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Blair Whyte 07NGA

South Tyneside College 22/9/08 Hamworthy Air Compressor Task Report

Both sets of valves for this compressor are located on top of the compressor in the cylinder head. Both sets of valves have spring plates. These plates, depending on where they are positioned within the valve, open or close on the suction or discharge stroke of the piston. The High Pressure valves centre securing bolts should always be backed off before tightening to ensure the valve will fully close upon tightening. If this was not done the valve cover would not sit flush on the head and air would leak from the system. The intercooler is on the Low Pressure side and the aftercooler on the H.P. side. These are tube type coolers with air passing through the tubes and cooling water passing around the tubes. Cooling is necessary to obtain the maximum volume of air with the most efficient operation. Cooling the air also prevents the valves from deteriorating so quickly. A water side spring loaded pressure relief valve is fitted to the cylinder jacket. This is to guard against a sudden and dangerous rise in the water pressure. This sudden rise in water pressure would most likely be caused by an air leak from one of the tubes in the cooler. Dirt on the tubes would minimise the effectiveness of the cooling water therefore the air would be rise in temperature. This would result in a less efficient system as the density of the air would be reduced. The pistons are different sizes to balance out the forces which act on the crankshaft. If they were both the same size you would have the high pressure air acting on the same area as the low pressure air and since Pressure = Force/Area then the pressure on the high pressure piston would exceed that on the low pressure side and cause unbalanced forces to act on the crankshaft resulting in fatal damage. This air compressor is a 2 stroke, 2 stage type. Filtered air enters the LP side through the LP suction valve. As the piston compresses the air and moves up the cylinder the suction valve closes and the LP delivery valve opens. The air then passes through the intercooler on its way to the HP side. The air is compressed some more and passes through the HP delivery valve to the aftercooler before ending up in the air receiver. The lube oil system is a pressurised system. Oil is pumped and filtered before it travels along the crankshaft to be delivered at pressure to the main bearings. A channel from the main bearing runs to the bottom end bearing of the connecting rod for the oil to pass through. At the bottom end bearing a channel in the connecting rod allows the oil to then pass up to the gudgeon pin and piston itself, lubricating and cooling. The type of lube oil pump on this compressor is a positive displacement pump and is chain driven off the shaft. The filter is used to clean the oil of any impurities before it passes along the crankshaft. The filter is positioned inside the crankcase.

Blair Whyte 07NGA

South Tyneside College 22/9/08

Classification societies state that the air discharge to the reservoir should not exceed 93degrees C. This compressor would normally run up to 30 or 40 bar pressure. The pressure relief valves are set at 3% above the working pressure. Excess lube oil consumption would point to there being a problem with the piston rings, particularly the oil scraper ring. This would mean oil is passing up the cylinder and being burnt. Milky lube oil could mean there is water in the oil. This could mean there is a crack in the liner and jacket water is getting into the sump. The type of automation that could be fitted is to have the compressor automatically cut in when the pressure in the receiver drops below a certain value. It would then run until another pre-set maximum value is met. An unloader should be fitted to the compressor. These make sure the machine is started off load and once running at operating speed will load and begin to produce compressed air. A non-return valve is usually fitted to the discharge side to stop air flow back into the system. This is essential where unloaders are used.

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