If you’re someone who is already familiar with how the oil and gas industry works, you may have heard of compressors that are used to compress the gas pumped through machines.
Many types of compressors are used in the oil and gas industry as well as other industry types such as medical, pharmaceutical, and dental.
Each compressor variety is tailored for the exact use for a certain operation and hence functions differently than others in the market.
Learn more about some of the most commonly used compressor types below and understand how each differs from another. This will also help you make informed decisions if you work in the operations field.
What is a compressor?
A compressor is a device that regulates the flow of gas or liquid by reducing its pressure. The purpose of a compressor is to increase the pressure, density, and temperature of a given gas by reducing its volume. The largest use of compressors is in industrial applications for production lines and heavy equipment such as forklifts. Compressors can be used in conjunction with other items to produce air, heat, and cooling systems.
Types of compressors
The most common type of compressor is the reciprocating piston compressor, which uses two pistons of different sizes to compress gas with moving parts. Other types include rotary screw compressors, diaphragm compressors, scroll compressors, and vertical inline compressors.
Reciprocating compressor
A reciprocating compressor works by using pistons inside cylinders to move air in and out of the cylinder. As the piston moves inward, a vacuum is created in the cylinder, and as it moves outward, pressure increases in the cylinder.
The movement of the piston creates a pumping action that pushes the air through a hose and into whatever device needs it. The pump’s rated capacity depends on its stroke length, or how far the piston can move from end to end. A longer stroke allows for higher volume but lower pressure than a shorter stroke.
Positive displacement compressor
A positive displacement compressor is a mechanism that squeezes or pressurizes a gas. It does this by moving the gas through a restriction in the form of a pump, increasing the volume of the gas. A positive displacement compressor uses energy to push gas through a pump and then expels that gas at a higher pressure than it was originally at. The amount of energy used to compress the gas depends on the speed of compression, which is proportional to the volume of gas being moved, and reduced in proportion to the pressure.
Vertical inline compressor
There are two kinds of compressors, horizontal and vertical. Horizontal compressors have a motor and pump in the same housing. Vertical inline compressors have everything separated. They have a motor and pump in one unit (referred to as a head) that is mounted vertically. The head connects to the tank via a tube called the suction line. The other end of the tube connects to the valve manifold on the tank, which is surrounded by refrigerant gas.
Vertical compressors are easy to work on because all of the components are in one location and all of the valves are accessible from above, below, or either side of the unit. This allows for easy servicing without having to drain down or remove any refrigerant lines; this speeds up repair times and cuts down on labour costs.
