oil leak from condensate line in screw compressor

[gsnmech]

I am facing oil leak from the condensate drain valve of a screw air compressor.

can any body tell me the causes?

 

[zdas04]

I'd guess it was a valve leaking through, a packing leak, or a thread leak. Most leaks are one of these,

David

 

[pmover]

an oil-flooded rotary screw air compressor?

what type of oil is in the condensate? how much oil?

source could be a failure in the compressor downstream separator; thereby allowing oil to collect in condensate.

a little more information will be helpful . . .

good luck!
-pmover

 

[gsnmech]

yes it is an oil flooded rotary screw air compressor.

it is the compressor oil and around 100ml per day

the oil/water filter has been changed.

The air once compressed goes to separator to separate air and oil then it goes to a cooler (air cooler ).there condensation happens in the cooler ( because of the temperature drop) then the air leaves to dryer and then to process. the traces of oil/water in air stream are sent from the cooler to a oil/water filter.

Oil is coming from the auto drain of the air cooler

 

[zdas04]

So your problem is oil carryover. What is the temperature of the compressor discharge stream? It should be 205-215F (around 100C). The oil is hydrophilic and will absorb a large amount of the humidity that is in the air. If you don't cook the water out of the oil, then the surface tension of the oil increases until very large droplets will fail to coalesce in your coalescing element and these large droplets will enter the cooler and cause downstream problems. If you raise that temperature the problem will tend to go away.

David

 

[bcs5274]

maybe the coalescer filter in the separator is not rated for the volume goin thru it, had that happen more than once, went to a pleated filter rated for more capacity and solved issue