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Posts Tagged ‘Air Compressors’

Air compressor units are used for a variety of jobs ranging from filling up tires to running complex industrial applications. Due to the wide variety of requirements and units available, they have been primarily divided into three types according to the way they operate to compress air to the desired pressure. Also some of these are Gas Powered air compressors and some are electric.

A. Reciprocating Air Compressors – These are basically positive displacement machines and reduce the volume of air to increase its pressure. A piston is used to increase the pressure of air in an enclosed space. Then another batch of air is taken in and the piston is used to increase the pressure of the total volume. This step is repeated till the desired pressure is attained. Commercially the compressors available are either single stage or two stage units. Single stage units are used to get air to a pressure of 70 to 100 pounds per square inch and two stage units are used to generate a pressure in the range of 100 to 250 pounds per square inch. Further, these compressors are single acting when they use only one side of the piston and double acting when they use both the sides. These are further sub divided into air cooled or water cooled units and oil lubricated and oil free units.

B. Rotary Screw Air Compressors – These use the two rotors inside a caging to compress the air to the desired pressure range. These are usually cooled by oil and use either water cooled or air cooled oil coolers thereby reducing high temperatures inside the unit. They do not have any valves making them easy to operate and maintain. Running them on variable speed and variable displacement alters the capacity while maintaining a smooth air outflow. During operation, oil is kept in a separate chamber so as to eliminate any contamination due to oil. Oil free options are also available.

C. Centrifugal Compressors – These use a rotating impeller to transfer energy to air making it a dynamic machine. The momentum created by the impeller is converted into a high pressure discharge that helps increase the pressure of air within the unit. As the flow is continuous and reliable, these units are used for higher capacities and extended usage. The units are always oil free and the running gear though lubricated with oil is in a separate sealed chamber.

These are just the basic divisions of the types of Air Compressors available and each type can be further subdivided according to the number of compression stages, the cooling method used, the drive method used, the way lubrication is done and whether it comes as a package or is custom built as per the specifications given. These divisions and sub divisions help the customers to select the unit that matches their requirement as much as possible.

Air Compressors are devices that suck in air from the surroundings at the atmospheric pressure and release the air when required at a much high pressure. As the air captured is contracted to increase its pressure, energy is created that can be used for different personal, commercial or industrial purposes.

Whether in homes or shops, these machines are of a great help to the owners due to a wide range of jobs they can accomplish. The shop and home owners need to do a variety of small jobs for which depending on experts can result in a huge loss of time and money. A number of times the required job is so small that calling in experts with their fancy tools is not a viable option at all. Experts charge much more than the cost of procuring a small air compressor and may or may not be available to come in immediately. In fact, more often than not, these people take their own sweet time to come when the requirement is a quick and easy job.

These tools have a variety of uses ranging from the simple filling up of tires to the more advanced stapling or spray painting. Their most common use has always been filling up tires up to the required pressure. In this situation, air compressors work not unlike the human lungs. Humans suck in air into the lungs and release it at a much higher pressure to blow out candles. Similarly air compressors suck in air, increase its pressure and then release this high pressure air into the tires. This helps achieve the required air pressure in tires without wasting any time of effort of going up to the gas station for the job.

Home and shop owners have to, at some point of time or the other, do some basic jobs in their homes or shops like fixing a nail, stapling or spray painting a certain area. For these jobs it is difficult to call for outside help each and every time and the best part is that they can be accomplished easily with the help of air compressor. These handy tools can come in many different sizes. Small Air Compressors are handy because they are Portable Air Compressors and can be used with relative ease to either fix nails or spray paint a particular area in a very short duration of time. Quick and effective cleaning of the home of shop without the use of harmful and costly detergents can also be done.

Air compressors come with the added advantage of being able to generate power as per the exact requirement. They require no regular maintenance and are hence ideal for homes and shops owners who do not want to waste time in keeping their tools in good shape. The only disadvantage is that they give too much noise, however this can be managed by using it at a time of the day when the noise generated does not cause much disturbance.

Porter Cable Air Compressors are either gas or electricity powered machines that are usually used in the automotive and industrial sector. These are extremely popular among individuals as well as commercial establishments. The first of these was manufactured in 1906 and over the last 100 years, the company has dedicated itself to provide quality tools to amateurs as well as professionals.

These are relatively safe machines to work with and the one and only thing that can cause an injury to the person operating is excessive pressure. This is monitored and controlled due to the presence of a safety release valve, which releases excess pressure as soon as it is detected. These are approved by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), which checks the quality of these products and then certifies them for use.

Powerful and long lasting motor is the key

The motor has plenty of power to operate a wide variety of tools with equal ease. It comes with replaceable brushes that help prolong its life. It is equipped with a cold weather startup that helps to start it easily and quickly even at the lowest of temperatures thereby ensuring that it can be run the year round with equal ease.

Oil Free Pump

The units come with an Oil Free pump that can be either air or water cooled. The absence of oil reduces the maintenance requirement as there is no need to replenish or replace oil at regular intervals thereby saving valuable time and effort. It also guarantees that there are no chances of contamination due to mixing of oil with air.

Multiple User Support

Some of these units come with two air couplers that allow two people to work with one compressor at the same time. This is of great importance in a commercial set up as it allows two sets of tools to be operated simultaneously thereby saving time and money and also completing the job at hand faster.

Portable and Stable

The smaller units are Air Compressors in nature and can be easily transported from one place to another aided by an easy to hold handle. The larger units are stabilized by the presence of rubber feet that absorb vibrations.

These air compressors provide the required power to operate a number of tools and can be used for a variety of applications. They are relatively inexpensive and help customers complete a number of jobs in and around the homes as well as industries. These are ideal for inflating tires and running finish nailers in homes and complete the jobs on your own without looking for outside help. In industries and commercial establishment, the more powerful models can be used to operate a variety of tools.