Compressor manufacturer reaches a century!

Boge Compressors, headquartered in Germany, and with distribution in 80 countries around the world, reaches the century mark in 2007.

In business since 1907, Boge started in compressors in 1925, and over the years has become a force in rotary screw, piston, and accessories for the industrial compressor user.

Click here to reach Boge’s web site. 

How much compressed air am I using?

A reader contacted me at my air site – www.about-air-compressors.com – and asked for ideas on how to measure their plant air consumption.

There are commercial devices that will measure compressed air flow – here’s just one of them - but of course, in order to measure the total plant demand from the receiver, all equipment that will be using air must be using it simultaneously.

Other than that, the easiest way to check complete demand is to contact a firm that does air audits.

Monitor compressed air use wirelessly

This is an interesting article proving that monitoring a compressed air system will, over time, allow rapid response to compressed air system changes, and save the operation a great deal of money.

They suggest that most industrial compressed air systems run at 30-50% efficiency, with corresponding much higher energy costs to generate the wasted compressed than necessary.

This is the full article at Processtalk ezine.

Concept to reduce compressed air use by cylinders.

Perhaps not so any more, but for years the concept was that compressed air was a low cost energy source. Actually, energy consumed in generating compressed air means that it costs four or five times that of electricity, depending on where you are in the world.

Here’s a story that I found interesting about a new concept air cylinder that can reduce compressed air usage by 50%, yet still provide the same force. Even better, this new cylinder is faster than traditional air cylinders.

Complete information from Drives & Controls ezine is here.

Variable Speed Compressors – not always desirable?

Here’s information on variable speed compressors that I came across recently.

“During the past several years, the variable-speed-drive (VSD) compressor has become a frequent choice for new compressor purchases. The VSD compressor’s popularity is partly due to rising energy prices and its efficiency as a trim compressor.

Unfortunately, much of the VSD compressor’s popularity is a result of marketing spin.” so says Chris E. Beals in his article in Plant Services.com ezine.

Chris offers a comprehensive argument against using a variable speed drive compressor in many applications where one would think they would outperform fixed speed units. Here’s the full story and contact information for Chris.

Careful with your compressed air fittings!

Some manufacturers of air fittings mark their metric and imperial fittings well. Some don’t.

The problem is, the tube apertures and the thread sizes on some metric fittings closely correspond to the NPT fitting of the same size.

Imperial sized tubing won’t work in metric fitting, and vice versa.

Worse, metric threads and imperial threads appear identical. It’s the thread geometry that’s different. Trying to screw an NPT fitting into a metric boss might destroy the threads on both. A costly error.

Store your metric and imperial fittings in separate locations.

Compressed Air hose worn out?

Air hose is expensive. Before chucking it out, are you sure it’s worn out? Or is it just that it’s sprung a leak or two from being walked on or driven over all these years? You don’t have to throw it away.

Your local hardware store should have a double barbed air fitting the same size as the internal diameter of your hose. They will also likely have gear clamps a little bigger than the outside diameter of your hose.

Make sure the air is turned off and the line is empty. Cut out the worn parts and slide one of the gear clamps over each piece of hose. Insert one side of the barbed fitting into each hose I.D., slide the gear clamps back up over the hose where the barb is inserted, and tighten the clamps. There, good as new for many more years of life.

Compressed Air Tanks

One of the things you want to do after every use of your compressor is to open the manual drain valve located on the bottom of the tank and allow residual air, and more importantly, water to be expelled from the receiver.

The process of compressing air creates substantial water in the tank. The amount of water is relative to the length of time the compressor is used that time and the humidity of the air that day.

Regardless of the amount of water, know that you will have water in the receiver tank each time you use the compressor.

Depending on the quality of the compressor receiver, it will have varying levels of resistance to rusting.

Draining the water each time you use the compressor will surely help prolong the receiver life and prevent rust buildup which, in time, may migrate down your air lines to your air tools. More info on that here.