If air compressors are important to your business, it’s extremely important to understand how important it is to protect an air compressor during the summer. Heat can have a dramatic effect on air compressors, and to protect an air compressor from the heat, you need to understand heat’s effects.
How Does Heat Affect Air Compressors?
Heat will affect your air compressor in a whole range of ways, including:
· Lower Flow Rates – Higher temperature means air is less dense, so less air makes its way through the intake.
· Higher Cooling Water Temperature – The heat raises the temperature of your cooling water, forcing it to work harder.
· Increased Water Output – Warmer air can hold more water vapor. That is why having good filtration and a reliable air dryer downstream is so important to your compressed air system.
· More Draining – More water means your drains have to work harder as well.
· Reduced Throttle Regulation – by the same token, the higher intake air temperature limits the ability of the throttle valve to efficiently regulate the operating range of the compressor.
How to Protect an Air Compression System During the Summer
One important step for protecting your air compressor during the summer months is to properly ventilate the room where the compressor is located. The more ventilation you can provide for your air compressor, the better chance you have of keeping temperatures lower and the compressor working more efficiently.
Another important step is to make sure you have a high-quality air dryer that is working properly. One of the big problems that summer can cause is bringing more humidity and moisture into the atmosphere, which ends up in your compressed air. A good air dryer can eliminate that water to keep everything running smoothly.
You may also want to check/change your filters and drains more often. Your air filters and drains have to work harder in the summer, so make sure to check them frequently and change them if necessary so that the system can work optimally at all times. While you’re at it, change the oil. If your air compressor is an oil-based compressor, you definitely want to change the oil in the summer, as summer humidity and heat can cut the life of your oil in half.
Change the oil right before summer begins and consider changing it again halfway through to maximize its ability to lubricate the compressor and keep contaminants away.
Make sure that all air-cooled, heat exchangers, such as the air/oil cooler on the air compressor and the condenser on a refrigerated dryer, are kept clean and free of debris that may partially block the airflow or reduce the heat exchange efficiency.
Contact Fluid Aire Dynamics for More on Air Compressor Care
As a supplier of some of the world’s highest quality air compressors and experts in the compressed air field for over 30 years, we know a thing or two about air compressor care.
If you have any questions about how to protect your air compressor throughout the summer or are looking to buy a new, reliable air compressor, air dryer or any accessories related to a compressed air system, get in touch with us today.
