2/3/2016 CompressedAirBasicsAirCompressorSizingPart2

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CompressedAirBasics,AirCompressorSizingPart2 Archive
Fri6thJun2014at11:07am,2comments
2015(1)
Lastweekweleftyouhanging.Weshowedyouhownottosizeupanaircompressorandthen
January(1)
2014(26)
Sowhatisthecorrectwaytosizeacompressor? October(1)
September(2)
Thecorrectwayistodeterminetheflow,pressure,dutycycleandambientconditions. August(1)
July(3)
1.Flow&Pressure
June(2)
IntheUSAflowisnormallymeasuredincubicfeetperminute(CFM).Youmayalsoseetheflow May(4)
ratinginm3/min,l/s,orm3/hr.Basicallyit'sjustthevolumeofairthecompressorissupplying April(5)
andhowfast.Acubicfootis7.48gallons,so1CFMgivesyou7.48gallonsofaireveryminute.
March(3)
Pressureisnormallymeasuredinpoundspersquareinch(psi),butyoumayalsoseeitasbar, February(3)
mbar,kg/cm3,orMPa.Ithinkmostpeoplereadingthisalreadyunderstandtheconceptof January(2)
pressure.Ifnot,pleasereadmorehere.
2013(10)
Imentionedflowandpressuretogether,becauseyouneedCFMdeliveredatapressure. November(4)
KnowingyourpsiwithoutyourCFMisuseless,andknowingyourCFMwithoutknowingyourpsi October(3)
isuseless.Acompressor'sCFMratingisdependentonthepsiit'sdelivering.Youmust August(1)
determineboth.
May(2)
Flowandpressureareinverselyproportional,sowiththesamecompressorasyourpressure
goesup,yourflowwillgodown.Youneedtomakesurethecompressorproducesthecorrect
CFMatthecorrectpressure.Makesureyoudon'tlookattheCFM"displaced"rating.Youneed Categories
the"delivered"CFMrating.Soacompressorbrochuremightsay125psimaxanditdelivers10
CFMat40psi.Ifyouneeded10CFMat90psiforyourapplication,thenthatcompressor
probablywouldn'twork.Youhavetocallupthedistributororthefactorytoseewhatthe Basics(19)
deliveredCFMat90psiwouldbe. EnergySavings(10)
LocalNews(1)
Everypieceofequipmentyouhavethatusescompressedairshouldhavearatingofflowand
pressurethatitneeds.Thisinformationshouldbeinthemanualoronthemanufacturer's Maintenance(3)
website.Ifnot,callthemandfindout.Sometools,likenailers,giveyoutheamountofcubicfeet
inoneminute.Ifyoucouldputinanailevery2seconds,andthenaileris.3cubicfeetpercycle
at40psi,thenyou'dbeusing9CFMat40psi.Ifyouhadaslowassistantandhecanonlydoa
nailevery10seconds,thenwhenhe'susingthenailerit'sonly1.8CFMat40psi.
YouneedtoaddupalloftheCFMratingsandfindoutwhatpsiyouneed.Afterthatyoumust
lookatdutycycle.
2.DutyCycle.

Wewentoverdutycyclewhentalkingaboutreciprocatingcompressors.Ifyoumissedit,scroll
about3/4ofthewaydownthepageandreadthesectionondutycycle.

AfterfiguringoutthepsiandaddinguptheCFMyouneed,determinehowyou'reusingthisair.
Areyouusingthisequipmentalldaylongorareyouusingitforjustafewhoursaday?Ifyou
haveaconstantuseapplication,theneitheroversizeapistoncompressorby40%orgetarotary
compressor.

Anotherpartofdutycycleislookingatequipmentthatoccasionallyneedslargeburstsofair.
Let'ssayyouhaveamachinethatneedsalargeamountofCFMforjust30secondseveryhour,
buttherestofyourmachinesusemuchless.DoyouneedtobuythecompressorfortheCFMof
thebiggestmachine?Probablynot.Thatkindofproblemcanbesolvedwithextratankstorage.
Getatanklargeenoughtosupplytheairforthat30seconds,andmakesurethecompressorcan
fillitupinlessthananhourwithalloftheotherthingsrunning,andyoushouldbeokay.

Vehiclemaintenanceshopsthatusediaphragmpumpstodeliveroilandotherfluidsaregood
examplesofthis.Yourdoublediaphragmpumpmayneed60CFM,butyouonlyusethat60
CFMfor90secondsatthemost.Thenit'sanother23minutesbeforeyouusethenextpumpfor
theotherfluid.Sothat's90cubicfeetused(60CFMat90seconds)every120180seconds.

