6 Best Air Compressor System Design Methods

Considerations before start designing air compressor system

Confirm the actual demand of compressed air

Confirming your actual compressed air demand is essential to selecting the right-sized compressed air system. Underestimating or overestimating can both result in a inefficient air compressor system design.

The compressed air demands can be determined in several ways.

• Using flow meters to monitor air flow, instant data loggers to track compressor activity over a fixed period of time.
• Comparing the ratio between unloaded and fully loaded air compressor run timeand get the average demand over a fixed period of time.
• If you want to determine the compressed air requirements of a new system, then you should consider the operating pressure requirements and duty cycle of each piece of equipment.

Confirm the compressed air quality requirement

The energy and investment costs of compressing air generally increase as the quality of the compressed air increases. Therefore, it is important to select a air compressor system that compressed air quality level that just meets (not exceeds) your required level. If higher quality compressed air is required only at certain points in the compressed air system, selectively choose or upgrade higher quality parts of the air compressor system rather than the entire system.

Select suitable air tanks

The air compressor is responsible for compressing the air, while the air tank is responsible for storing the compressed air. Therefore, the air tank also plays a very important role in the air compressor system.

• Stabilize output air flow: The airtank can stabilize the output gas flow, avoid instability of the air compressor during load changes, and ensure normal production operation.
• Balance air pressure: The compressed air consumption is not continuous, it shows a certain fluctuation. The airtank can balance this fluctuation, maintain a stable air pressure in the air compressor system, and avoid equipment damage or unstable operation caused by air pressure fluctuations.
• Extend the service life of the air compressor: The air tank can avoid frequentstart and stop times of the air compressor, thereby reducing the wear of compressor system and extending the service life of the air compressor system, and also improve the energy reduction and efficiency of the air compressor and reduce energy costs.

6 methods to achieve the best air compressor system design

Choose the efficient air compressors

All efficient air compressor system designs are based on the efficiency of air compressors, it will not work when get the best air compressor system design but installed an inefficient air compressor with large energy cost.

You may investigate many industrial air compressor when choosing the type of air compressor for your air compressor system design implementation. But before this, please remember that the accumulated energy costs of any compressor over its service life are many times higher thanb its initial investment, making any purchase price an inappropriate reference.

If you want to go with an air compressor system that performs at its best (efficient and reliable), it is wise to compare the lifetime costs and energy efficiency of air compressors before making the final decision.(Know more about how to choose the right air compressor )

Choose how to control the air compressors in system

In an air compressor system design, the compressed air supply can be provided by a single air compressor or multiple air compressor units. They can be managed separately or centrally. A single compressor is more suitable for small systems or systems that run at full load for a long time. Centralized linkage control can avoid the step-by-step exhaust pressure increase caused by the parameter setting of multiple air compressors, which causes energy waste of output air.

In situations where the compressed air consumption is large and the gas load fluctuates greatly, it is difficult to meet the needs of compressed air volume regulation using a single large-capacity air compressor, and multiple air compressors are often used. Multi-unit group control technology is one of the effective ways to achieve energy saving under the operation conditions of multiple air compressors system.

Choose the optimal compressed air distribution and piping design

In air compressor system, various industrial equipment perform their respective functions, forming a complete compressed air supply system. The pipelines, as a key component, are responsible for conveying, controlling, and regulating compressed air, and also play a key control and safety role. Many plants and enterprises have invested a lot of time and money in the selection, operation, and maintenance of air compressor system.

However, the pipelines of compressed air installations are worthy to consider due to the compressed air leaks, losses, and pressure loss that caused by negligence of compressed air pipelines, have greatly increased energy costs and reduced air compressor efficiency.

Perfect piping system will deliver compressed air to all locations where it is needed with minimal pressure loss. The flow of compressed air through the pipes creates friction, which causes a pressure drop. Generally, the pressure drop in the pipelines should not exceed 68 to 137 mbar.

To achieve this goal, the compressed air piping design should be designed with the following in mind:

• Choose the optimal piping material, adopt aluminum alloy compressed air piping instead of traditional corrosion-prone galvanized pipes or carbon steel pipes.
• Minimize transmission distance, use the shortest path to transport compressed air.
• Increase pipe size to reduce friction betweencompressed air and the pipelines.
• Avoid unnecessary bends and valves to minimize pressure drops in system components.
• Choose pipes with smooth inner surfaces and reduce air velocity in pipes.

Detect and fix air leaks promptly. (Know more about how to detect and fix air leaks.)

Design a great ventilation system for air compressor system

• Right location. The location of the vent is very important to ensure effective ventilation of the air compressor system design. The air introduced from the outside should be protected from the weather as much as possible to enhance the reliability and stability of the air compressor system. You can install a wind and rainproof vent in a suitable place, and do not let it or the surrounding area face the sun directly, which will cause high intake temperature that not conducive to the efficient air compressor system design.
• Clean room. The air compressor system should be protected from dust and contamination as much as possible, as well as all corrosive and flammable materials and emissions from internal combustion engines. Emissions from heavy vehicles and trucks in particular should not enter the air intake area of the air compressor system. The use of cooling air filters will be able to mitigate moderate levels of dust and contamination.
• Optimal equipment. The size of the vents will be influenced by the power of air-cooled air compressor in the system. Generally, for each kW rated power of the industrial air compressor, the diameter of the vents should be 0.02 to 0.03 m2. This corresponds to a cooling air volume of 130 to 230 m3/h. Weather screens, shutters and (in dusty environments) filters will significantly reduce the diameter of the vents by 30% to 60%.
  Therefore, it is recommended to use flow-optimized ventilation systems. In any case, the diameter reduction caused by protection and control equipment should always be taken into account.
  Ventilation systems usually include bird protection screens, flow-regulating dampers and (if required) ventilation filters. For air compressor systems with multiple compressors, it is also recommended to install a thermostatically controlled ventilation system and divide the openings according to the location and power of each individual compressor units.
• Additional ventilation if needed. Water-cooled systems in air compressors are usually driven by air-cooled motors, which also convert and dissipate heat about 20% of the power it consumed. This needs to be removed by cooling air. Therefore, it also need adequate ventilation, appropriately sized vents should be installed as well.