Help about reliability of a compressor

[barbo]

hi,

can someone tell me what environmental conditions affect the output and reliability of the compressor components ??

thanks
barbo

 

[brewnog]

Duty cycle, air cleanliness, lubrication quality, contaminants, pressure trends, thermal cycling, shock loading, temperature...

 

[FredGarvin]

It depends on the type of compressor. Flooded compressors last quite a bit longer than oil-free. The most basic factors that effect performance are humidity, elevation and cleanliness of the air.

 

[barbo]

the compressor is tandem compressor and it is single acting double stage. can you please tell me what these factors (humidity, elevation..)do wrong to the compressor ??

thanks

 

[FredGarvin]

The big one would be inlet air condition. Having a proper inlet filtration prevents erosion of seals and close clearance moving parts. Humidty simply causes the need for water separation which can be labor intensive to keep track of. If you don't stay on top of it, corrossion can creep in pretty quickly. Elevation will simply decrease the compressor's output capacity, it won't really effect longevity except possibly decreasing the ability to remove heat.

 

[barbo]

thanks man.
if you have some links i appriciate

 

[barbo]

does the temperature affect also the reliabilty of the compressor ??

 

[FredGarvin]

does the temperature affect also the reliabilty of the compressor ??

In my experience not as much as the other factors that we talked about. Basically think of any piston driven engine and what you think would have an effect on it's performance.

http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/operations_maintenance/technologies/ac/maintenance.cfm

http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/15_Rules_on_Condensation.shtml