Read All About: Air Compressors

What is an Air Compressor?

An Air Compressor is a device that increases the amount of air that is contained within a particular space. By packing in the air, the air pressure is increased. This creates a force that is useful for a variety of purposes, such as industrial, manufacturing, commercial and personal purposes. Industrial Compressors are designed to compress (over 20 psi) and move air and other gases such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Centrifugal Compressors use centrifugal forces to pump air or gas to develop pressure and they typically operate at speeds of 3500 rpm or higher. Multiple stages are used to produce the required pressure rise. This type of Compressor is driven by an electric motor, steam turbine, or gas turbine, with or without speed increasing gears.

The main types of Compressors include:

• Centrifugal Compressors
• Rotary Compressors
• Reciprocating Compressors

Man-made Air Compressors usually fall into one of two types, either dynamic or positive displacement, and are defined by their mode of operation. A positive displacement Air Compressor works by filling and then emptying an air chamber. Dynamic Air Compressors, on the other hand, use a rotating device to accelerate and then decelerate air. This process uses the speed or velocity of the air to increase the air's pressure. Centrifugal air compressors are dynamic air compressors.

Three common types of positive displacement Air Compressors are rotary screw, reciprocating and rotary sliding vane Air Compressors. Positive displacement type machines are Rotary Compressors, Blowers, and Vacuum Pumps. This type of machine incorporates rotating internal lobes, screws or vanes that compress the gas or air. They are constant volume machines with variable discharge pressure. The volume can be varied only by changing the speed or bypassing or wasting some of the capacity of the machine. The types of rotary compressors are classified by the type of rotor they use. These include: straight-lobe, sliding vane, liquid piston and screw type. Reciprocating Compressors (see Figure 1.) are furnished in either single-stage or multi-stage types. The principle parts of this type of machine are the cylinders and the pistons. The different types you will see include single acting air cooled or water cooled, single stage double acting water cooled, horizontal or vertical.

How an Air Compressor is Used:

Compressed air can be used in a variation of ways. It can be used to alter chemical composition, as in the case of making fertilizer; it can be used for industrial purposes, such as production line manufacturing processes; or it can be used to maintain industrial plants. Perhaps the most well-known use of Air Compressors is in the case of pneumatic tools such as air-powered nail guns, staplers, sanders, spray guns and ratchet wrenches. There are hand-powered air compressors, but most are powered by either electricity or natural gas. Natural gas air compressors usually are more cost effective. Depending on the type of Air Compressor, operation costs can be high, as in the case of plant maintenance.

Another way to group Air Compressors is by the number of stages they have. A two-stage Air Compressor usually is used for heavy-duty use and offers a higher level of compression than smaller, single-stage Air Compressors. Two-stage Air Compressors can store air for future use and are more energy efficient because they produce more air per unit of horsepower than single-stage Compressors. Also, less heat is generated in a two-stage Compressor, which means that wear on the unit is reduced. Portable electric Air Compressors also are available for light-duty applications.

HALF PRICE, TO CLEAR:

Used Atlas Copco Model ZT290 Oil Free Screw Type Air Compressor - Stock Number: L0861

Was £7,000 GBP – Now £3,500 GBP, Sale or Return.

Our high quality Air Compressor is now on sale at half price. This piece of equipment comes with a full Engineer Report, full service history and is fully maintained. Rated 202 l/s (428 cfm) free air delivery at 2.45 bar (35 psi) interstage pressure and 8 bar (116 psi) maximum pressure. Unit is powered by a 90kw motor that has a maximum speed of 3000 rpm.

Click here to "Email Us" to request a quotation.

Air Compressors at Perry Process Equipment Ltd:

Perry Process Equipment Ltd are the largest stockists of used Air Compressors for use in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries and can save you up to 70% when compared to the cost of a new unit. We have been buying and selling used equipment for over 80 years, so you can trust our expertise. You can find a wide range of high quality Air Compressors at our Newton Aycliffe site.

View our full inventory online or call us now on: +44 (0) 1325 315111.

A History of Cometec Heat Exchangers

Cometec was founded in 1988 in Linsengericht, Germany as part of the Carbone Lorraine Group. Cometec was the leading international specialist in the construction of Tantalum equipment and was a company within the Chemical Equipment Division.

Stock number L1009-16

The Carbone Lorraine Group, along with the Cometec branch, changed its name to Mersen in 2010. Mersen has been close to its customers in Germany from 1897 to China since 2007, with manufacturing facilities in over 40 countries.