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2/3/2016 CompressedAirBasicsAirCompressorSizingPart2
You'donlyneeda3045CFMcompressorwithaproperlysizedtanktodothatyouwouldn't
need60CFM.Prettymuchalloftheotherapplicationsforamaintenancebayare10CFMor
less.Gettinga60CFMcompressortorunalldayjustforthatisawaste.Asmallercompressor
withabiggertankwoulddothejob,costlessupfront,anduselesselectricity.

AsIstatedbefore,dutycycleisoneofthemostimportantthingstolookatwhensizinga
compressor,butit'softenthemostoverlooked.Howoftenyou'reusingtheairisjustas
importantashowmuch.

3.AmbientConditions.

Ijustsaidthatdutycycleisoftenoverlooked,butit'snotevenintheballparkofbeingoverlooked
whenyoucompareittoambientconditions.Haveyoueverbeeninsideofatypicalcompressor
room?Peoplestickaircompressorsinsomeofthehottest,dirtiestroomsyoucanimagine.The
onlycomparisonIcanthinkofisaboilerroom,andI'veseencompressorsinboilerrooms
(pleasedon'tdothat).

I'vebeenincompressorroomsthatwere140F,I'vebeenincompressorsroomswherethedust
intheroomwasoverafootthick(graindust,concretedust,orsawdust),andI'vebeenin
compressorroomswherethechemicalsweresostrongyoucouldbarelybeintheroomfor5
minuteswithoutgettingsick.

Weunderstandthatyoumayhavetostickthecompressorintheseextremeconditions,because
youhavenootherchoice.However,ifyou'regoingtoputthecompressorthere,atleasttakethat
intoaccountwhenyoubuyit.

TheCFMratingonallaircompressorsisSCFM,whichstandsforstandardCFM.Acompressor
manufacturercannotlistallofthepossibleconditionscustomersmayhaveonitsbrochure.
Becauseofthis,themanufacturersgottogetherandagreeduponastandard.Thatstandardis
68F,sealevel(or14.5psiambientpressure),and0%humidity.Ifyourconditionsvary,and
theyprobablydo,thenyoumusttakethatintoaccount.

Ifyougoupinaltitude,higherintemperature,orhigherinhumidity,thecompressorwillgiveyou
lessCFMthantheSCFMratingonthebrochureortag.Altitudeaffectsitthemost.Ifyouare
highinaltitude,thenyouneedtooversizethecompressor.A100SCFMaircompressorin
Denverwillonlygiveyou8085CFM.

Humidityandtemperatureaffecttheairtreatmentmorethantheydoaircompressors,andthe
effectisnotasdramaticasgoingupinaltitude.However,extremesneedtobelookedat.Here
inSouthFloridaseeingacompressorroomwith100Ftemperaturesand90%humidityisnot
uncommon.Inthatsituationa100SCFMcompressorwillgiveyouabout93CFM.That'sonly
abouta7%derating,butifthecompressorwassizedfor90CFM,andyouhadsomepressure
dropinfiltersorpiping,ormaybethere'sasmallleaksomewhere,thenthat7%couldmakeor
breakyou.

Ifyoulikedoingmath,hereistheformula:

Ps=standardpressure,psi
Pa=atmosphericpressure,psi
Ts=standardtemperature,F
Ta=ambienttemperature,F
PPwv=partialpressureofwatervaporatambienttemperature
rh=relativehumidity

ACFMistheactualCFMthatyouwillgetintheconditionsyouhave.

Aneasierwayistocontactyourlocalcompressorsalespersonandhavehim/herfigureitout.In
additiontodoingthemath,theycanusetheirexperienceandtrainingtopossiblyfindabetter
solutionorknowofatrickyoucandotomakesureeverythingworksproperly.Speakingforour
company,wehaveguysthathavebeendoingthisover30years,havemonthsoffactorytraining
andmultipleindustrycertifications.Whateveryou'refacing,they'veseenitbeforeandtheyknow
whatworksandwhatdoesn't.

4.OtherFactors.

Thereareafewotherthingstocheckfor.

1.Airtreatment.We'llcovercompressedairtreatmentindifferentpost,butfiltrationinherently
haspressuredropassociatedwithit.Ifyousizethemcorrectly,thepressuredropshouldbe
minimal,buttakeitintoaccountanyway.

