Tips to Reduce Compressed Air System Pressure Drops

Executive Summary About Compressed Air Systems By Tommy McGuire

What causes pressure drops in my compressed air systems and how can I reduce them?

Pressure drop can become a compressed air system problem that steals production time and money.

What causes pressure drops? The distribution piping system often is diagnosed as having excess pressure drop because a point-of-use pressure regulator cannot sustain the required downstream pressure. Tips to Reduce Pressure Drop:

Minimizing pressure drop requires a “systems approach” in design and maintenance of the system.

• A smooth inner lining of the pipe or hose will cause less pressure drop.
• A rough inner lining of the pipe or hose will cause more pressure drop. Pipe corrosion can cause friction and pressure loss.
• Couplings, fittings and valves increase the pressure drop.

Reducing your system pressure can help improve system performance, reducing leakage rates, and helping reduce stress on operating equipment. Note that a reduced system operating pressure may require modifications to other components, such as pressure regulators, filters, and the size and location of compressed air storage.

Be sure to consider the effects of all your compressed air system’s components on pressure.

Select aftercoolers, separators, dryers and filters having the lowest possible pressure drop for the rated conditions. It’s important to check if manufacturers are including pressure drops in filters, pressure regulators, and hoses in their pressure requirements for end-use equipment, or if those pressure requirements given are for after those components. -Specify pressure regulators, lubricators, hoses, and connections having the best performance characteristics at the lowest pressure differential.

What is Contaminating Your Compressed Air?

How to clean your Compressed Air…

Depending on the level of air purity required, different levels of filtration and types of filters are used.

General Purpose Filters - also called “particulate filters” are used to remove solid particles. Oil and Oil Vapor Removal Filters – also called “coalescing-type filters” are used to remove oil and vapors.

General Purpose Filter Installation: 1 micron particulate prefilter for refrigerated dryers and high efficiency oil removal filters. Design: Two-stage filtration with a first stage of multiple layers of fiber media which pre-filter the air. Second stage has indepth coalescing fiber media which coalesces oil aerosols and removes finer particulates to 1 micron. Performance*: Handles bulk liquid inlet loads to 2,000 ppm w/w, provides 1 micron solid particulate filtration and oil removal to 1 ppm.

Dry Particulate Filter

Second stage captures finer particulates. Performance*: Provides 1 micron solid particulate filtration of desiccant dust.

Maximum Efficiency Oil Removal Filter Installation: Prefilter to desiccant and membrane dryers with a Grade C prefilter, oil-free air applications. Oil Vapor Removal Filter Installation: Afterfilter to high efficiency liquid oil removal filters for true oil-free applications.

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