3/9/2018 How to Size an Air Compressor?

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How to Size an Air Compressor?

by Rajkaran Chawla

First it is important to know how the capacity of an air compressor is

measured.

1. Volume of Compressed Air Flow upon a particular given time. This means
how much volume of compressed air can be generated by an air compressor Calculate the Revolutions
when it has run for a particular amount of time. This unit is exactly measured Per Minute (RPM) of the
as volume of air upon time. Compressor Flywheel or the
Eg: CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) – Cubic Feet is a unit of volume and diameter of the Motor
minutes is a unit of time. 1 cubic foot is = 28.317 Liters. Therefore 1 CFM = Pulley
28.31 (LPM) Liters Per Minute.
Similarly Liters per Second (L/sec) or Cubic Meter per hour are units of flow
of air.

a. Important point to note here is that some brands specify SCFM

(Standard CFM). This means that the compressor will deliver air
at the speed of the mentioned CFM but because it is standard it is Pneumatic Cylinders and

considered as it is measured at a standard reading which is the compressed air flow

Pressure is 1 Bar(g), Atmospheric Temperature is 20 Deg C, (cfm) consumed by these

Atmospheric Pressure is at Sea Level and 0% relative humidity in cylinders. Free software to

the atmosphere. This is a reading by ISO 1217 which tries to find out the same for any

bring all CFM of different brands on one level. But this is not the size of pneumatic cylinder.

actual CFM at your location because air expands and contracts at

different temperatures and atmospheric pressure has a very
important role in how well the compressor sucks air from the
atmosphere. Therefore we at CompressorWale plan to bring to
you exact information as to discharge rate of the compressors as
per Indian conditions at a high pressure.

b. The above same goes for NM^3/Hr (Normal Cubic Meter per
Hour).

c. Because of the above the altitude of your factory / site affects

the air compressor performance. At a higher altitude compared to
sea level there is less atmospheric pressure which is why the
Free Tool to Calculate the
compressors suction capacity will reduce therefore the same
Piston Displacement (CFM)
machine will give much less air. Eg. Places like Shimla, Mussorie
of a Piston / Reciprocating
etc. In these cases a much bigger machine is required to deliver
Air Compressor
less amount of air. Similarly temperature of air and humidity in
air also affect the performance of the air compressor but their
impact on compressor is less.

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3/9/2018 How to Size an Air Compressor?

d. Therefore for now you can keep a basic general thumb rule that
you need to add about 25 to 30% to the above figures to get the
exact CFM or M^3/Hr of the compressor.

2. Air Pressure: At what maximum pressure can the compressor deliver air or
force the air out? Pressure is measured as weight upon a particular area like
1cm x 1cm or 1inch x 1inch. Free Tool to Calculate
Eg: Kg/cm^2 (Kilograms per square centimetre) or PSI (Pounds per square
inch) or BAR. You will notice that after a unit like this the alphabet “g” is Pump Up Time or Check
mentioned which means gauge. Therefore Kg/cm^2 (g) means it is a reading Efficiency of an Air
mentioned in a pressure gauge.
Compressor
There is a false notion that some people have regarding these 2
above units of measurement. Some people think that flow of air
or CFM and the pressure both need to be multiplied by the
number of pneumatic machines or pneumatic equipments. But
only the flow of air or CFM needs to be multiplied and not the
pressure. The same is cleared in the below example.

Eg: There are 2 pneumatic machines / equipments of the same

Unit Converter related to
kind and each requires an air consumption of 20 CFM @ 6
compressed air units
Bar(g). Then your total Compressed air consumption will be 20 x
2 = 40 CFM @ 6 Bar(g). Note that the Pressure does not need to
be multiplied with the number of pneumatic machines.

The above 2 units are the only important points to know before purchasing an
air compressor.
Please note that air compressors are rated and measured as CFM at a
Free Tool to Calculate
particular pressure. Most brands have an asterisk (# or *) at the bottom of the
Volume of Air Receiver
compressor technical specifications which states that the compressor CFM
based on its measurements
rating is measured at X pressure but the maximum pressure of the machine is
Y. This is important because CFM (Flow of Air) and the pressure are inversely
proportional which means when one goes up the other has to come down.
Therefore we will explain this with the help of the below example.

