Wherever there is a working compressor, there is the question of how to deal with the oily condensate in the system. It is a problem that manufacturing industry has not neglected but conventional solutions have not been all that satisfactory.
There has, however, been a recent step change in filtration and separation technology that offers cleaner and safer condensate removal. With an awareness of environmental and health and safety issues, tube component suppliers, WPS Automotive (a division of WPSi Group plc) recently discovered a solution that it says is proving to be clean, compliant with the regulations and economical.
The company approached SEPURA distributor Aircare Compressor Services of Cannock, Staffordshire for advice regarding a suitable system to provide clean, dry compressed air for equipment in a new warehouse facility.
Aircare sales engineers responded with an Adicomp low noise, rotary screw compressor/ dryer package. To comply with WPS's plan to locate the compressor within the warehouse, there could be no possibility of oily condensate contaminating the floor area, where there could be a hazard to staff working within the warehouse.
Aware of the severe penalties should the condensate find its way into a water course, or onto land, WPS insisted that a high quality condensate cleaner was installed. Aircare had installed numerous types of Oil/water separators to compressor installations in the past, but few had given the reliable, trouble free operation that customers had expected. Not only that but the messy weir-type separators were disliked by maintenance engineers and distrusted because of the bacterial risks associated with the collection tanks.
The installer recommended Condensate Systems" new SEPURA separator. The competitively priced unit supplied, has a very small footprint (just 180mm diameter in a single 0.5m column) and is claimed to consistently achieve around 5ppm of oil at the condensate outlet. The statutory UK limit for disposal to a foul drain is 20ppm.
SEPURA uses a polypropylene filter, which also depressurises the air before removing the majority of oil content, the final stage of filtration is by a carbon filter.
For further information please visit: www.oil-water.com
