ELGi North America (ELGi) plans to introduce the new GP35FP portable compressor at the highly anticipated CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023, from March 14 – 18, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. At IFPE in booth South Hall 1 S61908, ELGi will display the GP35FP, the latest portable air compressor in the portfolio and the trusted D185T4F model. […]

VMAC has announced the release of its G30+GEN gas powered rotary screw air compressor/generator, which combines two convenient forms of power into a single, innovative system. VMAC’s G30+GEN provides 25 CFM of compressed air at 100 psi and is designed to maintain max CFM 100% of the time. Operators can quickly switch from compressor mode […]

Compressed air and vacuum technology is continuously being digitalized, but is digitalization really a panacea when it comes to sustainability and energy efficiency? The international CEO Panel on Compressed Air and Vacuum Technology at Hannover Fair will provide the answer to this question. On April 20, CEOs from global leaders in the industry will discuss […]

Years ago, in the North American compressed air market, it was a free-for-all when it came to compressor ratings. Some questionable efficiency numbers were published, leading customers to believe that they were making good choices in purchasing the most energy efficient compressors. However, as time went on, it was gradually discovered that some published numbers […]

A building products company had constantly overheating bearings on some large fans induced draft in their process and decided to use compressed air to provide some extra cooling. On one fan bearing they installed a spare air wand and tied it in position with wires, so the nozzle pointed directly at the hot bearing, this […]

A farm implement manufacturer had a system of three large 150-hp compressors that were air-cooled lubricant-injected screw compressors. To control these compressors — two of which were needed for peak duty on any given day — the compressors were set up in a cascaded pressure band arrangement, with each unit running in load/unload mode. In […]

A wood products company had some troubles operating its compressed air system in the coldest winter months. Maintenance workers found that the pressure at various points in their plant would fall to very low levels, especially after weekend plant shutdowns. The plant had a system of lubricated screw compressors with refrigerated air dryers to condition […]

A metal processor had a four-compressor system that was well controlled by a compressor sequencer. System operation was very well monitored by a system of pressure, power, and flow instruments that fed system operating characteristics back to the maintenance supervisor. One day before the Christmas holiday, the supervisor noticed that the variable speed drive (VSD) […]

Have you ever wandered through your plant on a down day and found that it sounded like a pit of vipers with noticeable compressed air leaks hissing away constantly?  Have you wondered how much money you are losing because of the leaks?  Now you can answer that question armed with a simple trash bag and […]

In the compressed air world, there are quite a number of energy savings features available to be installed on air compressors and air dryers. Often, these cost a premium to buy — but will very quickly pay for the added cost through reduced electricity bills. A recycling facility purchased an energy efficient heated blower style […]

By Ron Marshall Compressed air is one of the most expensive ways to supply energy to facility tools and equipment. This is due to the inherent inefficiencies in the process of compressing air — the biggest product is heat and the secondary output is compressed air. While this is disappointing, there are still things that […]

When controlling screw compressors, the goal is to try to keep all the running compressors fully loaded except one. And the one running partly loaded (called trim) is selected as the one having best part load efficiency characteristics. When there are only two or three compressors in a group, it is quite easy to set […]

Tsunami Compressed Air Solutions released four new products — adding more capacity and customization to the Air Dryers product line. Tsunami’s new products expand on the existing Pure Series Dryer line and include the Pure-1, a 5-cfm dryer, the Pure-3, a 10-cfm dryer, the Pure-7, a 25-cfm dryer, and the Pure-30, a 120-cfm dryer. All […]

Question: I need your advice about how to adjust the dew point for the dryers which are equipped with a dew point controller. Also, for those not having a controller, how can we determine which dew point is the best setting — -40 or -70? Answer: This is a complicated question. The method for adjusting […]

A plastics manufacturer was having constant trouble with his desiccant air dryers. No matter what he did, they would constantly set off dewpoint alarms, which was very annoying. He called in a compressed air auditor to have a look. The auditor shot temperatures and found that the discharge of the compressors was too hot. Outputs […]

VMAC surveyed 340 people in the service truck industry in 2022, asking them questions about their fleets and service truck equipment. The data shows 80% of professionals prefer rotary screw air compressors over reciprocating air compressors on their service vehicles. The 2021 and 2020 survey results also indicated a strong industry preference for rotary screw […]

John, the maintenance manager of a wood products company, was very proud of his Number 3 compressor. It has been operating for years, racking up more than 200,000 run hours — and was so trouble free, it was almost scary. Of course, John kept it maintained, changing oil and filters on a regular basis, fixing […]

ELGi Compressors USA Inc. (ELGi), a subsidiary of ELGi Equipments Limited, a compressor manufacturer, announced the strategic rebranding of its portable air compressor line in North America, previously branded as Rotair. ELGi acquired the Italian-based portable air compressor manufacturer, Rotair, in 2012. Rebranding “Rotair” to “ELGi” will strengthen the company’s presence in the North American […]

A large industrial plant fell on hard times and had to reduce their production shifts to only 8 hours per day, 5 days per week. The compressed air system remained running full time 24 hours a day, including weekends, due to the need to supply the plant’s dry fire system with air pressure. The total […]

What should you do when it comes time to decide if you should repair or replace your aging air compressor? There are a few things you should consider. Air compressors are like motor vehicles — if they are used continuously, hardly shutting down, they should not be expected to run for a long time without […]

Question: My compressed air dryer is rated at 100° F inlet air temperature. What will happen if the air temperature is lower than this? Answer: Having the air temperature lower than the dryer rating is a good thing. Actually, dryers are commonly rated at 100° F inlet temperature, 100 psi and 100° F ambient temperature. […]

Running out of pressure? Think about storage volume. Consider this — remember when you had your 10-speed bike with those thin tires? You could ride quite fast, but when it came to filling up the tubes to the proper pressure. all it took was a small shot on the fill valve to change the pressure […]

A sawmill ran a set of six large air-cooled compressors to feed their various processes. To cool the compressors, the air was drawn from outdoors and mixed with indoor air to keep temperatures from freezing the compressors in winter. This facility has a tough environment for cooling air because of the sawdust. To attempt to […]

Question: I’m a compressor salesperson. Lately, the large building tenders we’ve seen have been spec’d for two variable speed screw compressors to run together sharing the load. This would make sense to me if one was a 100% backup and they never ran together, but that does not seem to be the case. Everything I’ve […]

A large industrial company was having problems with its air quality.  Water was appearing as if at random at one of its most critical processes, causing instrumentation failures and contamination of the product.  This issue was difficult to understand because it looked like the refrigerated air dryer was working fine — and dewpoint looked good […]