Air Compressors

Air compressors are devices used to compress air to be used immediately or later to drive other tools for the sake of convenience, safety or other creative use of energy. Most devices work like your usual pump used to inflate bicycle tyres or soccer balls. Pumps like the ones used for inflating bicycle tyres have piston like device that moves back and forth within a hollow cylinder. When regular force is applied manually or mechanically to make the piston move rapidly within the cylinder, compressed air is produced and forced into a closed chamber. Compressed air in any closed chamber becomes a kind of transformed energy available to be channelled through pipes or tanks to power another tool very efficiently than if the original source of energy is to be applied directly.

Find out more about air compressors by contacting BCAS today.

Some Common Applications

Air compressors are used to power devices or machines called pneumatic tools that would not work well if the original source of energy is connected to the tools directly. For example, let’s take the Dentist’s drill to highlight the point being made here. It will not be convenient to connect the drill to gasoline or diesel machines to rotate the shaft of the drill. Alternatively, electricity being a transformed and transportable energy could have been considered but safety considerations concerning electric shocks to the patient does not favour electric tools for that purpose. Convenience, safety, and practicality make the use of pneumatic equipments powered by air compressors favourable to drive industrial tools and machines.

Types of Air Compressors

There are basically two types of air compressors: the reciprocating and the rotary types. The reciprocating types works as mentioned earlier, like a bicycle tyre pump. The rotary type works by moving in a circular motion. The reciprocating types are used in tools like pneumatic hammers used by the construction industry. The rotary type are used in tools like power drills, power wrenches, grinders and sanders. Tools suchas grinders and sanders have rotating parts called rotors. The rotors usually have several blades arranged in circular manner at one end; when compressed air is forced over the blades, the rotating motion activated is transferred to shafts that move the grinders or sanders. A rotor can move several thousand time per minute and that explains the high pitched sounds from Dentist’s drills and jet engines.

Selecting the right Tools

You may need help purchasing your industrial pneumatic tools. The British Compressed Air Society offers some very useful publications for sale and some others for free from the products area. Click this publications link to find out more about the available compressed air publications that may be of interest to you. Becoming a member of the BCAS could provide lots of benefits to you as a user or distributor of pneumatic tools. Members stand to benefit from several services provided by BCAS like free technical support, interpretation of regulations, website listing and business and personal networking opportunities. Those are just few of the privileges members enjoy. Let’s work together to make a difference.