Blower vs compressor

[Trev66]

At what point do you go from a blower to a small recip or centrifugal compressor in terms of compression ratio and flowrate, economically - capital and operational.

Thanks

 

[zdas04]

Mostly the breakover is not ratios, it is max discharge pressure. Blowers are usually only able to develop 5-10 psig discharge. Liquid rings generally stop below 30 psig. Any of the other technologies will go to higher pressures.

The choice between dry screws, flooded screws, centrifugal, or recip is pretty complex and if you need discharge pressures much above 30 psig then you really need to provide more information on your application before anyone can give you competent advice.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The Plural of "anecdote" is not "data"

 

[25362]

Zdas04 is absolutely right. If you wish to get an idea of the general regions of applicability of fans, blowers and compressors, see, for example, Fig. 2-11 in the book titled Process Design and Engineering Practice by Donald R. Woods (Prentice Hall).

 

[Trev66]

Thanks, I am in the 100 Psig discharge range so a small recip compressor would probably do the job.

Trevor

 

[zdas04]

Depends on the job. A 100 psig discharge with a 3 psia suction would not be a very good recip application (I'd use a liquid ring discharging into a flooded screw). Varying suction that averages around 10 psig up to 100 psig discharge is a very good range for a flooded screw. A very stable application going from 10 psig to 100 psig would be a good 2-stage recip application. 40 psig to 100 psig with reasonable suction stability is a good single-stage recip application.

Lots of variables in this stuff.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The Plural of "anecdote" is not "data"

 

[25362]

Depending on the inlet capacity, one could consider also a rotary sliding vane unit, or even a multi-stage blower.