Air Motor in an Alternative Mode of Operation

Yes, they make a variety of vane pumps.

Crabtree is providing you a good answer. Get something designed for your application.

Perhaps your idea would work, perhaps it would not. What are the consequences if it doesn't? If one of the vanes breaks because it's not been designed or tested for a reverse pressure, what will happen to the pieces? Will they jam something open resulting in a larger failure? Will they migrate downstream and cause you large expense in removing them from your system?

Since what you want to do has already been done using proven designs and hardware, why not buy the hardware and eliminate all of the risk associated with using something in a way it was not intended!

Because I'm not the one who is actually doing this, Mildred.

This will work, but not very well.

No....

This is not my area of expertise but...

Some air motors are reversible and some are not. If yours is not, I would think that driving it in the reverse direction would be more efficient. The higher pressure would still be on the same side of the vanes.

Good point. It sounds as though the original poster is needing to do something else instead.

Don't know what size your talking about (or any other information about your vane motor (which is now a pump/Compressor)) , but it doesn't sound very practical.

First thing I think of lubrication?

And why add to the burden to your alternative drive unit as well as your air motor.

The efficiencies will easily cancel all your gains and then some.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your many suggestions.

The size of air motor (as it is intended for duty) is relatively small (selected
as light-weight as being available in the marketplace).

The manufacturer's catalogue has indicated that the air motor can accommodate
bi-directional operation.
However, the air motor is given to operate in one direction of rotation only.
Therefore, during the alternate modes of operation (motor / compressor),
the corresponding ports are,
(input / inlet) and (exhaust / discharge) respectively.

The cross-sectional diagrams of an air motor and an air compressor are rather similar
(both being sliding vane type).
There could be subtle (construction) differences between motor and compressor;
but, these are not readily mentioned.
Certain introductory texts may have indicated that a relevant equipment can be
applied in roles that are interchangeable (i.e., between motor and compressor).

Likewise, one should follow advice to acquire an air compressor for the application.

However, could an air compressor (sliding vane type) be operated
in an alternative mode of an air motor (without any modification, on-the-fly)?

Regards.

Check Gast's web site www.gastmfg.com They make both vane air motors and air pumps (vacuum and compressors).

The internal geometry is the same for both motors and pumps. The big difference between the two, as I pointed out already, is the ability of the pumps to dissipate the heat generated from compression. Cooling fins, fans, etc.

What are you thinking of here, a regenerative drive, where you use the motor as a compressor to provide breaking and recover some of the compressed air used to drive the motor? The laws of thermodynamics will be working against you.

" I fought the law and the law won"

Some air motors / compressors use centripetal force to maintain seal, others use springs, still others borrow some of the air pressure to use behind the vane. It would depend on which type you have,

You can get improvement in performance By manufacturing vanes from Teflon.

Or using the correct motor/compressor for the application.

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Lyn,

I apologize for my drifting off the practical solution you had already offered.

Don't apologize. Positive re-enforcement is always welcome.

As opposed to control loops, that don't respond well to positive feedback!

You might play around with a wankle and get it to work.

Why not just get an adiabatic compressor, and store the heat instead of the doggone compressed air, it is actually more efficient to store the heat, especially if you re-expand the cooled off compressed air (after heat is collected), then the second compressor (operating in expansion mode) will exhaust very cold air.

Reverse this set-up when power is needed, and you will see why and how it works.