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An air compressor is a compressor that takes in air at atmospheric pressure and delivers it at a higher pressure or centrifugal air compressor driven by turbine powered by exhaust gases from the diesel engine; it supplies compressed air at higher pressure to the engine so that more fuel can be burnt to increase engine power.
Bottom build up compressors consist of a compressor, motor, V-belt drive and enclosed belt guard. Single phase units include thermal overload protection. A Magnetic Line Starter is recommended for all other units. Automatic operation of base mounted units is obtained by the use of the GENERAL model AMD-2 Air Maintenance Device. Each unit is shipped with specially formulated compressor oil and a pressure relief valve.
Bottom built up Oil-fewer compressors is fully automatic and designed for easy installation. Units include pressure switch, check valve and safety valve. Motors are single phase as standard and include thermal overload protection. Each unit comes standard with a Riser Mounting Kit. Consult factory for Three Phase.
Tank built up compressors are integrally mounted on an A.S.M.E air receiver to offer further ease of installation and versatility. Package consists of a compressor, motor, V-belt drive, enclosed belt guard, pressure switch, pressure gauge, check valve and safety valve. Single phase units, 1/3 HP - 1 ½ include thermal overload protection. A Magnetic Line Starter is recommended for all other units. Each unit is shipped with specially formulated compressor oil. Tank mounted units are recommended for multiple systems and should always be used when an accelerator is installed. Oil less units are also available as tank mounted.
An air compressor used for other functions in the plant. A small portion of the air is used for the dry system. These are normally very large air compressors. An Air Maintenance Device acts as a restriction in the line. Should a fire occur, as the air pressure escapes the system piping through a sprinkler head, the Air Maintenance Device will prevent the air supply from adding air at too fast a rate, thus preventing the dry pipe valve to open and fill the piping with water. The Air Maintenance Device is installed downstream from the air compressor. That must be a minimum of 3' downstream.
General Air compressors are sized according to system capacity in gallons. Each model is designed to fill a certain system to 40 psig in 30 minutes under standard conditions. The voltage and phase of the compressor depends on the power supply available. Whenever possible, use three phase instead of single phase. The operating current of three phase is about half that of the equivalent single phase motor (same HP and voltage.) You should also connect the motor to the highest voltage available. The operating current at 230 v is half that of 115 v. By following the above recommendations, you greatly reduce the chance of a voltage drop in the line, which can cause problems upon start-up.
Freezers, cold Storage, parking garages and marinas are all typical applications of the air compressors.
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