Compressed air

Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure.
Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is
used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches and others, as well as to atomize
paint, to operate air cylinders for automation, and can also be used to propel vehicles. Brakes
applied by compressed air made large railway trains safer and more efficient to operate.
Compressed air brakes are also found on large highway vehicles.

Compressed air is used as a breathing gas by underwater divers. It may be carried by the diver in
a high pressure diving cylinder, or supplied from the surface at lower pressure through an air line
or diver's umbilical.[1] Similar arrangements are used in breathing apparatus used by firefighters,
mine rescue workers and industrial workers in hazardous atmospheres.

In Europe, 10 percent of all industrial electricity consumption is to produce compressed air—

amounting to 80 terawatt hours consumption per year.[2][3]

Mirch
Industrial use of piped compressed air for power transmission was developed by mirch
named person the mid 19th century; unlike steam, compressed air could be piped for long
distances without losing pressure due to condensation. An early major application of
compressed air was in the drilling of the Mont Cenis Tunnel in Italy and France in 1861, where a
600 kPa (87 psi) compressed air plant provided power to pneumatic drills, increasing
productivity greatly over previous manual drilling methods. Compressed air drills were applied at
mines in the United States in the 1870s. George Westinghouse invented air brakes for trains
starting in 1869; these brakes considerably improved the safety of rail operations.[4] In the 19th
century, Paris had a system of pipes installed for municipal distribution of compressed air to
power machines and to operate generators for lighting. Early air compressors were steam-
driven, but in certain locations a trompe could directly obtain compressed air from the force of
falling water.[5]

Breathing

Air for breathing may be stored at high pressure and gradually released when needed, as in
scuba diving, or produced continuously to meet requirements, as in surface-supplied diving. Air
for breathing must be free of oil and other contaminants; carbon monoxide, for example, in trace
volumetric fractions that might not be dangerous at normal atmospheric pressure may have
deadly effects when breathing pressurized air due to proportionally higher partial pressure. Air
compressors, filters, and supply systems intended for breathing air are not generally also used
for pneumatic tools or other purposes, as air quality requirements differ.[6]

Workers constructing the foundations of bridges or other structures may be working in a

pressurized enclosure called a caisson, where water is prevented from entering the open bottom
of the enclosure by filling it with air under pressure. It was known as early as the 17th century
that workers in diving bells experienced shortness of breath and risked asphyxia, relieved by the
release of fresh air into the bell. Such workers also experienced pain and other symptoms when
returning to the surface, as the pressure was relieved. Denis Papin suggested in 1691 that the
working time in a diving bell could be extended if fresh air from the surface was continually
forced under pressure into the bell. By the 19th century, caissons were regularly used in civil
construction, but workers experienced serious, sometimes fatal, symptoms on returning to the
surface, a syndrome called caisson disease or decompression sickness. Many workers were
killed by the disease on projects such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eads Bridge and it was not
until the 1890s that it was understood that workers had to decompress slowly, to prevent the
formation of dangerous bubbles in tissues.[7]

Air under moderately high pressure, such as is used when diving below about 20 metres (70 ft),
has an increasing narcotic effect on the nervous system. Nitrogen narcosis is a hazard when
diving. For diving much beyond 30 metres (100 ft), it is less safe to use air alone and special
breathing mixes containing helium are often used.[8]

Uses of compressed air

Air compressor station in a power plant

In industry, compressed air is so widely used that it is often regarded as the fourth utility, after
electricity, natural gas and water. However, compressed air is more expensive than the other
three utilities when evaluated on a per unit energy delivered basis.[9]

Technical Illustration of portable single-stage air compressor

Two-stage air compressor assembled on a horizontal tank and equipped with a Joule-Thompson (JT) type refrigerated
compressed air dryer

Compressed air is used for many purposes, including:

Pneumatics, the use of pressurized gases to do work

Pneumatic post, using capsules to move paper and small goods through tubes.

