The importance of compressed air treatment
A quick guide to why you need to treat your compressed air
There is a good reason why compressed air is widely referred to as “the fourth utility.” Just like gas, electricity and water, entire industries would stand still without it.
However, while it is just as essential, compressed air is also unique in several ways. First and foremost, if you are like the vast majority of compressed air users, you have to generate your own instead of getting it from a utility company. And, because compressing air consumes quite a bit of energy, you should be mindful of using efficient equipment to reduce operating costs.
In addition to ensuring that you have a sufficient supply at all times to ensure smooth processes, you also have to guarantee that the air you need has the required quality and purity.
And that brings us to the second big difference. While you don’t have to worry about the quality of the electricity, water or gas that the utilities provide, the quality and purity of compressed air is your responsibility – and, depending on the application, it can be crucially important.
As a result, you not only have to generate your own air, you also have to worry about the proper compressed air treatment.
Why is compressed air treatment so important?
Now you may ask yourself: “Why do I have to treat it? It’s just air and, if it’s good enough for me to breathe, then it must certainly be good enough for my application?”
Most importantly, as the name says, we are dealing with “compressed” air and not the ambient air you breathe. To get compressed air, you have to compact a lot of regular air so that it fits into a much smaller space. Then, when that air is released later, its energy is unleashed and can be used to power pneumatic tools and other equipment.
But there is a catch: Our ambient air is not overly clean. For example, it can contain tens of millions of tiny particles per cubic meter, as well as humidity and the remnants of burned fossil fuels. This air is generally safe to breathe – although air pollution is an increasing problem in some metropolitan areas.
During the compression process, however, only the air is compressed and not the tiny particles it contains, which means their volume increases greatly. In addition to these tiny solid particles, compressed air also contains a lot more moisture than ambient air. If that air is left untreated, then these different contaminants can harm your downstream equipment and end products alike. This can have devastating and expensive consequences – from shorter service lives due to corrosion and rust accumulation to spoilt products.
The most apt comparison to the other utilities is water: Imagine what would happen if you would get the water you need from a river … but it would have several times as many contaminants in it. That might be good enough to put out a fire but certainly not to put it in food or medicine.
It’s the same way with compressed air: While there are a few applications that can use any type of air, most require some sort of compressed air treatment.
Compressed air treatment is often mandated, so know your regulations
That is why most processes that require compressed air quality have some requirements regarding its quality and purity, such as
Companies in the food & beverage sector that have to avoid moisture and particulate contamination to prevent bacterial growth and spoilt products.
Paint spray applications, where contaminants lead to paint defects, such as blisters.
The pharmaceutical industry, which has to protect its product from moisture.
Cement production to ensure that cement does not turn into concrete after exposure to water.
The electronics sector, where moisture in compressed air can lead to corrosion.
In many cases, compressed air treatment is not only advisable but mandatory to maintain product quality, so it’s always worth knowing which contaminants you may be exposed to, which compressed air quality standards you have to meet and what you can do to get there.