Factors affecting air compressor energy consumption

Air compressors are widely used in industrial production. They are responsible for providing air sources for all pneumatic components, including various pneumatic valves. Therefore, their operating quality directly affects the production process. The main types of air compressors are piston type and screw type, but their air supply control methods are almost all loading and unloading control methods.

The motor principle and power waste in the air compressor loading and unloading air supply control method.

Air compressor energy consumption analysis

In the control mode of loading and unloading air supply, the energy wasted by the air compressor mainly includes two parts:

1. Power consumption during loading

After the pressure reaches the minimum value, the original control method determines that the pressure continues to rise until it reaches the maximum pressure value. During the pressurization process, more heat must be released to the outside world, resulting in the loss of electrical energy. On the other hand, before the gas above the maximum pressure enters the pneumatic component, its pressure needs to be reduced by a pressure reducing valve, which is also an energy-consuming process.

2. Power consumption during unloading

When the pressure reaches a maximum value, the screw air compressor reduces the pressure and unloads by the following methods: close the air inlet valve to make the motor idle, and empty the excess compressed air in the separation tank through the drain valve. This adjustment method will cause a great waste of energy. According to our calculations, the energy consumption of the air compressor when unloading accounts for about 10% to 25% of the air compressor when it is running at full load (even if the unloading time accounts for a small proportion). In other words, the air compressor is idle for 20% of the time and does nothing. Obviously, in the control mode of loading and unloading air supply, the motor of the air compressor has a lot of energy saving space.

Factors affecting air compressor energy consumption

1.Improved isothermal efficiency and reduced power consumption.

The isothermal efficiency of the air compressor is closely related to the operating conditions. Therefore, during operation, the focus is to ensure sufficient cooling of the compressed gas in the coolers at all levels, so that the working state of the air compressor is as close to isothermal compression as possible, effectively improve the isothermal efficiency of the compressor, and reduce the power consumption of the air compressor.

2. If the ambient temperature decreases, the power consumption will also decrease.

Temperature is a natural condition that is less affected by human factors and can basically be regarded as a constant. What the factory can do during use is to ensure the ventilation of the air compressor environment, reduce the temperature of the air compressor room as much as possible, and reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

3. Improve mechanical efficiency and reduce power consumption.

The mechanical efficiency of an air compressor depends mainly on the design, manufacture and installation of the air compressor. When the compressor operates normally, the parameters vary very little.