2.Tanksize.Thebigger,thebetter.Youcanreadmoreaboutthathere.Ifyou'rebuyinga
pistoncompressor,thenyouprobablyhaveverylittlechoiceintanksize,andusuallythetankit
comesonismorethanadequate.Ifyouhaveapplicationsthatneedalargeburstofairyoumay
wanttogetasurgetank.Ifyouhavearotaryscrewcompressor,thentheruleofthumbisfour
gallonsoftankstorageperCFMofthecompressor.Youmayneedmoreorless,dependingon
dutycycle.

3.Backup.Ifthecompressorisessentialtoyourbusiness,youshouldalwayshaveabackup.

4.Multiplecompressorsolutions.Ifyouareabusinessthatrunsmultipleshiftsandthoseshifts
varyintheirairdemand,thenusuallyamultiplecompressorsolutionisbest.Ifyouneedover
100CFMofair,thenyoualsogetintheareawhereamultiplecompressorsolutionmaybebetter
thanjustone.

5.FudgeFactor.Youshouldalwaysgiveyourcompressora1015%"fudgefactor."WhatI
meanbythatisthatthingsdon'talwaysturnoutasplanned.Youmightgetpressuredropinyour
pipingyoumightspringaleakafiltercouldgetcloggedwhoknows.Asyourequipmentgets

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2/3/2016 CompressedAirBasicsAirCompressorSizingPart2
older,itmayconsumemorecompressedair(thisisactuallyfairlycommon).Gettinga
compressorwith1015%morecapacitythanyoucalculatedisoftenagoodideatocoverforthe
unexpected.It'sasafetycushion.Nowwealwayspreachenergysavingsandusingthemost
energyefficientcompressoryoucanget,andoversizinggoessomewhatagainstthat.However
ifyourfacilityisbigenoughforthatamounttomatter,thenadvancedcompressorcontrolsand
largetankscanmakeitsothatthecompressorsonlyrunintheirmostefficientstate,andyou
won'twastethat10%.

"....Butit'ssomucheasierjusttosayIneeda20hpcompressor!"

What'seasiertakinganextrahourortwotodothingstherightwayorbuyingthewrongthing
andthenhavingyourcompressorbreakonyouinthemiddleofproduction?Ifyouhavekids,I'm
suretheymaycomplainaboutdoingtheirhomeworksometimes,butyoumakethemdoit.You
knowthatdoingtheirhomeworknowresultsindeeperunderstandingofthesubjectmatterlater,
plustheyiftheydon'tdothehomework,theymightfailtheclass.

Youreapwhatyousew.Peoplespenddaysdecidingwhatcartheywanttoget.Sometimes
they'llputinhoursofresearch.That'sagoodthing,becauseyourcarisveryimportanttoyour
life.Inthesamewayyouraircompressorisessentialtoyourbusiness.

Putintheextraworkbeforeyoubuyit,andyouwillreapthebenefitsofhavingthecorrectair
compressor.It'sanexpensivepieceofmachinery.Whywouldn'tyouwanttomakesureyou're
gettingtherightthing?

Additionallytherearetrainedaircompressorsalespersonnel,whohavebeentomultipleweek
longclassesonhowtocorrectlysizeandconfigurecompressedairsystems.Youshouldcontact
themandrelyontheirexperienceandtrainingtogetyouthecorrectairsystem.

Comments
Thanksforthewriteupthiswasveryinformative.Question:Iunderstandthatspecifyingflow,
pressure,dutycycle,andotherthingsmentionedareimportantinchoosingtherightair
compressor,butcouldyouelaboratealittlebitontheambientconditions?Igethowtemperature
andhumiditywouldeffectflowratesandpressures,buthowdotheyeffectthecompressors
themselves?Howdothemechanicsandmechanismsofdifferentcompressorsrespondto
varyingambientconditions?Forexample,Iimagine(pleasecorrectmeifI\\\'mwrong)ahigh
humidityenvironmentmaycauseissueswithrotarylobes,claws,orsomethingwithsmall
clearancessincethere\\\'snowsomethingotherthanairpassingthroughthesmallclearances.
Arethereanysimilarconcerns(notnecessarilyhumidity,butanyotherunfavorableambient
condition)whendealingwithregenerative/sidechannelblowers?Whataboutcentrifugalfans?
Thanks!

Tue25thNov2014at7:25pmbyAnonymous

Inanswertotheabovequestionabouthowelaboratingontheeffectofambientconditions:We
willhavetoaddressthatinanotherblogpost.Theansweristoolongtoanswerinacomment
reply

Fri9thJan2015at4:01pmbyGregSinkovich

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