Experiment No:

Assignment Title: Compressed Air Generation & Distribution System

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EXPERIMENT NO. Date:TITLE:- COMPRESSED AIR GENERATION & DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM / /20

AIM:- To study compressed air generation & distribution system

OBJECTIVES:- 1) Pneumatic system introduction 2) Generation of compressed air 3) Air compressor introduction 4) Types of air compressors 5) Piston type air compressor 6) Air receiver 7) Distribution system 1) Pneumatic system introduction A pneumatic system comprises of a compressor plant. pipelines. control valves, drivemembers and related auxiliary appliances. The air is compressed in an air compressor and from the compressor plant. the flow medium is transmitted to the pneumatic cylinder through a well-laid pipeline system. To maintain optimum sufficiency on pneumatic system. it is of vital importance that the pressure drop between generation and consumption of compressed air is kept very low. It has been seen that pipeline fittings and joints are mostly responsible or the drop in pressure, if any, in pneumatic system. It is. Therefore very essential that designers and maintenance personnel of pneumatic systems should take utmost care in this respect, specially while selecting the pipeline diameter. In modem industries, pneumatic system is used as a means of work place mechanizations and automation where a major part of manual and tedious work may be supplemented by pneumatic controls for quick and economic production. Figure 1 shows a simple bending device being pneumatically operated. The average investment in this field may not be too high as the system components are not very costly and automation could be effected in stages too. The basic system requirements for introducing pneumatics in one's plant are listed below. 1. Compressor Plant The production plant using pneumatic tools, etc. should be equipped with the compressed air plant of appropriate capacity to meet the compressed air need of the systems. 2. Pipeline A well-laid compressed air pipeline system should be drawn from the compressor plant to the consumption point of pneumatic energy in various sections of the plant where pneumatic gadgets and systems are to be introduced.

3. Control Valves Various types of control valves are used to regulate, control, and monitor the air energy, for control of direction, pressure, flow, etc. 4. Air Actuator Various types of air cylinders or air motors are used to perform the useful work for which the pneumatic system is designed like using cylinders for linear movement of jigs, fixtures, raw materials feeding, etc. 5. Auxiliary Appliances Various types of auxiliary equipment may have to be used in pneumatic system for effecting better performance, easy controllability and higher reliability. 2. Generation of compressed air The average line pressure in pneumatic system is 6 bar (g), as recommended by standards or by normal requirement of industry. Hence, air compressor is required to generate pressure only around this value. In a small factory which may require moderate air supply, any type of portable air compressor with two stages may be sufficient to supply this amount of pressure. For bigger plants, other types of high capacity air compressor may be used as per need. Air compressors are mostly stationary and are either diesel operated or electrically driven. Mostly reciprocating type of air compressors are used in industry. Air compressor which is very popular for low volume low pressure system is the rotary vane type compressor. The air chamber is formed here by the casing wall and the rotor and blade. 3. Air compressor introduction Though not directly connected to the pneumatic system, the air compressor plays a vital role in the overall system-performance. Various types of air compressors are used in the industry. But positive displacement compressors are more popular. Positive displacement compressors are classified as rotary type, e.g. screw, lobe, vane compressors and reciprocating type, e.g. piston type air compressor. In certain applications it is essential that the compressed air should be oil-free, This is achieved by diaphragm type reciprocating air compressor. The air receiver is an important equipment in the compressor family. For uninterrupted supply of compressed air, receiver with the optimum size is to be selected. Condensation of moisture is also to be given due importance while one selects and installs a compressor plant. 4. Types of air compressors There are two basic type of compressors; (i) Positive displacement and (ii) Turbo compressor. Their main distinction lies in their method of energy transfer and pressure generation. (i) Positive displacement compressors work on the principle of increasing the pressure of a definite volume of air by reducing that volume in an enclosed chamber. (ii) Dynamic (Turbo) compressor employs rotating vanes or impellers to impart velocity and pressure to the flow of the air being handled. The pressure comes from the dynamic effects such as centrifugal force.

