Air wands and blow guns are widely used in industrial plant for cleaning, product movement, drying and sometimes cooling.  These components often work very effectively for the said purpose but you should be forewarned that they do come with some very definite drawbacks: Safety – Compressed air can pick up and propel small objects, dust, […]

By Ron Marshall A power generation plant on a small island was having trouble. The plant’s instrument air was supposed to be dry — but there were many instances where water was pouring out of drains and collecting in low spots in piping. This left the engineers scratching their heads in puzzlement … the water […]

When sizing air compressors, the typical strategy is to err on the side of caution. Nobody wants to be the dummy who sized the compressor too small, causing low pressure production shut downs. So when compressors are installed, the usual act is to buy the next size bigger, without regard to the actual compressed air […]

Too often, air dryers are placed in hot environments where the ambient temperature and compressor discharge temperatures are high.  This needs to be considered when you are sizing a dryer, so the unit has enough capacity to remove the water from the air. The issue is the amount of moisture in the compressed air at […]

When installing compressed air storage to help with compressor control of lubricated screw compressors, the location of the tank makes a difference. Having significant receiver capacity of at least 5 gallons per cfm of trim compressor capacity serves to slow down compressor cycles and make the compressors run more efficiently when operating in load/unload more. If […]

By Ron Marshall A farm implement manufacturer purchased a variable speed drive compressor several years ago to reduce his compressed air production costs.  For many years the compressor performed as expected, taking the plant’s part load while one or two base units provided efficient full flow duty. A few months ago, there was a change […]

By Ron Marshall Water contamination is a frustrating problem with compressed air systems.  When you have water forming in your piping system, it is amazing how the liquid can seemingly form in both high spots and low areas. Often water problems are caused by another issue, heat.  Compressed air leaving a compressor may overload the […]

Air compressors create heat, and lots of it.  If this heat is not properly removed, then problems will occur in a compressed air system. Over-temperature shutdowns and failed air dryers are common symptoms of improper cooling. It is important to choose your compressor cooling method wisely and to ensure whatever media you choose is suitable to […]