution is the moisture contained within the compressed air will vary greatly with higher or lower pressures and temperatures. Most especially temperature.

While it might not seem to be that important, a good rule of thumb is that for every 20 degree rise in compressed air temperature, the water load doubles! This means if the incoming air temperature is 120 degree F rather than the standard 100 degree F, the dryer would need to double in size. This can make a tremendous difference in your compressed air budget if a dryer has to double in size.

Advantages of Regenerative Desiccant Type Dryers include:

Very low dew points can be achieved without potential freeze-up.
Moderate cost of operation for the dew points achieved.
Heatless type can be designed to operate pneumatically for remote, mobile or hazardous locations.

Disadvantages of Regenerative Desiccant Type Dryers include:

Relatively high initial capital cost
Periodic replacement of the desiccant bed (typically 3-5 years)
Oil aerosols can coat the desiccant material, rendering it useless if adequate pre-filtering is not maintained.
Purge air usually is required.

Heatless Regenerative Dryer

In the most common type of regenerative dryer, the heatless regenerative desiccant type, no internal or external heaters are used. Purge air requirement can range up to 18% of the total air-flow. The typical regenerative desiccant dryer has a pressure dew point rating of -40°F but dew points to -100°F can be obtained. Often when a regenerative type dryer is required, the heatless type is chosen for the the lower initial investment and the perceived lower operating cost as there is no external heater to consume electricity or steam.

This is however incorrect as the cost of operation is the power consumed by the compressor to generate the purge air requirements. Not only will the compressor have to produce the purge air but often, a larger compressor is required to meet both the plant air demand and the demand for regeneration air.

Let’s assume your plant requirements are 1000 SCFM at 100 PSIG. A typical oil flooded rotary screw compressor requirement will be 250 HP and will deliver 1218 ACFM @ 100 PSIG. We can’t use a 200 HP compressor as the delivery is only 980 ACFM which will not meet our demands. So we now need a heatless regenerative dryer that will handle 1218 ACFM. Looking at our book we find we can use a PPC model 1600DHA. While there is a 1200DHA that will accommodate 1200 SCFM it is slightly undersized and we don’t want to risk the plant dew point so we need to move to the larger size. It’s critical to remember that when determining the regeneration flow that this number must be based from the dryer capacity, not the actual flow rate to the dryer. In this case 18% of 1600 SCFM is 288 SCFM. Now we add the 1000 SCFM that our plant requires plus the 288 SCFM that we will need for regeneration air and our total air from the compressor has to be 1288 SCFM. At this point we see that our 250HP compressor will not deliver enough flow to maintain both the plant requirement and the regeneration flow requirement so we will have to increase our purchased compressor to a 300HP model that will deliver 1480 SCFM.

The majority of clients will feel like they could stay with the 250 HP compressor and use the PPC model 1200DHA dryer as we are only over the max flow by 18 SCFM. Honestly, most compressed air sales companies would also tell the customer this would work just fine and it very well may. A point to consider is in the event the aftercooler gets slightly fouled on the compressor and the discharge temperature increase 5 degrees then our water load increases (by our previous rule of thumb) to 25% greater. Since we are already slightly over our max flow rating on the dryer and now increase the water load by 25% the chances for a catastrophic failure from water contamination is extremely likely.

Also, to think of the cost of operation of the dryer – you are running a 50-60 HP air compressor just to produce the regeneration flow for the dryer. I would state this is not an economical situation!

Advantages of Heatless Regenerative Desiccant Type Dryers include:

Very low dew points can be achieved without potential freeze-up.
Can be designed to operate pneumatically for remote, mobile or hazardous locations.
Low initial investment cost compared to other regenerative types

Disadvantages of Heatless Regenerative Desiccant Type Dryers include:

Periodic replacement of the desiccant bed (typically 3-5 years)
Oil aerosols can coat the desiccant material, rendering it useless if adequate pre-filtering is not maintained.
Purge air is required and can be quite expensive.

Next week we’ll look into the various types of heated regenerative dryers.

Refrigerated Air Dryer

April 27, 2016Ken Bean

Last week we covered Compressed Air Dryer – 101 which gave an overview of why air dryers are needed and how water enters the compressed air system.

Today we review the most common category of compressed air dryer, the refrigerated air dryer.

While the refrigerated dryer is by far the most widely used category of compressed air dryer, it does not offer as low a dew point as can be attained with other categories. The big selling feature for the refrigerated dryer is the the low initial investment in conjunction with a usually acceptable dew point for a wide range of industrial applications.

The principle of operation is much like a typical home refrigerator or residential air conditioner system. The compressed air is cooled in an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger down to about 35⁰F. The moisture is condensed to a liquid state where it is removed by an internal separator and then drained from the unit with an automatic drain. The compressed air is then reheated in an air-to-air heat exchanger where the incoming compressed air first passes. This also pre-cools the incoming compressed air thus reducing the load on the refrigeration system.

