Fault Analysis of Air Compressor Water Inlet

Failure Analysis

(1) The outlet pipeline of the air compressor is equipped with a check valve. The high-temperature and high-pressure humid air is discharged through the exhaust valve of the air compressor, and oil and water components are still entrained after passing through the post-stage cooler. The three-stage intercooler and the final cooler are all equipped with a gas-water separator to separate the moisture generated during the compression process, but the actual operation effect is not ideal. Due to the long shutdown time of the air compressor, the water generated by the exhaust gas accumulates around the pipeline and check valve, causing the water to flow back into the chassis, and the water content in the lubricating oil gradually increases, causing the air compressor to alarm at the oil level and shut down due to failure. When the outlet pipe of the air compressor was removed after shutting down, it was found that there was a large amount of milky white liquid flowing out of the pipe, which indicated that the water content of the air compressor’s exhaust was seriously exceeding the standard.

(2) According to the operation requirements of the air compressor, the air compressor should have a running time to prevent the formation of condensed water, because the condensed water will cause the cylinder valve plate, frame parts, etc. to rust. Accumulation of condensation in the crankcase may cause false oil level readings. Water and oil do not mix, and their presence together causes the oil to spoil quickly. The running time is generally not less than 10 minutes, which should be enough to heat the air compressor to vaporize and condense the moisture.

Approach

(1) In view of the lubricating oil water inflow problem of the air compressor, the technicians replaced the pipeline check valve with excellent sealing, and installed an oil-water separator with high water removal efficiency behind the outlet pipeline of the air compressor. The interior is filtered by a precision filter element. After the high-temperature compressed air enters the oil-water separator from the inlet a, it undergoes cyclone separation, inertial collision separation and ultra-fine fiber filtration to directly intercept the water and oil in the compressed air and discharge it through the sewage outlet c. , The compressed air after water removal is discharged through outlet b to meet the needs of gas consumption.

（2）An automatic sewage discharge solenoid valve is installed at the bottom drain of the oil-water separator, and the automatic sewage discharge interval is set to 2min, and the sewage discharge time is set to 5s. Without affecting the normal operation of the air compressor, by increasing the blowdown time of the separator, the running time of the air compressor can be increased to meet the running time requirements of the air compressor. After the test run, the air compressor started automatically to pressurize and stop at 4.15~4.40 MPA, and the running time was more than 11 minutes.

Sollant Group-Professional Compressed Gas Solutions Provider