Roof on Compressor Installation

and do not have a roof over them despite significant annual snowfall.

but how can project pay back be determined? What is the annual cost savings of having a roof?

3 Compessors open to sky with no roof, subject to wind rain & snowfall and yet your Company is looking for a cost justification & payback?

Knowing you so well Steve S, if you've been not able to convinence them - no one can.

Atleast I am not in a position to advice you .

Essentials are essentials - no cost justification , it is do it or " I told you so".

Thanks Ducon, actually I am advising someone else. Our company would have put the roof in from the beginning (its in our standards).

So 30 years after the original installation, is there any way to cost justify the roof?

I s'pose after 30 years management will say.

a) It aint bust don't fix it.
b) We've always done it that way.
c) It was good enough for mr X, Y, Y

I'd play the health and safety card.

What if the maintenance guy slips in the snow, bangs his head..lies there all night freezes to death...the Medi-guy picks him up but he's rigid, so when he turns around someone gets whacked by a rigid leg..they fall over spilling their coffee...well you get the picture by now.

Bottom line ... if there are no good grounds for doing it then why bother?

playing the health safety card is agaist a PE code of ethics.

The cost justification is based purely on avoided cosys of tempoary tents and cranes and the 100% defendable fact that the compressors downtime related costs we associated with not having enclosures.

If you put an enclosure over the compressors, you'll need to check the electrical classification of every componet in the newly enclosed area. You'll have to design a properly ventilated enclosure for the building including gas detectors, automated fans, ventilation area, and other items. When all is said and done, it'll cost 5 times what you think it will cost.

For the party who says we do it because its a standard, you need to rethink your standards. Most standards end up being money wasters.

My best Offer $ 299.99 for 1 , 25% discount if they buy 3 & the 4th one free on the house for the poor operator to sit.Now how best can I justify the cost? Outdoor Canopy with added advantage for Compressors:

Courtyard Outdoor Canopy

Courtyard Outdoor Canopy Courtyard Outdoor Canopy Instant Canopy creates shaded outdoor living space in your backyard or on your patio or deck. Entertain friends, or just spend a relaxing evening one-on-one beneath this 10'x10'x10'-tall Courtyard Canopy. Powder-coated steel frame sets up quickly, and the heavy-duty polyester top protects you from 97% of the sun's UV rays, and is vented to keep you cooler. Four side panels have zipper closures, so you can keep as many sides open as you like. Plastic feet can be attached to deck (hardware not included). Includes storage bag with wheels to make your canopy easy to roll to the beach, if desired. 10' tall to peak. No express delivery. Please specify blue or beige. Tell a friend about Courtyard Outdoor Canopy Courtyard Outdoor Canopy Item# Courtyard Outdoor Canopy
Price Canopy $299.99

Also Ideal for Compressor Room with following added advantages:

Powder coated steel frame - No rust.

Heavy duty polyester top - keeps also 97% snow out.

Storage bag with wheels - You can roll it out alongwith the compressor to take to the beach. The canopy then converts to protect YOU from 97% Suns UV Rays and your compressor blows air to keep you cool.This advantage of shade on top with canopy & cool compressed air of one day beach-outing JUSTIFIES all cost.

Yep this is exactly how they do maintenance in the winter time now. A great big tent...

A roofed hydrogen compressor = a bomb.

Hydrogen has the widest explosive limits of any gas.

Actually Aurizon, it is not unusual at all to have a roof over a hydrogen compressor, and it is not a bomb as long as the roof is designed with proper ventilation. Especially in cold country. Hydrogen is also, shall we say pretty thin, so even though it is lighter than air, it leaks out pretty quick. It would take a very well sealed building to cause it to accumulate.

Really, I was just joking.

Well now under these circumstances they can make car-shed types (like we do here on outside car parkings ) with 4" pipe supports, Angle Iron frame and tin sheets. The sides & back also covered with tin sheets. The Roof sheets are water proof coated. In this case both with water proof coating and heating element-tapes to melt snow (so they do not over weight the roof). The height will be easy 12 ft. Total cost est. USD $ 1200.00.

Fact is, they are aware and so is the Compressors' Supplier when it comes to compressor damage. One Bill from them will open their eyes.

Ah ha!...
Well there is your cost justifiction...tent hire and erect / dismantle time .

Del (£5 please... that can also go in the justification....hey, better make it £10)

Del, that kind of consulting is worth at least £100.

My be you can justify the installation of the over head crane due to the cost of leasing a mobile one. Then suggest the addition on the roof to the crane installation.

Yeah I sat down with one of my colleagues and he said the same thing. If you can justify the over head crane, then adding a roof to it is peanuts.

I think it would take a lot of mobil crane rents to justify a permanent over head crane though.. but I will go to the cost analysis for grins...

Thanks!

Would a Gazebo from the KrisDel^TM range do the trick?

We put a roof on a remote H2 machine recently and did the overhead crane as well. Roof was vented to prevent accumulation and it is open-walled. The crane is rated to pull valves and unloaders, not cylinders or anything heavier than that. It is in South Texas so we had a lot of rain to account for that would be contaminated with oil from the machine over time and we had no way to dispose of it easily. Most of the time, unless we are pulling the pistons for rings/rider bands, the valves and unloaders are the big maintenance items and we don't need to rent a large crane to sit on the ground below and lift the valves out of the machine. That and the environmental disposal issue were drivers for that project.

You'd think that made sense, but then we installed the sister machines a few miles away and didn't put a roof over them or a crane.

I am surprised to know that in most technologicaly advanced country like U.S Compressers are kept in open. In poor country like India we have seperate R.C.C room for compressors,it has mostly manualy operated Over Head Travelling Crane which takes care of maintenance needs.Now a days many factories opt for E.O.T Cranes. Compressors are looked after by maintenance team and are part of Facality equipment for factory. There is no need to justify cost as it is not a productive equipment to prove ROI on invesment. So dear Mr.S.Steve tell your stingy client there is no need for cost justification, it is a requirement which has to be met so as to achieve long and trouble free life of compressors. Ask your client how they justify their A/C office with many gadgets?

"it is a requirement which has to be met so as to achieve long and trouble free life of compressors."

I have said this, and the response is "what troubles over the thirty year life of this machine can be attributed to not having a roor?"

I have a pareto of all the malfunctions on these machines over 30 years, and the vast majority of the failures are, as I would expect, associated with valves, rings, riders, and packing. How are those failures associated with no roof?

well, if you want to use compressor in outdoor duty conditions then what about electric motors, panels etc. You need all these suitable for out door duty conditions (IP 55 protection as we call here). The cost of these equipment will go up. Also there is possiblity of corrosion of panel box. I hope all these factors are also considered before compressors are put to dance in rain naked.

Depending on the span of the roof, consider talking to self framing building manufacturers who can provide a quote to you. If you have a concrete floor, you can use I beams at each end with Y supports at the base and at mid span or 1/4 span, etc. depending on the length of travel.

A structural supplier for steel beams can design & offer a price or the building erector could do the same thing. You can also approach crane supplier directly for 10, 20 tonne whatever your heaviest weight is, even for structural support design guidance; I your case the cylinders required replacement and a crane for off-loading is a good idea if you have the travel room.

Self framing buildings are found all over, Brytech is one of them.

This approach will take your time but the right dealer will assist you if he is expected to get the order, be fair.

Have fun..

D. Hansen

Rotating Machinery Specialist,

Calgary, CA

hansenD@asme.org

There you go! That is exactly the help I needed. A Canadian from Calgary would know about this sort of thing!!

You ought to register and join us D. Hansen, more rotating machinery engineers would be more than welcome!