This flow path allows the compressed air to exit the dryer with a pressure dew point of 35⁰ to 40⁰F. A lower dew point is not feasible with a refrigerated dryer as the condensate would freeze at 32⁰F or lower.

The advantages of refrigerant type dryers include:

Low, initial capital investment
Low operating cost
Low maintenance cost
No damage caused by oil in the air stream (*filtration is still typically recommended)

Disadvantages of refrigerant type dryers include:

Limited dew point suppression

There are a few different types of dryers in the refrigerated classification.

The first being the non-cycling type. In a non-cycling type refrigerated dryer, the refrigerant circulates continuously through the system. This design provides quick response to changes in operating loads (flow rates, ambient temperatures & pressures). Since the flow of compressed air will continuously vary and ambient temperatures also vary, a hot gas bypass valve or unloader valve is often used to regulate the flow of the refrigerant and maintain stable operating conditions within the refrigerant system. In most designs, the refrigerant evaporates within the air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger and is condensed after compression by an air or water-to-refrigerant heat exchanger.

The schematic below offers an overview of the system flows.

While older types of refrigerated dryers have utilized CFC refrigerants such as R12 and/or R22, todays newer designs have moved to incorporate chlorine free refrigerants such as R134, R407 or other environmentally friendly refrigerants making this a non-issue for todays industrial plants. However, the use of the new refrigerant types do require careful attention to the refrigerant system designs due to differences in operating pressures and temperatures. These and all refrigerated type air dryers should be serviced only by a licensed and trained technician to assure compliance with refrigerant recovery and release regulations.

Advantages of non-cycling refrigerated dryers include:

Minimal dew point fluctuation
Refrigerant compressor operates continuously

Disadvantages of non-cycling refrigerated dryers include:

No energy savings at part load and/or no flow conditions

The next type of refrigerated air dryer is termed a “cycling type dryer” which use the refrigerant to chill a mass of material surrounding the compressed air passages in the heat exchanger. The mass may be a liquid such as glycol or metal such as aluminum block, beads or other type of material, which act as a heat sink. The compressed air is cooled by the heat sink which has its temperature controlled by a thermostat and shuts off the refrigerant compressor during reduced loads, providing savings in operating cost. The detriment to the cycling type dryer is the higher initial investment.

Advantages of cycling type refrigerated dryers include:

Energy savings at part load and/or no flow condition

Disadvantages of cycling type refrigerated dryers include:

Dew Point fluctuation
Increased size and weight to accommodate the heat sink mass
Higher initial investment

The final type of refrigerated dryer I wanted to discuss is relatively new on the scene and what I call a load matching dryer. This dryer utilizes a digital scroll type type compressor which is capable of unloading. Thereby offering reduced energy consumption by matching the refrigeration requirement to the flow rate of the moment in conjunction with the ambient temperature. A tremendous feature of these units is they are modular so the modules can be connected to create the size of system required. The modules for this particular type of dryer come in 2 sizes, 1250 SCFM and 2500 SCFM. Each module can be completely isolated for maintenance. Systems can be built from 1250 SCFM up to 12,500 SCFM. It is important to note that standard cycling type or thermal mass refrigerated dryers are also available in modular forms but do not offer the digital scroll (unloading type) refrigeration compressors.

Advantages of load matching type refrigerated dryers include:

Pressure dew point stability from 0% to 100% load
Instantaneous response to load changes
No dew point spikes

Disadvantages of load matching type refrigerated dryers include:

Small sizes are not available
Higher initial investment (comparable to non-cycling type)

Compressed Air Dryer – 101

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016Ken Bean

Most all industrial compressed air systems require some type of dryer. The reason is simple, to remove water from the compressed air prior to use downstream.

I saw a recent advertisement with the caption:

I’m not sure how one can determine the “best ways” to dry compressed air without a complete evaluation of the air usage

First things first:

Let’s look at where the water comes from?

Water comes from the atmospheric air that the compressor ingest through the intake. Keep in mind that most plants will look to have compressed air pressure at 100 PSIG. To achieve this pressure the compressor runs a compression ratio of 8 to 1 depending on your physical location. Meaning it must ingest 8 cubic feet of atmospheric air and compress this into 1 cubic foot to achieve the desire pressure.

When you compress 8 cubic feet of air your compressor also compresses all of the contaminants that were in that 8 cubic feet into one cubic foot, including the water that naturally exists in the atmosphere. Its important to know that the air’s ability to hold moisture in a vapor state is directly related to it’s temperature and pressure. In the atmosphere where the pressure is nominally 14.5 PSIA, water will stay in a vapor state until the air reaches it’s saturation point. ie. all the water it can hold at a given temperature (our pressure is already set at 14.5 PSIA). Once this level is exceeded – it rains. Or the water that was previously in a vapor state now converts to liquid form.

