Air Compressors

Stationary electric rotary screw compressor

A floor-mounted electric screw compressor feeding a workshop or plant ring main. Bought on efficiency and duty cycle, because the electricity bill exceeds the purchase price within a few years.

Features

  • Specific power in kW per m³/min is the honest efficiency comparison; motor rating alone tells you nothing about air delivered.
  • Fixed-speed machines are most efficient at full load, so they suit a steady demand with a receiver to absorb peaks.
  • Variable-speed machines follow demand and avoid unloaded running, which pays back only where the load genuinely swings.
  • Every 1 bar of unnecessary system pressure costs roughly 6 to 7 % more energy, so the set pressure is worth arguing about.
  • Heat recovery from the cooling circuit can be used for space or process water heating, which changes the running-cost case materially.
  • The machine needs a ventilated room with a stated air change rate; installing one in a cupboard de-rates it.

Specifications

Figure Typical range Unit Why it matters
Free air delivery 600 - 9 000 l/min Must exceed measured plant demand plus leakage.
Working pressure 7.5 - 13 bar Every unnecessary bar costs energy permanently.
Motor rating 7.5 - 90 kW Sizes the electrical supply and starter.
Specific power 5.5 - 7.5 kW per m³/min The single best efficiency comparison.
Cooling method air / water Decides room ventilation or a water circuit.
Recoverable heat 6 - 75 kW Can offset a heating load entirely.