Compressor room filtration and Ventilation

[Rizwan.O.]

Dear all
We have a compressor room at our facility in which 3 rotary screw compressors are installed. We are planning to enclose the room and add filters to the air inlets. The ventilation after enclosing and filtering needs to be pre-considered before proposing any design.
Any information which can help in achieving the desired goal is appreciated. The purpose of doing all this design change is to avoid contaminants entering the compressor. We are getting high contamination values in the oil analysis report and are trying to get rid of this issue.

 

[HVAC-Novice]

Compressor manufacturer can tell you how much air they need. Then use an AHU with filter and fan to bring in filtered air.

Also consider cooling requirements in an enclosed room. Unusually compressors need a room of a specific volume. So you may need to provide more air than just what gets compressed.

 

[nuuvox000]

Compressor manufacturer can tell you how much air they need.

I second this.

 

[chicopee]

The manuals that were provided with the compressors should be your first reference. To consider your problem are three conditions to come to mind 1)The sum of the free air delivery of each compressor 2)the heat generated by the motors of the compressors and 3) perhaps, if the is no air coolers within the compressor room, the heat of compression generated by the compressors. The manuals provided by the manufacture may offer hints on sizing the air inlet(s) for those three items that I mentioned. Since rotary screw compressors operate in oil bath the stench of oil vapor can be objectionable therefore 15 CFM/person work employee may be suitable with an exhaust fan. This exhaust fan can also take care of the heat build up if sized properly. Sound abatement should also be considered for the compressor room.
There are guidelines for sizing air openings for boiler rooms in the National fire codes (NFPA), eventhough not applicable in your case, you may find that information suitable since air compressors "suck " air just as boiler oil and gas burners do. You'll have to do some research on the net to find the applicable NFPA code.

 

[MintJulep]

If these are air-cooled compressors then you will likely need to add fans to move enough air through to provide cooling. There are many threads here on Eng-Tips about ventilation cooling of compressor or generator rooms. The amount of air needed is large.

You should look into adding pre-cleaners to the air intakes if you don't already have them.

For example

https://www.donaldson.com/en-us/engine/filters/products/air-intake/accessories/pre-cleaners/

(first Google result - I have no affiliation)

 

[dbill74]

Can you provide more information about the problem you are trying to solve?
In your original post you state

We are getting high contamination values in the oil analysis report and are trying to get rid of this issue.

I read this as getting excessive oil in the compressed air system. If this is correct, enclosing the compressor room is not going to solve your problem since air entering the compressor is not the source of the oil contamination. The problem is the compressors themselves. They need to be serviced and/or replaced.

What is the compressed air being used for?