In dirty and hot environments, if you want a clean and reliable compressed air flow you need to heed these suggestions. You need to keep your equipment clean, cool, and dry through regular maintenance.
Allowing debris to build up on system components is a recipe for disaster, especially if the equipment is air cooled and needs ventilation. And as temperatures increase, compressed air contains more water, about double for every 20 degree F increase. This water will condense out as the air cools in plant piping. The water mixes with compressor lubricant, dirt, and pipe scale to form a black and ugly mess. To add to this sometimes microbes start to grow in the goop, causing a stink.
Some tips:
- Keep the compressor room as clean and cool as possible
- Check compressor discharge temperatures, if they are hot to the touch, or over 100 F investigate your cooling system, sometimes a good cleaning is required.
- Monitor dryer inlet temperatures, most dryers are rated at 100 F maximum, if it is over that level some correction is required.
- Check air quality, if there is free water in the system after the air dryer then something is wrong. Consider monitoring dew point with electronic instruments to ensure the air is dry.
