Air Compressor Components

When atmospheric air is compressed, the dew point goes up. The higher the pressure the less water the air can carry and water start to condense from the air. Once you cool this air, more water will condense from it.

Water is non-compressable. The pneumatic valves and cylinders work on the elasticity of the compressed air. If water enters the valves and cylinders, it reacts like a solid non-forgiving obstacle and just break the seals and other parts.

If you put an inline cyclonic filter in the compressed airline, it will take most of the water droplets from the compressed air, but the air will still be saturated, at that pressure and temperature, after the filter. The moment this air cools further, more condensation will take place.

Please note, if you only feed a stream of water to the cyclonic filter, this filter cannot create air to send down the line and the water will run straight through this filter. This type of filter can only take out small droplets of water. This is why your airlines must always run with a slope, to prevent water to build up in the lower parts of the airline and form a pocket of water down your airline.

When air is compressed, the dew point becomes higher and water starts to condense in the system. Water is non-compressible and causes damage to most pneumatic systems. It is very important to get this water out of your compressed air.

The air dryer must be sized correctly. If the air dryer is too small, you may flood the dryer and water moisture will still go through to your application. You can install an energy-efficient air dryer for one application in your factory or you can install it to dry all the compressed air being used in the factory.

If you size it for the one application, you must know the air consumption of this application. Go to Tools on this web site and calculate the air consumption (litre/min). If you want to dry all the compressed air of the factory, you must know the air compressor’s output. Go to Tools on this web site and calculate the air delivery of the compressor(s). Airpower can calculate it from the total compressor kW.

All dryers must have a pre-filter with an automatic drain. The water drained before the compressed air enters the air dryer reduces the load on the dryer. Air Dryers, such as membrane air dryers, are designed to have a maximum air inlet temperature of 40 °C. If you can keep your hand indefinitely on the inlet pipe, the temperature is fine. If not, you will need an aftercooler between your compressor and your dryer.