Air Compressor Cooling Air Flow

Air to liquid intercoolers are by far the most common form of intercooler found on marine engines given that a limitless supply of cooling water is available and most engines are located in closed compartments where obtaining a good flow of cooling air for an air to air unit would be difficult.

Air compressor cooling air flow.

These values should be kept in mind when evaluating any compressor cooling system. The main stop valve should be situated in the water pipe inlet header and flow regulating valve in the supply line to each cylinder intercooler and aftercooler means parallel water circuit. The more compressed air is cooled inside a compressor s inter cooler and aftercooler the more energy efficient the compressor will be and the more the water vapor will be condensed a water cooled compressor installation puts little demand on the compressor room ventilation system as the cooling water contains in the form of heat approximately 90 of the energy taken up by the electric motor. When selecting larger air cooled compressors the amount of cooling air flow required is proportionally larger and therefore the limitations of cooling air inlet and cooling air discharge in the room will need to be considered.

Most air cooled aftercoolers are sized to cool the compressed air to within 15 f to 20 f of ambient cooling air temperature approach temperature. 01 the cooling water piping connections to the compressor cylinder intercooler and aftercooler should be arranged as shown in the general arrangement drawing and water piping diagram.