What is Oil Free Air Compressor?
Compressed air is an integral part of any process industry. The oil-free air compressors or oilless air compressors offer high efficiency, low operating cost, easy maintenance, and pristine air quality. Oil-free compressors are built with minimum mechanical contacts inside their compression chamber; thus, oil lubrication is not required. Omitting the oil lubrication means there would be no oil contamination in the output compressed air.
The state-of-the-art oil-free compressors use Teflon-coated parts (gears, bearings, etc.) instead of metallic parts in their compression chamber with water as a lubricant. Thus, avoiding any metal-to-metal contact or oil lubrication requirement. Here, the water acts as a lubricant, keeping the compression chamber’s temperature within the desired range. The compression chamber is prudently sealed from all the external units involving oil, thus eliminating any chance of oil contamination.
Why Oil Free Compressors?
High quality and pure compressed air, small footprint, easy maintenance, and low operating costs are some of the salient advantages of oil-free compressors. Oil free compressors do not use oil lubricant in the compression chamber, and their continuous use may heat the chamber. So, applications requiring intermittent and recurring compressed air are well suited with oil-free compressors.
Also, the compressed air throughput (CFM) of oil-free compressors is less than their counterpart of the same size and capacity. Therefore, CFM required for the air tooling can influence the choice of compressor type. Next, the oil-free compressor tends to be louder due to a lack of oil lubrication, but they are well suited to cold environments. Oil free compressors have a comparatively small footprint and can be transported easily in any orientation without oil-leak risk. Moreover, oilless air compressors’ operation and maintenance costs are cheaper as they do not consume oil or need regular oil/air filter replacement. As it is often mandatory to utilize class 0 air quality for the medical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, so an oil-free compressor is a way to go for these applications.
How Do Oil Free Air Compressors Work?
The principle of oil-free compression is similar to the conventional compression method involving three basic steps. First, the ambient air is collected in a chamber, and the chamber volume gradually decreases to achieve compression. Depending on the compression chamber design, the compression process may consist of single or multi-stage compression. Finally, the compressed air is pushed into the pressurized container tank. The lubrication and cooling are realized with alternate fluids like water, while metallic parts are avoided in the compression chamber.
Some oil-free compressors are piston compressors, rotary screw compressors, or rotary scroll compressors. All these types are widely applied in many applications.
Oil Free VS Oil injected Air Compressor
Both oil-free and oil-injected compressors have their pros and cons. The choice of the compressor depends on the application where the compressor will be utilized.
| Oil Injected Compressors | Oil Free Compressors | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | Low | High |
| Throughput CFM | High | Low |
| Continuous Use | Yes | No |
| Low Maintenance | No | Yes |
| Applicable to Clean Processes | No | Yes |
| Long Life | No | Yes |
Applications
Oil free air compressors are mainly used in critical applications requiring low contamination. They are in high demand in medical, pharmaceutical, food, and research applications because these industries can suffer expensive and extended downtime, even with minor oil contamination. While water treatment, semiconductor, automotive painting, and textile manufacturing industries utilize both oil-free and oil-injected compressors.
Oil-free compressor help achieve high-quality spray painting for automobiles. The process is fully automated, and clean compressed air results in a high-quality paint job.
Numerous chemical processes fail to pass the quality control certification because of compromised air quality. Therefore, investing oil-free compressor is essential for your business.
General surgical processes and dental procedures require Class 0 clean air, and it is necessary to buy a quality oil-free compressor for medical applications.
Even minor contamination renders pharmaceutical products ineffective, including life-saving drugs. Therefore, investing in an oil-free compressor is critical to ensure product safety and reliability for your customers and your community.
A hygienic, healthy, and longer shelf life of food and beverages can be ensured when utilizing oil free compressor. With Class 0 air, you’ll get the highest level of assurance against dangerous microorganisms, water and oil contamination. This ensures the highest degree of food hygiene safety.
Oil Free Air Compressors
Air to Air Engineering is a market leader in state-of-the-art oil-free compressed air solutions. We will be happy to provide you with a customized application analysis and help you choose your oil less air compressor.
KOBELCO Oil-Free Air Compressors
Emeraude compressors from Kobelco are designed for use in industries where clean, oil-free compressed air is required. These compressors are used in a various industries such as electronics, semiconductors, food & beverage, steel, chemical, automobile, etc.
ELGi Electric Oil Free Screw Air Compressors
ELGi oil-free compressors are the backbone of various industrial applications. These compressors provide superior performance, zero oil tolerance, and lower environmental impact.
Your Trusted Partner in Compressed Air
At Air to Air Engineering, we provide customized support and services in compressed air solutions to attain aggressive energy saving, production targets, and reliability for your production lines. We proficiently deal with oil-free high throughput (CFM) or intermittent (CFM) compressed air applications.
Air Dryers and Filters
We provide complete solutions to air compressor systems, including air dryers, filters, and other accessories. We ensure high-grade equipment quality, premium maintenance services, spare parts, and consumables.
Services and Maintenance
We provide complete maintenance and servicing to your compressed air equipment. An experienced team with proper testing equipment ensures your plant’s reliability and low downtime.