Compressed air is often referred to as the “fourth utility”, and like electricity, water, and natural gas, is critical to most manufacturing operations. The prevalent type of air compressor used today to produce this utility is the oil-flooded rotary screw. These compressors are favored for their low capital cost yet can be quite expensive to operate and maintain.
A rotary screw compressor’s annual operating costs are a result of high energy consumption, expensive replacement fluids and parts, labor intensive maintenance and repairs, and hazardous waste oil handling and disposal. Improving the efficiency of rotary screw compressors can have a significant impact on reducing these costs.
The Main Problem
The biggest enemy of rotary screw air compressors is fluid contamination, which leads to reduced service life for the oil and every component it touches. The compressor’s design forces solid and vapor contaminants directly into the oil, where they accelerate oxidation, produce acids, and permanently change the oil’s physical, chemical and performance properties. Over time, this causes wear, corrosion and fouling that can lead to costly repairs and maintenance. Improving the efficiency of rotary screw compressors starts with preventing fluid contamination.
The most destructive contaminants in compressor oil are the acids and ultra-fine or clearance-size solids that are not removed by the compressor’s standard, full-flow oil filter. These contaminants continuously accumulate in the oil, deteriorating the oil’s ability to lubricate, cool and protect expensive compressor internals. Unfortunately, compressor users pay a high price for fluid contamination. The result is unnecessary fluid and separator purchases, wasted energy consumption from high separator pressure drop, frequent maintenance and repairs, needless compressor downtime, and excessive waste oil handling and disposal.
A Proactive Solution To Reduce Compressor Operating Costs
Fluid Metrics’ Compressor Oil Purifier (COP) is a proactive maintenance contamination control system that combats the harmful acids and clearance-size solids that accumulate in compressor oils. The COP employs ion exchange acid adsorption and ultra-fine filtration technologies to remove these contaminants, ensuring your compressor’s oil remains clean and operational.
Dow Chemical, a leading manufacturer of synthetic compressor lubricants and ion exchange liquid separation technologies, conducted extensive research on the effectiveness of ion exchange technology in the purification of compressor oils. After studying the most common compressor fluids used today, Dow determined that the type of ion exchange media used in Fluid Metrics’ COP was “extremely effective” at removing acids, controlling TAN and pH levels, and extending the service life of compressor lubricants. Furthermore, Dow’s testing demonstrated that the ion exchange media was completely safe and did not contaminate or harm the treated lubricants in any way. Given Dow’s testing and endorsement of ion exchange technology for use in this application, Fluid Metrics developed a purifier that would keep rotary screw air compressors running more reliably, at lower cost, while helping to protect the environment.
How the COP Works
The COP‘s patented dual-core cartridges use a combination of mechanical and chemical separation technologies to remove both solid and liquid contaminants from the oil. As a small slip-stream of contaminated oil flows through the purifier’s replaceable cartridge, corrosive and catalytic acids are attracted to and chemically adsorbed by the ion exchange media. The specially selected and processed media acts as a one-way acid adsorber to effectively remove both weak and strong acids present in the oil The oil then passes through an ultra-fine (3-micron absolute) pleated synthetic filtration media to remove the most destructive “clearance-size” solids not removed by the compressors standard full-flow oil filter. By continuously removing these harmful contaminants, the purifier helps control oil oxidation and degradation, and maintain the oil’s original physical, chemical and performance properties.
Benefits of Oil Purification
The COP compressor oil purifier provides the following benefits for rotary screw air compressor users:
- Extending fluid life up to 5 times the manufacturer’s rated life
- Reducing oil purchases and waste oil disposal by up to 80%
- Extending air-oil separator life up to twice its normal life
- Reducing compressor energy consumption by up to 2%
- Cutting routine preventative maintenance labor and compressor downtime
Ion exchange and ultra-fine filtration technologies now give compressor users the ability to proactively maintain rotary screw air compressors, eliminating the root causes of oil and component failures and reducing operating costs. For more information, contact Fluid Metrics at (770) 393-8636 or email at info@fluidmetrics.com.