Selecting an air compressor for any industrial facility is a difficult task. On top of it, if you are purchasing a compressor for the first time, the exercise indeed gets overwhelming. Moreover, with several varieties of compressors found in the market of Bahrain, first-time buyers are bound to get flustered to choose the right one for their facility.
In this article, we tell you how to select the most suitable air compressor for your needs. Once these factors become clear to you, it’s only going to get easier for you to make a sensible investment decision.
Which industries in Bahrain need air compressors? Find out here
Before you start looking for a compressor, you should first understand the versatility of compressed air across sectors. This will also help you comprehend how the fourth utility promises to boost various industrial operations, including yours.
Power plants
As the signification of energy continues to grow, the chances are high that the need for compressed air will go through the roof in the coming days as it is a source of stored energy and can be utilized to power plant operations. Oil-free rotary screw for its robustness, less maintenance, quite operation and flexibility with VSD is a good choice for applications like turbine ignition, continuous instrument and service air within the utilities and much more.
Manufacturing industry
Compressed air ensures efficient mixing, cleaning, injecting, separating, and several other processes in the manufacturing industry. Today, companies get their hands on advanced rotary screw or centrifugal compressors for supporting their operations with a steady flow of clean and pure compressed air in their facilities. For large stable demands centrifugal is preferred as base load for maximum efficiency and combined with VSD rotary screw to accommodate fluctuations (reduced power waste) that can be in any typical flow profile.
Food & beverage industry
Cleanliness and hygiene standards are quite stringent in the food and beverage industry. As important is compressed air quality for to their applications, offered by compressor equipment certified as per ISO 22000 industry standards – free of contaminants like oil, dust and moisture. Choosing an oil-free screw compressor is the right way to go about it assuring uncompromised air quality with reliable industry tested screw technology for most efficient operation.
For high pressure PET applications, dicover the benefits of reciproacting horizontal design (offering longer life and reliability) or the hybrid technology of screw and piston that can reach up to 100 barg pressure.
Pharmaceutical industry
Just like food & beverage, this is an industrial sector that needs a free flow of clean and certified Class 0 compressed air. Whether it is about medicine coating and hardening or creating containers for packing medicines, you have to perform every application in a highly sterile environment. Once again, choosing an oil-free compressor becomes a must to eliminate any risk of oil or water contamination by using high efficiency integrated adsorption rotary drum dryer at zero power consumed for drying. Space is a premium in pharma plants and integrated dryers offer high quality dry air without consuming extra floor area or any installation cost involved.
These are only some out of the many industries that need compressed air for running their operations. If you are dealing in glass, air separation, and metal industries, you too will need a suitable compressor to support your applications.
Types of air compressor in Bahrain you can choose from
Like said already, the first-time buyer may get perplexed with different options available. In this section, we discuss the types of industrial air compressors available in the market right now so you can take your pick backed by serious considerations.
Oil-free air compressors
Oil-free air compressors are available in technologies - screw, piston, centrifugal, and scroll compressors for critical industrial applications in a hygienic environment, far from any contamination. Another reason why oil-free compressors are popular is they help reduce energy consumption, lower maintenance intervals and thereby cutting operating costs; Thanks to their cutting-edge design and technology.
Oil-injected compressors
Oil-injected air compressors come with their range of benfits and are suitable for certain industries. Oil within the compression chamber serves as cooling medium, alos used for sealing of elements (minimum air leakage between screws) and lubrication. For example, general manufacturing plants where air quality is not of much concern, prefer installing rotary screw compressors for their durability, efficiency and quieter operation advantage that screw elements offer. The fluid in an oil-injected compressor ensures proper lubrication and faster cooling down of the released air.
Piston compressors
If you want an industrial air compressor machine for small scale operations, you may go for a piston compressor that comes at a relatively lower cost than rotary compressors. Since they have too many moving parts inside, they wear out quickly and cause more friction, generating high temperatures when in use from the machine.
Rotary screw compressors
Unlike piston compressors, rotary compressors have limited internal working parts, making it highly reliable in the long run. As their design is more compact, these machines occupy much lesser space. Since they come plug & play with built-in anti-vibration pads, interconnected skid mounted and are suitable for positioning on a flat industrial floor. rotary screw compressors make lesser noise and even require minimal maintenance in the long run.
Centrifugal compressors
Should your application require a high air volume at stable pressure increase, you should go for a centrifugal compressor. By adding kinetic energy to air particles and abruptly slowing them down, you build up pressure. By doing this in several stages, you can go up to 13 bar in medium pressure applications. With unique backward leaning impellers and Inlet Guide Vanes, centrifugal compressors offer a higher turndown on air flow with reduced energy consumption on constant base load.
Factors to consider when selecting an air compressor
Investing in an air compressor is a significant business decision, and you can’t take a risk by selecting the wrong machine for your needs. One wrong move can leave you regretting for the next 10-12 years. That is why we tell what all factors to consider before you buy an air compressor.
Consider your applications and needs
Does your application involve long duty cycles requiring a high volume of air at stable pressure? In that case, opting for a centrifugal compressor would be the right call. If your requirements are of small scale and you have budgetary constraints, choose a reciprocating compressor.
On the other hand, rotary compressors could be an ideal choice if you need to produce a high rate of airflow continuously without causing energy wastage, combine it with a VSD. Thus, any air compressor equipment you pick should be guided strictly by your needs.
Right compressor size for optimal performance
Getting a large compressor will not do any good if your facility supports small-scale operations. Such a decision will only lead to energy wastage. Likewise, opting for a small compressor for large scale requirements is no less a blunder.
Instead, you should get a compressor that generates just enough pressure to carry out your industrial operations smoothly. Also, check the flow rate to see how much air volume can move through the machine to release the required compressed air.
Space management and portability
Portable compressors can be the perfect fixture at industrial facilities that lack sufficient space for large installations. No less efficient than their larger counterparts, portable compressors are comparatively smaller in size, transportable, and can support your applications while fitting into the spatial limitations.
As they are easy to install and can be moved around, portable compressors are sought after among industries in Bahrain.
To better understand your requirements and select the right compressor, read How to buy an air compressor and get insights.
Aligning their vision and operations with Bahrain’s Nation Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP), industries today invest in new generation compressed air systems with advanced technologies like Variable Speed Drive and SMARTLINK remote monitoring. Thus, stay rooted in sustainability by choosing your very first energy-efficient air compressor from Atlas Copco’s extensive collection. To explore our product range, get in touch with our distributor in Bahrain.
