Airprofil Campaigns short information – 2009, July the 29th
About rust in a compressed air net
Airprofil Campaigns recently measured compressed air flow on a compressed air net during 10 days.
The flow measurement took place downstream from frigorific dryers.
The photograph below shows the microturbine used during this measurement campaign (on the right side) and an unused one on the left side. As you can see, the right microturbine is dirty with rust though it has been cleaned a bit. Rust seems to be stuck in the turbine’s metal!
In this plant, the Client uses oil free compressors. As the frigorific dryers seem reliable and sufficiently over sized, we must conclude that the steel net upstream from the dryers suffers corrosion.
Both corrosion of the upstream net and fouling of the downstream net may be a problem. Of course, a stainless steel net upstream from the dryers should be used at conception.
This situation is frequently met in plants where reciprocating lubricated compressors are replaced by oil free compressors if the existing net is reused.
