15
Coolant
Rotary screw compressor fluids have a triple function
to perform.They lubricate the bearings and contacting
surfaces of the rotors, seal internal clearances within
the rotor chamber, and provide for the cooling of the
compression process.The bulk of the fluid is actually
used for cooling, with only small amounts used for
lubrication and sealing.
SSR air compressors are factory filled with SSR
ULTRA COOLANT. ULTRA COOLANT is designed
to operate for 8,000 hours or two years, whichever
comes first.The coolant must be changed at these
intervals to avoid breakdown and equipment dam-
age.
Circulation of Coolant
Coolant is forced by air pressure from the separator
tank to the thermostatic element.The position of the
element (a direct result of coolant temperature) will
determine whether the coolant circulates through the
cooler, bypasses the cooler, or mixes the two paths
together to maintain an optimum compressor injection
temperature.This temperature is controlled to preclude
the possibility of water vapor condensing. By injecting
coolant at a sufficiently high temperature, the dis-
charge air coolant mixture temperature will be kept
above the dew point.
Before being injected into the airend, all coolant flows
through the coolant filter. It is a full-flow, spin-on ele-
ment, rated at 4 micron.There is a differential-pressure
bypass valve in the element that opens in the event
that the pressure drop across the element rises to as
high as 15 psi (1 bar), which indicates an excessively
fouled element as well as poor maintenance practice.
Coolant/Air Separator System
The coolant/air separation system is composed of a
separator tank with specially designed internals and a
coalescing type separator element located inside the
tank.
The air-coolant mixture discharges from the airend into
the separator tank.The majority of coolant is separat-
ed while in the separator tank and the coalescing sep-
arator filter element is used for final cleaning of the air
prior to the customer’s system.The system removes
nearly all of the coolant from the discharge air.The
separated coolant is returned to the coolant system
and the air passes to the compressed air system.
3.3 AIR SYSTEM
Components and Flow
The air system is composed of:
Inlet air filter
Inlet valve
Airend
Coolant/Air separator
Minimum pressure check valve (MPCV)
Aftercooler
The direction of flow is from the inlet filter to the after-
cooler.
Functions of Components
Inlet air filter, filters the incoming air, trapping 99.9% of
particles 3 micron and larger.
Inlet valve opens full for on-line operation.The valve
closes in the off-line mode and at shutdown which pre-
vents back flow of the compressed air.
The airend compresses the air.
The separator tank removes most of the coolant from
the air.
The separator element performs the final separation of
coolant and cleaning of the air prior to leaving the
compressor.
The minimum pressure check valve keeps the separa-
tor tank and separator element at a minimum pressure
to ensure adequate oil flow and proper coolant/air sep-
aration. It also prevents line pressure from exhausting
back through the airend at shutdown and during peri-
ods of unloaded operation.
The aftercooler cools the air prior to leaving the pack-
age.
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