Suppose 15 CFM is required at 10 Bar. Difference Between Screw a

(Piston) Air Compress
A 5HP reciprocating piston compressor shows 15 CFM but below it says that
this CFM is measured at 7 Bar. Therefore when this pressure is increased to
10 Bar the flow will not remain 15 CFM and will drop down. Therefore this
5HP machine will not be sufficient and a 7.5HP will have to be looked into.
Second-Hand Air Compressors

Some examples of compressed air consumption: for Sale

Ateliers François AF Belgiu

CE68A Oil Free PET Air Co
Germany

3. Some people do not know the above points on ways an air compressor is
measured and they only talk in term of HP (Horse Power) of the machines.
Well over the years a thumb rule is there that 1 HP = 3 CFM of air in
reciprocating piston compressors but this cannot always be considered. It is
different at different pressures and it is different in screw compressors. The

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3/9/2018 How to Size an Air Compressor?

right way to size an air compressor is when you have figured out the Air Flow
and Pressure required then you match a compressor accordingly to this and
then whatever be the HP of the machine you will have to stick with it. If you
are going in for a reciprocating piston type air compressor then it is
recommended to consider 1.5 times the CFM actually required so that
compressor gets rest when it cycles on and off / load and unload etc.

Now that you know the above measurements of an air compressor then lets
get into the steps involved and the procedure to size the adequate compressor
for your operation. Good as New, Kaeser SK-
Screw Air Compressor w
Integrated Dryer, Gurgao
STEPS:-

1. Understand the application. The application could be a

pneumatic machine, spray painting operation, just to fill up air in
a tank which does oxygenation, pharmaceutical application,
plastic bottle making through blow moulding etc,

2. Determine the air flow required in CFM, LPM etc. This can be
10HP Elgi Reciprocating P
seen in the manual of the pneumatic machines, you can ask your Compressor, Delh
pneumatic machine manufacturers to suggest the CFM, if the
application involves filling of air in a storage tank for
oxygenation etc then you need to know the volume of this storage
tank and with that the time you want it to fill up completely at a Featured Air Compressor
desired pressure and we at CompressorWale.com will guide you Manufacturers
the CFM value required to fill that storage tank in the required
time.

a. Important point to note is that after you have finalized on a

Gardner Denver Reciprocating
particular CFM that is required for your application and
and Screw Air Compressors
suppose you have decided to go for a reciprocating piston type
air compressor then you need to take a compressor which is 1.5
times the required CFM. This is because the piston
compressors are not designed to run continuously and are for
intermittent use only. Therefore a big size compressor will get
cycle time to on and off. Air-Marshal Air Compressors

3. Determine the working pressure required for the application.

This should also be mentioned in the pneumatic machine manuals
FS Curtis Air Compressors
or can be taken from manufacturer. There are certain thumb rules
regarding pressure like pneumatic applications do not require
more than 6 Bar(g) and spray painting requires 3.5 to 5 Bar(g)
and pet blow of bottles requires high pressure ranging from 12 to
40 Bar depending on the mould and profile of the bottle etc.

a. Important point to note is that compressors come with a load

and unload pressure rating or cut on and cut off pressure rating
because of the pressure switch installed on the machine. The
difference between this cut on and cut off pressure is called
pressure delta. Usually these ratings are both adjustable in
almost every pressure switch but it is still advisable to keep a
bigger pressure delta between the off and on pressure. In piston
compressors the minimum pressure delta advisable is 2 bar (g)
and in screw compressors it is 1 bar (g). This way the higher
the pressure delta the longer the compressor gets to cycle on

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and off and there is less load on the electric motor. Note that
electric motor manufacturers suggest that an electric motor
should not be made to start and stop more than six times in an
hour. But also to remember that as the pressure goes higher the
compressor draws more electricity and more energy to
compressor the air. Therefore there needs to be a balance so
max cut out pressure can be kept up to 2 Bar (g) higher than the
required pressure.