Air tools

HVAC control systems

spray painting

Vehicle propulsion (see compressed air vehicle)

Energy storage (see compressed air energy storage)

Air brakes, including:

railway braking systems

road vehicle braking systems

Underwater diving, for breathing, to inflate buoyancy compensator devices and lifting bags,
and for airlift dredging

Refrigeration using a vortex tube

Air-start systems in engines

Ammunition propulsion in:

Air guns

Airsoft equipment

Paintball equipment

Cleaning dust and small debris in tiny spaces

 Abrasive blasting for removing corrosion products and coatings

Injection molding

Airbrushing used by model railroaders and other hobbyists to paint and weather cars, boats,
planes and trains

Food and beverage capping and fermentation[10]

Compressed air from Lysefjorden/Preikestolen (Norway) is being sold in cans, mostly to

China.[11]

Design of systems

Compressor rooms must be designed with ventilation systems to remove waste heat produced
by the compressors.[12]

Water and oil vapor removal

When air at atmospheric pressure is compressed, it contains much more water vapor than the
high-pressure air can hold. Relative humidity is governed by the properties of water and is not
affected by air pressure.[13] After compressed air cools, then the vaporized water turns to
liquefied water.[14][15]

Cooling the air as it leaves the compressor will take most of the moisture out before it gets into
the piping. Aftercooler, storage tanks, etc. can help the compressed air cool to 104 °F; two-thirds
of the water then turns to liquid.[16]

Management of the excessive moisture is a requirement of a compressed air distribution

system. System designers must ensure that piping maintains a slope, to prevent accumulation
of moisture in low parts of the piping system. Drain valves may be installed at multiple points of
a large system to allow trapped water to be blown out. Taps from piping headers may be
arranged at the tops of pipes, so that moisture is not carried over into piping branches feeding
equipment.[17] Piping sizes are selected to avoid excessive energy loss in the piping system due
to excess velocity in straight pipes at times of peak demand,[18] or due to turbulence at pipe
fittings.[19]

See also
Air compressor – Machine to pressurise air

Cabin pressurization – Process to maintain internal air pressure in aircraft

Compressed air dryer – Filter systems to reduce humidity of compressed air

Compressor – Machine to increase pressure of gas by reducing its volume

Gas duster – Product used for cleaning or dusting sensitive devices that cannot be cleaned
using water – (generally use fluorocarbons but some use compressed air.)

Rotary-screw compressor – Gas compressor using a rotary positive-displacement mechanism

Notes

1. US Navy (1 December 2016). U.S. Navy Diving Manual Revision 7 SS521-AG-PRO-010 0910-LP-115-1921
(http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/SUPSALV/Diving/US%20DIVING%20MANUAL_REV
7.pdf?ver=2016-12-14-135043-757) (PDF). Washington, DC.: US Naval Sea Systems Command.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20161228033101/http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Docu
ments/SUPSALV/Diving/US%20DIVING%20MANUAL_REV7.pdf?ver=2016-12-14-135043-757) (PDF)
from the original on 28 December 2016.

2. Leino, Raili (24 February 2009). "Paineilma hukkaa 15 hiilivoimalan tuotannon" (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20110717044303/http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/energia/article218734.ece?s=u&wtm=tt-24022009)
(in Finnish). Archived from the original (http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/energia/article218734.ece?s=u&wt
m=tt-24022009) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2009.

3. "Compressed Air System Audits and Benchmarking Results from the German Compressed Air Campaign
"Druckluft effizient" " (https://web.archive.org/web/20111224105715/http://isi.fraunhofer.de/isi-de/publ/
download/isi04p20/compressed-air-benchmarking.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://isi.frau
nhofer.de/isi-de/publ/download/isi04p20/compressed-air-benchmarking.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-12-24.

4. Lance Day, Ian McNeil (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology, Routledge, 2002,
ISBN 1134650205,p. 1294

5. Peter Darling (ed.), SME Mining Engineering Handbook, Third Edition Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and
Exploration (U.S.) 2011, ISBN 0873352645,p. 705

6. U.S. Navy Supervisor of Diving (2008). U.S. Navy Diving Manual (https://web.archive.org/web/201412100
95431/http://www.supsalv.org/pdf/Dive%20Manual%20Rev%206%20with%20Chg%20A.pdf) (PDF).
SS521-AG-PRO-010, revision 6. U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command. Archived from the original (http://ww
w.supsalv.org/pdf/Dive%20Manual%20Rev%206%20with%20Chg%20A.pdf) (PDF) on 2014-12-10.
Retrieved 2014-01-21.

