Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1449093
A ir compressors are the main component of compressed air systems, which are an essential part of any modern indus- trial plant. After air is compressed, it becomes a safe and abundant source of energy. Because of this, compressed air has been a necessary part of industrial processes for decades. e most common air compressor design used across industries today is the screw compressor. is is because they are efficient, widely available, and come in a variety of sizes from 10 HP all the way up to 500 HP. Standard two-stage designs can also operate at up to 13 bars (188 psi) of pressure. Troubleshooting challenges is an essential skill for any team tasked with keeping machinery running. Our team has spent years helping plants improve their processes and conquer challenges. During that time, we have refined our reliability and data analysis techniques. Since today's reliability programs often rely heavily on data and analytics, I will be sharing some figures about the amount of downtime associated with one of the smallest footprints inside a plant: the humble air compressor. In general, the compressed air station will usually be around remove the 1.2-5% of the total cost of a plant's rotating assets. However, it can be up to 20% for general utilities and it can be up to 80% for indus- tries like spinning and weaving, where it is necessary for the majority of production activity. While the extent to which individual industries rely on compressed air will vary, most industries require compressed air for some part of their process and all will suffer from various levels of downtime if compressed air becomes unavailable or has its quality compromised. For example, 46-86% of downtime in industries like Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), assembly-based process, spinning and weaving, and steel plants can be attributed to compressed air. is downtime is a direct production loss everyone would like to avoid. is can usually be done by employing redundancy, but that strategy can only go so far. WHY THE OIL IN YOUR AIR COMPRESSOR MATTERS MATTERS ML Twin screw compressor