Air Compressor Cooler
What Is An Air Compressor Cooler?
Air compressor coolers (compressor intercoolers, air compressor aftercooler, & oil coolers) are mechanical heat exchangers used to remove air-flow heat and moisture to produce cool, dry air suitable for use in air-powered equipment. Basically, a compressor air cooler serves following purposes:
- Cools compressor discharge air or inter-stage temperature in a multi stage compressor helping in higher compression ratio.
- Air compressor after cooler reduce the moisture content of compressed air systems.
- Compressed air aftercooler make sure downstream equipment is protected from excessive heat and moisture providing clean dry air.
- Air compressor oil cooler keeps the compressor oil cool.
- Intercooler
- Reduces scheduled maintenance for compressor and compressed air after
- cooler ensures the same for downstream air tools connected to compressed
- air system by ensuring optimum operating conditions.
- Intercooler
- and Aftercooler reduces air lines, fittings corrosion in reciprocating
- compressors, rotary screw air compressors, Centrifugal air compressor
- and compressed air piping.
- Cooler for air compressor reduces the load on downstream equipment’s like air dryer
Why Are compressed Air Coolers Required?
Compressed air discharged from a stage (multistage compressor) or from final stage (air compressor outlet temperature) by an air compressor has high temperature. Depending on the type of compressor, the temperature will vary. Average compressor outlet temperatures are as follows:
- Oil-Injected Rotary Screw 180-220°F
- Oil-Free Rotary Screw 300-350°F
- 2-Stage Reciprocating 250-300°F
- Turbo Air Centrifugal compressor 180-235°F
Air that is too hot is usually not appropriate for use in air-operated equipment because it degrades lubrication and seal materials. Moisture vapor contained in hot air can also cause rust, scale build-up, the loss of lubricant, and freezing issues, when it condenses.
Atmospheric air contains water vapor, which becomes more concentrated when the air is drawn into a compressor and pressurized. Since the air after
compression is extremely hot, the moisture remains in a vapor state, above the dew point temperature.
Dewpoint is the temperature at which air becomes saturated when it is capable of holding 100 percent of its capacity to hold water vapor. In general, the air
can hold twice as much moisture in a vapor state as it can below the dewpoint for every 20°F rise in temperature.
With Compressor intercooler and aftercooler, the dew point drops and water vapor condenses. The water vapor in the air will become droplets if the
amount of moisture in the air exceeds the dewpoint. Without an air compressor cooling system, a 200 CFM air compressor operating at 100 PSI
may result in up to 45 gallons of water every day in the compressed air cooling system.
Types of Air compressor coolers :
Generally a air compressor cooler can be classified as air-cooled or water-cooled.
Air Cooled compressed air coolers
The hot compressed air is cooled by ambient inlet air in air cooled
compressed air coolers. A motor-driven fan forces ambient air over the
cooler as compressed air travels through an air-cooled cooler. It is
designed with a spiral-finned tube coil or with a plate-finned coil
design.
Compressed air is cooled by ambient air. An air-cooled aftercooler is usually sized to bring compressed air to within 15°F to 20°F of ambient cooling air temperature, also called approach temperature. When compressed air cools, up to 75% of the water vapor condenses into a liquid, which needs to be drained.
The liquid moisture and solids in compressed air are removed mechanically from the air using a moisture separator installed at the discharge of the aftercooler. Moisture and solids are collected at the bottom of the moisture separator using centrifuges and baffle plates, in some cases. Moisture should then be removed through an automatic drain.
Water-Cooled Air Compressor Cooler
Unlike air-cooled aftercoolers, water-cooled air compressor coolers are
installed in stationary compressor installations where there is access
to cooling water. As a cooling medium, water has several advantages:
- Having no seasonal temperature fluctuations which is common for inlet air temperature,
- It is cost-effective and readily available.
- It can approach ambient air temperatures efficiently, eliminating
- condensation downstream and cooling compressed air effectively for places with requirement of industrial compressed air.
Temperatures in water-cooled aftercoolers range between 10°F and 15°F, which is beneficial when cooler air is needed. There are several types of water-cooled aftercoolers available.
A Shell and Tube aftercooler is the most common. There are tubes fitted
inside this shell that makes up the aftercooler. As compressed air
passes through the tubes, water passes through the shell in the opposite direction or vice versa. Heat transfer from the compressed air to the water during this process.
Water is formed within the tubes as the compressed air cools. Like an
air-cooled cooler, a moisture separator and drain valve are used to
remove the moisture.
The compressor air coolers in centrifugal compressors have a massive influence on their efficiency and thus also on their operating costs. They not only affect air compressor cooling but affect the air compressor maintenance. To run a industrial air compressors economically over the long term, the compressors’ users must deploy high-quality and technically advanced air cooling systems.
ATLAS COPCO®, INGERSOLL RAND® AIR COOLER
Our advanced manufacturing technology and the use of a balanced quantity of tubes, in which the compressed air is cooled, enable our high
quality air coolers, air compressor intercoolers, air compressor aftercoolers, following the OEM “donut-type” design, to offer a perfect
balance between pressure loss and CTD values.
This means that we can not only give our customers a 100% guarantee that our air coolers can be used in their Centac ® compressor without
restrictions but also assure them that they have the same or better
performance values than the OEM products ( Centac cooler) and
therefore, efficiency influence the compressor positively in the long
term.
Turbo-Air® & MSG® CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSOR COOLERS
The intercoolers in Cameron turbo air compressors have a significant
influence on their efficiency and thus also on their operating costs. To
run a compressor economically over the long term, the compressors’
users must deploy high-quality and technically advanced intercoolers.
Turbo Airtech has precisely fulfilled this customer requirement by providing the best quality Turbo Air compressor coolers currently available in the market for replacement parts. Our Turbo-Air® Intercoolers offer a perfect balance between pressure loss and performance values.
By that, we can guarantee 100% interchangeability for Cameron Turbo air 3000, Cameron MSG Compressor, other Turbo air cooler and assure our customers that our Intercoolers perform at least as well as the OEM
products. The fact that we manufacture according to the highest
standards and a standard warranty of eighteen months on all our
Turbo-Air® air coolers witness our focus on a product, meeting the
highest quality standards.
FAQ
what are air compressor cooling water requirement ?
Cooling water requirements vary depending upon many factors, contact us to determine the precise cooling water requirement for your specific compressor model.
