Screw compressor in the woodworking industry

Compressor is one if important equipment needed in the woodworking industry. Compressor is the machine to generate the compressed air as the energy sources in the woodworking process. According to the rotor inside there are 2 type compressor : the piston compressor and the screw compressor.  In our  previous posts: piston compressor for wood furniture we've reviewed about a piston compressor, now in this post we review the screw compressor.

Screw compressor is a compressor that uses the screws to suck and press the air. The 2 helical  screws (they are also called as the rotor) mesh and screw to suck the air from the outside and compress it.  There are 2 types of screw compressors that are: oil free screw compressor and the lubricated screw compressor. The lubricated screw compressor uses oil lubricant to wet the screws during they operate. The oil lubricated this will make the screw can work more efficient in sucking and squeezing the air, but the resulting compressed air will be mixed with the  oil. The compressed air resulted then is filtered and separated from the oil. The air filtration generally is 2 times or more to ensure the resulting air to be oil free. The oil screw compressor is better in energy efficiency and it is the mostly used in the general industry, including the woodworking and furniture industry.

The second type is the oil free screw compressor, it is the screw compressor that does not use oil lubricant in it screw's. The air generated is relatively cleaner and oil free, but it has lower efficiency compared with oil lubricated compressor. This machine is more suitable for use as to supply the compress air to the industry which is very sensitive to the oil such as: medical research, the semiconductor industry, etc.

In general, the screw compressor is more stable, has smoother vibration, more compact and have higher energy efficiency compared to the piston compressors. The screw compressor has higher capacity then the piston compressor. But this equipment has more expensive price then the piston compressors and also will need more electricity power. This machine is more suitable for use in woodworking industries requiring large-scale supply of compressed air in large quantities and continuously. Normally this machine also spend cheaper cost of maintenance compared with the piston compressor.

However, to obtain optimal benefits from the use of this machine we should be able to handle this equipment appropriately.

 Here are the things that need to be considered in the uses of screw compressors

• Do the calculations to estimate volume of the compressed air needed.

The compressor is a big machine that wills require big electrical energy during its operation. The energy consumption is not adjustable but in fix amount according to the capacity of the compressor. Since that the proper capacity is very important to get the maximum benefit from this machine. Too small capacity compressor is risk to the disrupted working process due to the lack of compress air. While the use of compressor with too big capacity will result on the energy wastes  to keep it operated.

• The proper maintenance

This machine is also need of proper maintenance  to keep is work and  operate properly. In general, the screw compressor require less frequent maintenance than the piston compressors, but with higher  costs and longer time. However, the cost of maintenance will always cheaper than the loss caused due to the damaged the compressor since of the negligence of maintenance. The discipline in the maintenance in according to the schedule will make these devices work more optimally and has more lifetime. The poor maintenance is also risk of leakage in the filter and the mixed of the oil with  air that will cause many problems in the woodworking process, especially in the finishing process.

• The proper piping system.

The compressed air generated  always need  piping system to distribute it to the tool and machine needed. The quality of the piping system will affect the efficiency of compressed air distribution. Since that the piping should be done correctly to maximize the efficiency of the energy consumption.  Avoid the air leakage, make sure every connection are well assembled, fix and replaced every leakage soon if any. Flow the air in the pipe with the size  according to volume compressed air to reduce the pressure drop in compressed air. The air filters and drier are also need to be mounted properly to prevent any oil and dirt in the compressed  air.