Positive displacement compressors are subdivided into two groups: (i) Reciprocating type and (ii) Rotary type of compressors. This will be discussed in detail later on in this chapter. A family tree of air compressor is shown in Fig. 2. TYPES OF AIR COMPRESSORS TYPES OF POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT AIR COMPRESSORS Positive displacement compressors include reciprocating machines such as piston and diaphragm types and rotating machines of the vane, gear, screw, and lobe types. Pressure rise in such machines requires small or no clearance plus some method of lubrication, and the compressed gas, therefore, may be subjected to contamination by the lubricant. However, some special reciprocating or vane-type compressors with carbon piston rings or carbon vanes are designed to run without lubricating oil. 5.Piston-type Reciprocating Compressors They are available in great variety, including special machines for unusual requirements. Maximum compression ratio may be as high as 10 per stage; two-stage compressors are available for compression ratios greater than eight. Multistaging can produce discharge pressures up to 300 kg/cm2. But such high pressure is hardly noted in pneumatic system. Three different types of piston type air compressor are shown in Fig. 3. As per cylinder arrangement these compressors generally available in vertical (Fig. 3a), horizontal (Fig. 3b) and radial (Fig.3c) designs. The most commonly used air compressor in the industry however is the air-cooled horizontal type reciprocating compressor for a pressure range of 7 to 12 kg/cm2. They may be single-stage or multi-stage (usually two or three stages only). It has already been pointed out that single-stage compressors are those in which compression from intake to discharge pressure takes place in a single step, in a reciprocating compressor it takes place in a single stroke of the piston. Multi-stage compressors are those in which compression takes place in two or more distinct steps or stages. In a reciprocating compressor, the succeeding steps.-usually take place in separate cylinders. 6. Air receiver An air receiver is a necessity with all reciprocating compressors and desirable in many instances with other types of compressors. It smoothens out the pulsations in flow from a reciprocating machine, provides reserve storage capacity and helps to cool the air and thus condense part of its moisture. The air receiver should be at least large enough to hold all the air delivered by the compressor in 1 min. This can be calculated as follows: (without considering the volumetric efficiency and for constant delivery compressor). Receiver size Vr = Q X Pa (atmospheric pressure) (kg/em 2) Discharge pressure (kg/em2) + 1] = Piston displacement or capacity m3 /min) x

where Q = volume capacity of compressor in m3/min. Pa = atmospheric pressure in kg/cm2 (abs) Pd = discharge pressure in kg/cm2(abs) .

The receiver size depends on - (i) delivery volume of compressor, (ii) air consumption (iii) pipeline network, (iv) type and nature of on-off regulation and (v) permissible pressure difference in pipelines. With on-off regulation, the size can be precisely calculated by the empirical formula Vr= 15 Q P .P where Vr = is the volume of the receiver, m3, Q = the delivery volume, Nm3/min, P = intake pressure (bar, abs), .P = pressure difference (bar), N = switching cycle/hour of compressor running. There is no harm if the receiver is larger than that is required. Sometimes this is needed where occasional momentary air requirements are greater than the capacity of the compressor. In such cases, the air receiver should have enough capacity to provide all the air required for the momentary operation using air above compressor capacity. Generally, the receiver capacity should be about 1/10th of free air delivery per minute increasing to 1/6th for smaller size compressor. In Fig. 4 an air receiver is shown with its main parts illustrated. 7. Distribution system SELECTION OF PIPELINE FOR PNEUMATIC SYSTEM In most plants, the air compressor is positioned at a distance away from the main shop and installation area, i.e. from the actual point of consumption due to reasons of air borne noise problem or due to reasons related to machine safety and other operational problems like transmission of vibration to other equipment The compressed air is stored in an air receiver from which the air is drawn into the consumer point by means of pipeline. While laying out the pneumatic pipeline for the system, one should take sufficient care and pay due attention to see that the pressure drop from the generating point to the point of consumption remains as low as possible. For economical reasons, it is always better if the total drop of pressure is kept limited to a maximum value of 0.1 bar or even less. Some of the international standards prescribe a value of 0.01 bar for a line pressure of 6 bar (g) due to specific operational requirement

The following factors are taken into account while selecting pneumatic pipes and other air line installations. 1. Pressure of compressed air in the line 2. Total flow rate per unit time through the line 3. Permissible pressure drop in the line 4. Type of tube material and type of line fittings 5. Length and diameter of tube or other pipelines 6. Working environment, etc.

Loop System in Piping Layout While laying out the compressed air piping system, the one single factor which is to be given paramount importance is to reduce the drop in pressure at the farthest end of the pipeline. This is very important for the overall economic use of compressed air. To achieve this, it is essential that the loop type of piping should be used as shown in Fig. 5 and straight line type long distance piping layout is to be discarded as far as possible. Minimum number of bends are to be used in the line to keep the losses due to friction to the minimum. Another factor which often poses maintenance problem in getting rid of the accumulated water in the pipeline. For this, it is essential that the pipeline (specially if a longer pipeline is to be drawn), should have a gradient of 6 to 10 mm per meter. Suitable water collectors should be provided at ~ach point of line diversion. In Fig. 5 various take off points from the main pipeline of a pneumatic system may be noted. The horizontal main is on the wall with a slope. The feed lines are taken from the top of the pipeline through bends. Numbers of stop valves are used in each branch pipeline to act as isolators. The vertical pipe is to be drawn down to earth for water separation through a water separator.