FAQ
Auto Drain

  Why Do We Need Condensate Drains?
Condensate is generated from water vapour in the air after compression. Water vapour that is present in the atmospheric air is not saturated and is usually denominated by a percentage of saturation. A common name used here is Humidity. When a compressor takes in the air from the surrounding & compresses it to a higher pressure, the amount of water vapour present in the air will increase accordingly when the volume reduces. This will push the humidity level above 100% and thus condensation starts
to happen. The amount of condensation will depend on the pressure and temperature of the compressed air. Most often after compression the air is very hot and thus no condensation will happen. Condensation will only happen when the air is cooled down in the after cooler and in the refrigeration dryer. When the compressed air is cooled down, it is pushed into the saturated zone and condensation happens.
  Why we must remove condensate

Condensate contains large amount of water, oil and particles and thus will cause damages to the machine. Water will cause piping to rust and scales to form and this will cause wear and tear to the pneumatic components. Compressor Oil on the other hand is not suitable as a lubricant for the pneumatic components and thus will cause it to hesitate or damaged.

Open Orifice

Often compressed air users uses an open orifice to remove the condensate from the system but we have to know this method is a very expensive method. Air compressors uses large amount of energy to generated compressed air and thus compressed air has a value to it. As a rule of thumb the cost of compressed air is about :

  • Oil Lubricated: RM0.03(USD0.008) per m3
  • Oil Free : RM0.04(USD0.010) per m3

If there is a small leak, money is constantly lost. The below table shows the amount of air loss for various pressure and open orifice

Air loss per Cubic Meter per hour

As an example from the above,

  • Pressure : 6.9 bar
  • Orifice Size : 3.2mm
  • Working Hrs per Year : 8000hrs
  • Cost of Compressed Air : RM0.04

Total Money Lost Per Year = RM14,080.00 (USD3705.00)
So we need to ensure that the leaks from condensate outlets are plug

Condensate Drains Available
There are many types of condensate drains available and the main ones are as follows

  1. Float Drains
  2. Timer Drains
  3. Zero Loss Pneumatically Operated Drains
  4. Electronic Zero Loss Drains

VAPS Technologies offers all of the above autodrains but specialize on the Pneumatically operated Zero Loss Drains.

  

 
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