Mersen’s Tantalum Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers are designed and manufactured for use within in high-corrosive environments in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Tantalum is a competitive alternative to glass-lined equipment. Mersen produces high-end Tantalum Heat Exchangers in its dedicated 3,000 m2 workshop in Germany and 6,000 m2 in the USA.

To utilise the unique chemical and physical properties of Tantalum require know-how, specific equipment and highly trained people are required. A long experience in design and fabrication of Tantalum equipment combined with an international material sourcing policy allow Mersen to bring quality and cost-effective solutions to the marketplace.

Tantalum has high levels of corrosion-resistance to:

• Hydrochloric acid
• Nitric acid
• Phosphoric acid
• Strong organic acids
• Bromine
• and associated compounds.

A shell and tube Heat Exchanger has an external cylinder called a shell with internal tubes that run the length of the shell. There are tube sheets on each end of the tubes sealing the shell around the tubes and there are covers on each end called heads which can come in several configurations. The basic principal of operation is that one fluid flows through the tube and another fluid flows around the tubes; the large number of tubes in the bundles offer extensive contact surfaces which facilitate quick and efficient thermal transfer. The fluid inside the tubes can flow in a single pass or multiple passes using baffles in the heads.

Heat Exchangers at Perry:

Perry Process Equipment Ltd are the largest stockists of used Heat Exchangers and Condensers for use in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries and can save you up to 70% when compared to the cost of a new unit. We have been buying and selling used equipment for over 80 years, so you can trust our expertise.

We have 100s of used Heat Exchangers in stock including air cooled, fin tube, plate type, karbate, scraped surface, shell & tube, spiral heat, tube in tube, alloy, carbon and stainless steel. Our Heat Exchangers are available in horizontal or vertical orientation, in many diameters, dimensions and capacities.

View our inventory online or call us now on: +44 (0) 1325 315111

To learn more about NEW Heat Exchangers manufactured by our affiliate, Perry Products Corp, whether in stock or fabricated to your specifications, click here to go to the Perry Products site.

We sell used Lödige Mixers

Perry Process Equipment Ltd stock equipment from highly regarded manufacturers, including Lödige Process Technology. 

Brothers Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH, the inventor of the Ploughshare® Mixer, is a leading global provider of equipment and subsystems for industrial mixing technologies. Lödige has been manufacturing high quality equipment since 1938 and has offices and manufacturing sites worldwide. The equipment manufactured by Lödige is cross-industry and high-quality.  They provide sub-systems for process engineering applications in the areas of mixing, granulation, coating, drying and allied processes.

Lödige Mixers:

Mixing is the combining of at least two distinguishable substances to form a homogeneous mixture. The starting state of materials may differ. They could be gaseous, liquid or solid in their physical states. 

The mixing equipment will form either a static or dynamic system. Static mixers are permanently installed systems, where product flows through the mixer. The mixing effect is exclusively due to the swirling flow through permanently installed items. A pre-condition for the use of static mixers is the pumping ability of the starting materials.  

One form of dynamic mixer is the free-fall mixer. A typical example of a free-fall mixer is the classic cement mixer with its rotating drum and rotating mixing elements built into the mixer chamber. By mixing the elements, the starting materials are selectively accelerated and moved relative to each other. Depending on the design of the mixing elements, different states of motion are possible. 

A very popular mixer is the Ploughshare® mixer introduced into the processing industry by Lödige.

The peripheral speed and geometric shape of Ploughshare® shovels, rotating close to the wall of a horizontal, cylindrical drum, lift the mixing components from the product bed into the open mixing area and scoop material from the wall of the drum counteracting the centrifugal force.  A fluid bed generated mechanically in this way, whereby all of the product is constantly involved in the mixing process, ensures maximum mixing intensity at even the highest feed rates and shortest residence times.  The specially shaped mixing elements ensure best product conveyance.

Choppers can be installed in the mixing drum as optional equipment to disperse agglomerates and provide controlled granulation during the mixing process.

We Sell Used Lödige Mixers:

Perry Process Equipment Ltd stock used Lödige Mixers at our Newton Aycliffe, UK site and can save you up to 70% when compared to the cost of a new unit. 

2000 Ltr Lodige FKM2000 Ploughshare Mixer, Stock # L0767

Click here to see a full range of the Lodige items we have in stock.

Perry has been buying & selling used process plant & equipment worldwide for over 80 years.  View our inventory of used Mixers online now. 

If you would like to speak with a member of our team, please call us on+44 (0) 1325 315 111.