Air Compressor Flow

One way is to obtain the original equipment manufacturer's performance information. It is available either in the equipment manual or by contacting them directly.

if you have a budget you can install a flowmeter, I recomended Hedress and houser or siemens millitronics.

exists many tipes of this equipments, you need to contact a specialist to recomended ones.

wood luck.

Endress + Hauser

hi.

From my knowledge u cannot evalute the flow by just giving the pressure. you must have some data like horse power of compressor or usage of the plant.

Example for 30hp compressor pressure 8bar is 3.54cfm

30hp compressor pressure 10bar is 3.12cfm

30hp compressor pressure 13bar is 2.67cfm

this example is from a german compressor. the higher the pressure the lower the flow. I am in this bussiness. selling Compressor and servicing. My compressor is Almig (german) compressor and Samsung Techwin (korea) compressor. If you need further assit you can send to my email satmor@yahoo.com

So you must know the compressor horse power or Kilowatt.

Thank you

Satya

I might be mistaken but when I was young. Flow always has been expressed in "normal cubic feet" or "normal cubic meter" - per time unit of course. (at 1 atmosf. or bar) A flow meter can do the job - some come with pressure compensation otherwise math.

For the purpose of your application, FAD is short for Free Air Delivery. Free Air Delivery is a performance measurement of the air delivery by a compressor package at the discharge flange or outlet pipe of that package. It is expressed in terms of the inlet temperature and pressure of the compressor. In Europe and anywhere else that ISO sets the standards, free air delivery (FAD) is expressed as cubic meters per minute. In the United States, it is expressed as cubic feet per minute (CFM).

You could use the ASME PTC-9 test or ISO 1217 test, would would provide an accurate volumetric flow rate, but I doubt you have the instrumentation for these tests. Therefore, you can get a reasonable FAD by using pump-up time of the air receiver.

The formula for computing CFM based on pump-up time is as follows:

CFM = (Pf-Ps) Gallons/7.48 x atmos. press. (p.s.i.a.) x time (in mins.)

Where;

Pf = Air receiver final pressure

Ps = Air receiver starting pressure

Gallons = Air receiver capacity in terms of gallons

This will give you an approximate CFM for the FAD of your compressor.

Evaluation of a compressor is done by using the receiver. It has a known volume. The time it takes for the compressor to obtain from 1 atm to a given pressure at that known volume(receiver). That information can used to factor CFM. This just evaluates the compressor.

In a given installation you need to chose a compressor that can produce the CFM needed at the desired pressure. You have to also calculate in losses do to length of runs and air leakage.

Pipe size and layout design are the most important variables in moving air from the compressor to the point of use. Poor systems not only consume significant energy dollars, but also degrade productivity and quality.