AIR COMPRESSORS

Where do you find ‘Air Compressors’?

For operating
 pneumatic tools such as drills, screw
drivers, hammers, chisels
 pneumatic cranes
 pneumatic brakes of automobiles,
railways and presses
 agricultural accessories such as dusters
and sprayers
 Category of fluid machines

• The device in which the kinetic, potential or

intermolecular energy held by the fluid is
converted in the form of mechanical energy of a
rotating member is known as a turbine .
• The machines, on the other hand, where the
mechanical energy from moving parts is
transferred to a fluid to increase its stored energy
by increasing either its pressure or velocity are
known as pumps, compressors, fans or blowers .
• The machines whose functioning depend
essentially on the change of volume of a
certain amount of fluid within the machine are
known as positive displacement machines .
The word positive displacement comes from
the fact that there is a physical displacement
of the boundary of a certain fluid mass as a
closed system.
• This principle is utilized in practice by the
reciprocating motion of a piston within a cylinder
while entrapping a certain amount of fluid in it.
Therefore, the word reciprocating is commonly
used with the name of the machines of this kind.
The machine producing mechanical energy is known
as reciprocating engine while the machine
developing energy of the fluid from the mechanical
energy is known as reciprocating pump or
reciprocating compressor.
• The machines, functioning of which depend basically on
the principle of fluid dynamics, are known as
rotodynamic machines . They are distinguished from
positive displacement machines in requiring relative
motion between the fluid and the moving part of the
machine. The rotating element of the machine usually
consisting of a number of vanes or blades, is known as
rotor or impeller while the fixed part is known as stator.
Impeller is the heart of rotodynamic machines, within
which a change of angular momentum of fluid occurs
imparting torque to the rotating member.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NakOoD-G0IY

• About 40 % of the cost in a refrigeration

system is that of compressor
Sectional view- single stage reciprocating
compressor
Block diagram of reciprocating compressor

It is a piston and cylinder

device with (automatic)
spring controlled inlet and
exhaust valves

There is a clearance
between the piston crown
and the top of the
cylinder.
• Hermetic – Latin – hermus
made airtight by fusion or sealing
• The difference between the hermetic and semi-
hermetic, is that the hermetic uses a one-piece
welded steel casing that cannot be opened for repair;
• if the hermetic fails it is simply replaced with an entire
new unit. A semi-hermetic uses a large cast metal
shell with gasketed covers that can be opened to
replace motor and pump components.
• The primary advantage of a hermetic and
semi-hermetic is that there is no route for the
gas to leak out of the system.
• Open compressors rely on shaft seals to retain
the internal pressure, and these seals require
a lubricant such as oil to retain their sealing
properties.
• The disadvantage of hermetic compressors is
that the motor drive cannot be repaired or
maintained, and the entire compressor must
be replaced if a motor fails. A further
disadvantage is that burnt-out windings can
contaminate whole systems, thereby requiring
the system to be entirely pumped down and
the gas replaced.
• Typically, hermetic compressors are used in
low-cost factory-assembled consumer goods
where the cost of repair is high compared to
the value of the device, and it would be more
economical to just purchase a new device.
 Scroll pump
see animation : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_compressor
• How a pneumatic drill works
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOxRHBe
PY98
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd9o2D2
wmhA&ebc=ANyPxKofuT3V22HQSRRmGL6njJi
xoSndpP1pxMquTF8ESL4epUWTONN9lmMwu
Tx0H4Awunh7N49c
• http://www.slideshare.net/
marimuthusudalaimuth/reciprocating-
compressors-32202177
 TECHTRIXINFO
• https://www.youtube.com/user/Techtrixinfo/
videos
 Courtesy
• http://nptel.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-
contents/IIT-KANPUR/machine/ui/
Course_home-lec1a.htm
 good
• http://www.slideshare.net/draghunathan/reci
procating-compressor-42761941
• http://turbolab.tamu.edu/proc/turboproc/T21
/T21183-188.pdf
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr67rIxO
P-s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=h08Hj5IbHYY
 Double acting
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=E6_jw841vKE