If you are in an industry involved in production or manufacturing, you’re probably looking for an industrial air compressor for different reasons. Having a dependable source of compressed air can help increase productivity or allow your team to perform specific procedures that aren’t possible without a compressor.
Air compressors are known to have a lot of industrial applications you might have missed the first time around. If you’re interested enough, here’s an article that could help you know more about the different industrial uses of air compressors:
Industrial Air Compressors Explained
An industrial air or gas compressor is a pneumatic or air-filled device. The device has a powerful motor used to build air pressure thru mechanical means. In most cases, an industrial air compressor stores the air into a storage unit, which is usually made of reinforced metal tanks, allowing for on-demand access to high-pressure airflow.
Many businesses buy their compressors from local stores and online platforms. If you’re thinking of purchasing one, you may consider looking into shops offering used air compressors for sale. While brand new compressors are largely available, secondhand options are, for the most part, still reliable and more affordable.
Industrial air compressors are known for usability, durability, and overall cost-effectiveness. Depending on what model you can get an air compressor could be portable or mounted to a wall or platform. Some models are also capable of putting our more air pressure than others, with the more powerful ones having a higher price tag.
The following are four of the most common types of industrial air compressors used both in small businesses and industries today:
- Rotary Screw: This type uses two internal rotors and can either be electric or gas-powered, depending on each model. Rotary screw compressors are commonly used in construction sites.
- Reciprocating: This compressor uses a piston inside a cylinder. Reciprocating compressors can either be single type, or multi-stage. Single type variants are fit for small businesses, while the latter is ideal for large-scale industrial applications.
- Dynamic: Also known as centrifugal or turbo compressors, dynamic compressors use rotating blades to pull in and produce compressed air. This is mainly used in big steel manufacturing companies and chemical plants.
- Axial: The most expensive and most efficient type of air compressors, axial compressors are mostly seen used in aircraft production and shipbuilding industries.
Uses And Applications
Now that you know the different types of air compressors, we can take a closer look at what these machines are often used for. Here are some of the most common industrial air compressor applications you may want to be familiar with:
In Agriculture
Industrial air compressors offer quick and reliable performance when it comes to different planting and crop maintenance works, including the following:
- Spraying crops – Air compressors are helpful in the even distribution of fertilizer and pesticides.
- Operating dairy machines – The devices make the dairy machines consistently work to ensure constant dairy produce.
- Operating conveyors for feeds and crop processing and transport – Air compressors keep the conveyors moving despite the absence of grid electricity.
In Pharmaceuticals
Industrial air compressors help in maintaining the medicine and other medical products safe and clean. In most cases, these pneumatic devices are used in the following tasks:
- Packaging – Air compressors maintain the safe and tight packaging of medical products to have durable casing and packing.
- Transportation – Compressors can be used along assembly lines (such as in conveyor belts) to keep both finished products and certain materials moving to ensure a consistent flow of production.
- Spray cleaning and coating the products – High-pressure compressors can be used for spraying disinfectants or blowing particles off surfaces to prevent product contamination.
Food And Beverage
Air compressors simplify the daily operations in food and beverage industries by providing or improving productivity through the following:
- Filling drinks – Precision compressors can be used to dispense exact amounts of liquids into bottles or packaging during the production phase.
- Refrigeration – Compressors use air-powered diaphragms to pump the refrigerants that are responsible for making freezers and refrigerators work.
- Dehydration – Pressurized air can be used to help get rid of humid air and reduce moisture levels which is essential in increasing certain products’ shelf lives.
- Packaging – Just like with refrigeration, creating negative pressure can be used for vacuum packaging and other similar tasks.
- Sanitation – From something as simple as blowing dust off surfaces to antibacterial aerosol applications, air compressors help keep food production lines clean.
In Manufacturing
In this industry, industrial air compressors basically make the production work. Here are some of the fundamental operations where air compressors are highly used:
- Blowing bottles – Air compressors are used to safely create uniform-shaped bottles used for packaging of a wide range of products.
- Welding – Compressed air is necessary for plasma cutters and blow torches that are used for industrial welding applications.
- Hydraulics – Heavy industrial work that relies on hydraulics will require powerful air compressors to keep machines from seizing up due to lack of air pressure.
- Metal Cutting – Metal stamps and punchers require enough air pressure for the stamper to perform precise, clean cuts to minimize the formation of weak points in sheet metal.
- Surface Stripping – Manufacturing using recycled material may involve blasting sand or other abrasive materials to strip a surface clean of paint, rust, and other impurities before they can be used for production.
Other Applications
Apart from the common applications mentioned above, the following are other, more niche applications of industrial air compressors:
- maintaining AC systems
- mixing and molding clay products
- spray painting auto parts
- conveying and actuating paper and pulp
- weaving fabrics
- processing gas compression
- assembling metal parts and injection molding
- operating laundry presses and dry cleaners
Wrapping Up
The long list of applications of industrial air compressors reflects how important they are across multiple industries. This means getting an air compressor is a worthy investment for small and large-scale business startups alike.
Choosing an industrial compressor properly relies on properly considering different factors such as consistency of pressure, tank size, portability, and efficiency. Keep in mind that each type of air compressor has its own set of pros and cons when it comes to versatility, maintenance, and even long-term performance. Consider those factors in line with your company’s specific needs and you’re bound to get a good value out of your air compressor.
