Piping is of great significance in screw air compressors. Proper piping installation ensures the optimal operation of screw air compressors, and we attach great importance to this installation process. Do you know the key considerations for it?

1. Installation Conditions for Screw Air Compressors

(1) Screw air compressors shall be installed on hard flooring, and the foundation surface must be leveled before installation to avoid noise caused by compressor vibration.

(2) Screw air compressors generate minimal vibration, thus no fixed foundation is required. However, the placing ground must be flat with no soft soil underneath. It is recommended to lay a 5-10mm soft pad or anti-vibration mat at the bottom of the compressor to prevent vibration and noise.

(3) If the screw air compressor is installed on an upper floor, anti-vibration treatment must be carried out to prevent vibration from transmitting to lower floors or causing resonance, which may pose potential safety hazards to both the compressor and the building itself.

2. Key Considerations for Piping of Screw Air Compressors

(1) When laying the main pipeline, a slope of 1°~2° must be maintained to facilitate the discharge of condensed water in the pipeline. The pressure drop of the pipeline shall not exceed 5% of the compressor's set pressure, so it is advisable to select a larger pipe diameter during piping construction.

(2) Branch pipes must be connected from the top of the main pipeline to prevent condensed water in the main pipeline from flowing into working equipment. A check valve is preferably installed on the air outlet pipe of the compressor.

(3) A ball valve shall be installed at the end of the main pipeline for the convenience of condensed water discharge.

(4) Do not arbitrarily reduce the diameter of the main pipeline. If pipe diameter reduction or expansion is inevitable, tapered pipes must be used. Otherwise, mixed flow will occur at the joints, leading to significant pressure loss and reducing the service life of the pipeline.

(5) If the compressor is equipped with buffer and purification facilities such as an air receiver and a dryer, the ideal piping configuration shall be: Compressor + Air-Water Separator + Air Receiver + Pre-filter + Dryer + Post-filter + Precision Filter. In this way, the air receiver can filter out part of the condensed water and also function to lower the temperature of compressed air, thereby reducing the load on the dryer and filters.

(6) If the system has a large instantaneous air consumption, an air receiver shall be installed as a buffer (its volume shall be greater than or equal to 20% of the maximum instantaneous air volume). This can reduce the frequency of load/unload cycles of the compressor unit, and decreasing the actuation times of control components is highly beneficial to maintaining the operational reliability of the compressor. Generally, an air receiver with a volume equivalent to 20% of the compressor's displacement can be selected.

(7) For compressed air with a system pressure below 1.5MPa, the flow velocity in the delivery pipeline must be less than 15m/sec to avoid excessive pressure drop.

(8) Minimize the use of elbows and various valves in the pipeline to reduce pressure loss.