The same circumstance is happening inside the pipes of your compressed air system. Once you compress all of the contaminant (in this case water) into a single cubic foot, even with the increase in temperature and pressure, there is still more water than the air can hold in a vapor state so it rain inside your pipes. Additionally as the temperature drops the air’s moisture holding capacity will be lowered and water will continue to condense out as a liquid.

Water is extremely detrimental to compressed air uses downstream. To determine what type of dryer your system will require mandates a look at the possible end uses downstream. For example, if the air use downstream is solely to blow metal chips from a machining operation from a blow gun then chances are the water condensing out will not cause a problem. If however, you happen to have robotic paint spraying systems downstream then any water will be devastating not only to the robotics but will likely also ruin the paint finish when water mixes with the coating during the spraying process.

An additional consideration should also be reviewed, the ambient conditions! In your area are freezing temperatures observed at any time during the year? If the answer is yes then are any compressed air lines exposed to outdoor temperatures. For example, if the above mentioned application of blowing metal chips from a machining operation is the compressed air use (which wouldn’t require a dryer), but the compressors are located in a remote building and the pipe travels outside to the machining building then it would be likely that the air line between buildings could freeze in the winter thus shutting down your machining operation.

Once an assessment has been performed to review the uses of compressed air within the plant along with any ambient temperature issue’s, only then can a determination be made as to the type of dryer required, if any.

Obviously there are thousands of potential uses for compressed air and each one comes with it’s own particular concerns. Great news for end users is where air is being used for equipment, the equipment manufacturer will normally provide direction on the quality of air required for their particular machines.

One other consideration to keep in mind while looking to determine the air dryer requirements is the contaminants in the compressed air stream are not limited to water only. Thinking back to our requirement of 8 cubic feet of atmospheric air being ingested into the compressor is that all contaminants in the atmosphere are magnified 8 times during the compression cycle. This mean any particulate, hydrocarbons or other gas fumes that are in proximity of the compressor intake will also be ingested into the compressor. While our series of posts related to air dryers will not cross over to other contaminants it is worth noting that filtration selection usually goes hand in hand with selecting the air dryer.

In the world of compressed air dryers there are 4 basic classifications of dryers that are normally associated with industrial compressed air systems.

Refrigerated Type Dryers

Refrigerated dryers: The principle of operation is similar to a domestic refrigerator or home air conditioning system. The compressed air is cooled in an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger to about 35°F, at which point the condensed moisture is separated and drained off.

Regenerative Type Desiccant Dryers (adsorbing)

These dryers use a desiccant, which adsorbs the water vapor in the air stream.

Deliquescent Type Air Dryers (absorbing)

The deliquescent desiccant type dryer uses a hygroscopic desiccant material having a high affinity for water. The desiccant absorbs the water vapor and is dissolved in the liquid formed.

Membrane Type Air Dryers

Specially designed membranes allow water vapor (a gas) to pass through the membrane pores faster than the other gases (air) reducing the amount of water vapor in the air stream at the outlet of the membrane dryer, suppressing the dew point.

Within each classification of air dryer there are different types, each with it’s own operating characteristics. While each type will provide the same end result, their operational modes are different as to be matched to each plants needs and energy requirements as well as initial investment costs.

With the goal of our blog posts to offer small bite size pieces of information that our users can easily digest, we will be writing separate posts for each classification of dryer over the next few weeks. This will allow our readers to learn about each classification and type of dryer as their needs require or the ability to review all of the posts for a comparative overview.

As always, if there are questions, feel free to contact us for additional assistance.

Desiccant Dryer Control

February 21, 2016Ken Bean

Desiccant air dryers utilize a tremendous amount of energy through the consumption of compressed air and/or heat to regenerate the desiccant bed.

The use of hygrometers or dew point meters is commonly applied to reduce the amount of energy usage.

A recent article by “Compressed Air Best Practices” informs end users that this type of control is not the panacea that manufacturers would have you believe.

Seeing is not always believing

However, the use of an in (desiccant) bed capacitance probe can assure a lifetime of proper operation with no calibration required. The AMLOC capacitance probe used exclusively on dryers manufactured by Pneumatic Products Corporation (PPC)

AMLOC®

The AMLOC Energy Management Systems maintain accuracy, dew point stability and never need recalibration. Patented one quarter century ago, AMLOC® generates tens-of-thousands of dollars in energy saving annuities for industry leaders. The model of durability, THE PTFE or ceramic coated, stainless steel capacitance probes sense the changes to the dielectric constant imparted upon the desiccant by the extracted water vapor. Capable of identifying an aging or fouled bed, desiccant regeneration cycles are managed with precision.