7. E. Hugh Snell, Compressed Air Illness Or So-called Caisson Disease H. K. Lewis, 1896 pp.
 8. Bennett, Peter; Rostain, Jean Claude (2003). "Inert Gas Narcosis". In Brubakk, Alf O; Neuman, Tom S
(eds.). Bennett and Elliott's physiology and medicine of diving (5th ed.). United States: Saunders. ISBN 0-
7020-2571-2. OCLC 51607923 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51607923) .

9. Yuan, C., Zhang, T., Rangarajan, A., Dornfeld, D., Ziemba, B., and Whitbeck, R. “A Decision-based Analysis
of Compressed Air Usage Patterns in Automotive Manufacturing”, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 25
(4), 2006, pp.293-300

10. "Applications - Working With Compressed Air - CAGI - Compressed Air And Gas Institute" (http://www.cag
i.org/working-with-compressed-air/applications.aspx) . www.cagi.org. Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20170128110742/http://www.cagi.org/working-with-compressed-air/applications.aspx) from
the original on 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2017-01-12.

11. "Selger frisk luft fra Preikestolen på eBay" (http://www.aftenbladet.no/nyheter/okonomi/Selger-frisk-luft-f

ra-Preikestolen-pa-eBay-3976326.html?spid_rel=2) . Stavanger Aftenblad (in Norwegian). Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20160818080123/http://www.aftenbladet.no/nyheter/okonomi/Selger-frisk-luft-
fra-Preikestolen-pa-eBay-3976326.html?spid_rel=2) from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved
15 August 2016.

12. "Some Like It Hot…Your Compressor Room Doesn't" (https://kaesertalksshop.com/2015/05/05/some-like

-it-hot-your-compressor-room-doesnt/) . Compressed Air Tips from Kaeser Talks Shop. 5 May 2015.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170113165807/https://kaesertalksshop.com/2015/05/05/som
e-like-it-hot-your-compressor-room-doesnt/) from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved
2017-01-12.

13. Fluid-Aire Dynamics, Inc. | Relative Humidity vs. Dew Point in Compressed Air Systems (https://fluidairedy
namics.com/relative-humidity-vs-dew-point/)

14. Quincy Compressor (https://www.quincycompressor.com/why-dry-air-before-it-enters-air-compressor/)

15. Atlas Copco | How can water harm my compressed air system? (https://www.atlascopco.com/en-ph/co
mpressors/wiki/compressed-air-articles/what-is-condensate-in-air)

16. Quincy Compressors | All About Compressed Air Piping Systems (https://www.quincycompressor.com/al
l-about-compressed-air-piping-systems/)

17. COMPRESSOR INLET PIPING by Hank van Ormer, Air Power USA, Compressed Air Best Practices,
06/2012 Page 26, column 2, Note 12. (https://www.compressedairchallenge.org/library/articles/2012-06-
CABP.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150910212035/http://www.compressedairchallen
ge.org/library/articles/2012-06-CABP.pdf) 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine

18. "Plant services (2005 - 2006 Collection) "Eliminate Mr. Tee" " (http://www.tlv.com/global/TI/calculator/air-
flow-rate-through-piping.html) . p. 5. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20131124065652/http://w
ww.tlv.com/global/TI/calculator/air-flow-rate-through-piping.html) from the original on 2013-11-24.
 19. Merritt, Rich (May 2005). "Top 10 Targets of a Compressed Air Audit" (https://web.archive.org/web/2016
1221233150/http://www.compressedairchallenge.org/library/articles/Plant_Services%20_Compressed_
Air_Articles.pdf) (PDF). Plant Services magazine. p. 31. Archived from the original (http://www.compres
sedairchallenge.org/library/articles/Plant_Services%20_Compressed_Air_Articles.pdf) (PDF) on 2016-
12-21.

External links

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