How Variable-Frequency-Drive Air Compressors Work
February 5, 2025
Ultimate Guide to Rotary Screw Air Compressor System Design, Part One: 10 Important Questions To Get You Started
February 19, 2025The Role of Air Compressor Intake Filters
Kaishan USA | February 12, 2025| Uncategorized
Facilities like cement plants present significant challenges for air compressor intake filters.
One of the most critical issues in compressed air performance is the quality of the air entering your compressor.
Draw in cool, clean, dry air, and your compressor is good to go, making high-quality compressed air you can distribute throughout your facility.
Unfortunately, the incoming air in most applications is far from pristine. Outside air isn’t a safe bet either: desert air has sand particles, and tropical air has moisture. And even indoor settings can have automotive exhaust or diesel fumes from a nearby loading dock. Remember, an air compressor is like a giant vacuum cleaner; it ingests everything that's in its environment.
Then there’s the indoor air. If your compressor draws air from a production floor, it will carry in anything that’s floating around in your facility: dust, dirt, fumes and moisture.
Your compressor will take those contaminants and jam them together at high concentrations as part of the compression process. That’s what compression does, after all.
The air compressor intake filter eliminates dirt, dust and other airborne contaminants that could ruin a car's mirror finish.
Those contaminants are then sent downstream to wreak havoc in a cascading effect that has any or all of the following consequences:
- It can damage your air-oil separator and your oil filters.
- If it damages the separator, you probably will start sending oil downstream.
- If the oil goes downstream, it could damage the end-use equipment your compressed air system serves.
- And those contaminants could damage any end products that have direct contact with that air, for example, in a drying, painting or cooling step.
Dust and dirt also increase the wear on valves and other components. That’s why we emphasize the quality of the incoming air. The process starts with the inlet valve.
The Inlet Valve: The Most Important Valve on Your Compressor
The inlet valve is one of the most important parts of a rotary screw air compressor.
Inlet valves are one of the most important and complicated parts of a rotary screw air compressor. They are critical in controlling a compressor’s overall efficiency and energy savings. And they keep the airend from locking up, regulating how much air gets into the airend.
If the inlet filter is clogged, the air compressor will expend more energy to pull air and provide the system with the proper amount of compressed air it needs. Conversely, if the inlet valve brings too much air into the chamber, it could cause over-pressurization, damaging the compressor and nearby equipment.
To learn more about this critical part, read our blog post, “What is the Air Compressor Inlet Valve, and How Does it Work?”
Beyond the inlet valve, the air compressor intake filter ensures that incoming air is clean and free of moisture and contaminants.
The Air Compressor Intake Filter: The Most Important Filter on Your Compressor
For the same reasons that the inlet air device is the most important valve on your compressor, the air compressor intake filter is its first line of defense.
Under normal circumstances, these filters will capture 99% of the dust, dirt and contaminants in the air.
As you can imagine, dirt and dust particles can accumulate in the air compressor intake filter. That’s why maintenance of air compressor intake filters is so essential.
How to Maintain Your Air Compressor Intake Filter
We recommend a visual inspection every week to ensure your filter is in good shape. After turning off the compressor and ensuring there’s no stored pressure, you can open the intake panel or filter housing. The filter is right inside.
Do a visual inspection to ensure the filter is clean. You’ll want to replace it if it’s dirty or it’s been in service more than 4,000 hours or one year. More frequently, if your intake air is dirty or dusty.
The Consequences of Clogged Air Compressor Intake Filters
If an air compressor intake filter gets clogged, you will have problems:
- First, your compressor will have more difficulty maintaining the pressure you need. It’s like putting your hand over your mouth, making it harder to breathe. That will increase energy consumption—your compressor must work longer and harder to achieve the desired pressure.
- Second, when a filter becomes extremely clogged, a pressure differential will result between the inlet and compressor sides of the filter. If that differential gets too high, the seals and gaskets around the edges of the filter can collapse. Ultimately, this means that unfiltered air will enter your compressor.
That’s true of all types of compressors, but it’s especially critical to ensure inlet filters do not get blocked on your centrifugal compressors because improperly filtered air can damage the impeller. As a result, most manufacturers have extra sensors monitoring the pressure differential across the filters on a centrifugal.
Why You Should Stick with Your Manufacturer’s Air Compressor Intake Filters
It’s not a good idea to save a few cents by buying an aftermarket or competitive filter. Here’s why:
Air compressor intake filters can vary widely among OEMs because compressor manufacturers design their seals and gaskets to handle the pressure differentials specific to their individual machines, sometimes even model-by-model.
An off-brand or aftermarket filter probably won't meet the specifications intended by the OEM’s design engineers and it may invalidate your warranty. That’s why we recommend using genuine OEM filters. As with all parts and supporting materials, it's best to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Any perceived short-term savings you realize by purchasing aftermarket parts could ultimately raise your lifecycle costs, resulting in higher energy use, increased downtime and more frequent replacements.
As Compressed Air Best Practices notes, “The money you save by purchasing generic parts is often the most expensive money you will ever save.”
For more on the value of using OEM parts, read our blog post, “How to Maintain Your Air Compressor with Genuine Spare Parts.”
Need Help Getting Your Compressor the Fresh Air It Needs?
Energy savings. Cost implications. Damage to separators and downstream equipment. Contaminated products. The consequences of neglecting your air compressor intake filter can be significant.
Your local compressed air consultant can help you make sure your air compressor is getting the cool, clean, dry air it needs.
If you need help ensuring your compressor is getting the cool, clean, dry air it needs, we can help. Kaishan USA works with a nationwide network of independent distributors, who can provide on-site help and consultation in diagnosing and fixing any compressed air issue, including air intake concerns.
Key Takeaways
- One of the most critical issues in compressed air performance is the quality of the air entering your air compressor.
- Draw in cool, clean, dry air, and your compressor will make high-quality compressed air you can distribute throughout your facility.
- However, dust and dirt in intake air can cause significant damage to your compressor, downstream equipment and even your end product.
- The air compressor intake filter is the most important filter on your compressor. It will capture 99% of the dust, dirt, moisture and contaminants in the air.
- We recommend you visually inspect your air compressor intake filter weekly to ensure it is in good shape.
- It’s not a good idea to save a few cents by buying an aftermarket or competitive filter.
- We recommend replacing your air compressor’s intake filters with genuine OEM parts from your manufacturer.
Let Us Help
The intake air supplying your air compressor is essential to the operation of your compressor, your compressed air system and all the processes that rely on that system. If you need help, get in touch with the experts at Kaishan. Contact us today.
