NEXT GENERATION COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS
Good Air Does Good Work John Hancock, Editor
TMC
Maintaining compressed air pays dividends in lower maintenance downtime and more effective operation
Smart Air® Compressor – your best investment
TMC COMPRESSOR RANGE
Contaminants Can Affect Efficiency An issue mentioned earlier in this paper concerning the operation of compressed air systems is that, if the air they use is either dirty or wet, the system can at best run inefficiently and, at worst, fail when, for instance, fine particles of debris block safety related valves14. Air compression itself concentrates atmospheric contaminants, including water vapor which raises the dew point of the compressed air relative to free atmospheric air and leads to condensation within pipes as the air cools downstream of the compressor. Excessive water in compressed air, in either liquid or vapor form, can cause a variety of operational problems for users. These include freezing of outdoor air lines, corrosion in piping and equipment, malfunctioning of pneumatic process control instruments or fouling of processes and products. Many air powered tools are robust items which can operate with less than perfectly clean air. However, where compressed air is used to operate and actuate process instruments and control valves with their very fine nozzles, even low levels of contaminant can cause a malfunction which, in turn, means a maintenance event and unplanned down-time – never a popular matter on an offshore platform.
Cleaning the Air of Water and Oil Various methods are employed to manage dirt and water contamination, including filters and compressed air dryers, whose engineering and
operation would themselves warrant a complete paper. One system that is worth mentioning because of its association with compressed air systems is desiccant drying. “A desiccant air dryer protects… production, equipment and the quality of the end product by using desiccants to absorb moisture from the compressed air.”15 “Desiccant dryers are used for drying air in storage tanks or pneumatic systems and are beneficial in the drying of hygroscopic (waterabsorbing) resins. These dryers remove water from the air by passing it through a desiccant that absorbs moisture.”16 They are usually triggered by a pressure dew point sensor that, when it senses that the air being used has reached a predetermined level of moisture saturation, then operates the system. With desiccant dryers, the compressed air is passed through a pressure vessel including two ‘towers’ filled with a media such as activated alumina, silica gel, molecular sieve or other desiccant material. The desiccant material absorbs water from the compressed air. As it absorbs more water, the desiccant in one tower will become saturated. At that point, the dryer will switch towers and then use compressed air from the system to purge the saturated desiccant bed by simply blowing off the water that has adhered to the desiccant. The purpose of the desiccant is to bring the pressure dew point of the compressed air to a level in which the water will no longer condense, or to remove as much water from the compressed air as possible.
As fuel costs continue to rise worldwide, selecting an energy-efficient compressed air system has become critical. With TMC Smart Air® technology, energy consumption is reduced by approximately 50% compared to conventional compressor technology. The cost saving is significant! Contact us on mail@tmc.no to find out how much you can save!
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