4. Now that we know the above we get into the purity of the
compressed air. Like how much oil and moisture content is
allowable to your application. This will guide you whether you
need a 100% oil Less / oil free machine or a normal oil lubricated
machine with filters will be sufficient. Secondly it will also guide
you whether you need a dryer to dry the moisture from the
compressed air and whether you need a refrigerated air dryer or a
desiccant air dryer. Below are examples of some applications:-

a. In case it is a pneumatic machine little oil carry over in

compressed air is ok and sometime better if oil is present
because the movement of the pneumatic cylinders requires oil
for smooth operation. But moisture present in compressed air is
harmful for the pneumatic cylinders as they could rust over
time. Here you will need a refrigerated air dryer to remove the
moisture down to +3 Deg C PDP(Pressure Dew Point) –
{usually all dryer manufacturers are giving this rating} and a
general purpose filter of around 5 or 1 micron rating to stop
dust particles and liquid water entering the dryer. There will be
people who will recommend a glass type moisture separator
but this does not remove moisture in form of water vapour
which is removed by the dryer.

b. In spray painting of cars the oil in compressed air creates

spots in the finished paint product therefore here 3 filters are
required to remove oil content down to 0.003ppm (particles per
million). You will need all three – if you only purchase the last
filter then it will choke up faster not giving you its life worth.

c. In case of pharma application if compressed air is going to

come in contact with the end product like medicines and
capsules then neither oil nor moisture is allowable to stricter
norms. In this case you will need a 100% oil free machine with
Desiccant air dryer to remove the moisture down to -20 Deg C
PDP(Pressure Dew Point) – {usually all dryer manufacturers
are giving this rating} and a set of 3 filters to purify down to
0.003ppm (particles per million) and 0.01 micron. Some cases
an oil lubricated compressor is also allowable with the
necessary filters – this depends on the oil content allowable and
how strict is the inspection authority.

d. If it is a pet bottle blow moulding application then all 3

filters may be required to remove the hydro carbon odours
from the compressed air because the bottle have bad smell if
not removed.

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5. Is noise level a criteria? If you want to place the compressor

near operations and on the factory shop floor near your labour
and employees then you could go for a silent machine like a
screw compressor (more expensive) but if you can place the
machine far and do some piping then you can go in for a
reciprocating piston type air compressor (economical option).

6. Does your application require a compressor that needs to be

portable or stationary? If it requires to be portable and if the
requirement is small within 5HP then you can go for a
reciprocating piston type air compressor since some brands give
free wheels or access to put wheel on the compressor for
portability but if you need a big size compressor that is portable
then some brands give approximately 300 CFM machines which
are portable if you may have seen them sometime on the road
side. You get these type of machines in both electric motor driven
as well as diesel engine driven based on your requirement. At the
moment no brand offers a standard portable compressor from 5 to
30 HP. They may be able to give you a customized trolley or so
for portability.

7. If the size of the machine is fitting in 15HP and less then it is

recommended to go for a reciprocating piston air compressor but
if higher then better to go for a screw compressor.

8. Just before closing on an air compressor make sure that you

have electricity supply at your site / workshop in the desired
rating to run the air compressor. The ratings used in India are
Single Phase (230V / 50Hz) or Three Phase (440V / 50Hz).
Single phase is available only in reciprocating piston air
compressor and that too only upto 3HP power rating. Single
phase is not available in screw compressors in India. Three phase
supply is most commonly used.

9. Backup: you should consider taking a backup compressor if an

air compressor is very essential for your business. In most
factories an air compressor is so critical that the complete plant
will be a stand still if the compressor has broken down and per
day salaries are very high for this kind of a plant.

10. Consider a machine 10 to 15% bigger than the required air

because in future you may want to add some equipment, your
piping may have some leaks, your filters may get clogged etc.
Having a little spare amount of air is always better.

Now that you know how to size an air compressor. Please read through the
commonly used air compressors i.e. screw and reciprocating-piston air
compressors and their differences.

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