Many companies make use of compressed air in their line of business, and in doing so make use of Air compressors. Air compressors come in a number of different shapes and sizes and compress air in several different ways. The amount of compressed air that you may need to use and its pressure will dictate the type of Air compressors that are suitable for your business.

The most common types of Air compressors to be found in small to medium businesses such as automobile repair shops are reciprocating Air compressors. These Air compressors use a piston or pistons driven by a crankshaft or belt, which is driven by a power source that can either be a petrol engine or an electric motor. These Air compressors are often portable and can frequently be seen on the shop floor of an automotive shop. They are quite noisy but ideal for intermittent use. These types of Air compressors are frequently used as the air supply for spray painting shops.

There are several other types of Air compressors other than reciprocating Air compressors. These include axial flow and centrifugal Air compressors and rotary Air compressors. The latter include lobe, liquid ring, screw, scroll and vane compressors. Every compressor has to have what is known as a prime mover – this is basically the source of power. This can be one of several kinds of turbine, either water, steam or gas driven, an electric motor or a diesel or petrol driven motor. The prime mover is the principal source of power in Air compressors. Electric motors have the distinct advantage of being quiet – they are also small and tend to be the prime mover for Air compressors that you find in the home or in small craft businesses. Larger three phase motors drive much larger Air compressors. Steam and water turbines are normally found with much larger Air compressors and gas turbines in snow blowers.

Air compressors have many other applications – they are used in the braking systems of heavy transport trucks and trains in a system known as the Westinghouse Air Brake system. Submarines use Air compressors to store air for later use in displacing water from buoyancy chambers in order to adjust their depth. Air compressors are also widely used in scuba shops for refilling diving tanks and are the integral part of turbochargers and superchargers, which increases the performance of internal combustion engines by concentrating oxygen in the form of compressed air. Every civil airliner that flies above 10,000 feet must have integrated Air compressors (these are usually part of the engines) in order to maintain cabin altitude at 10,000 feet or below (above 10,000 feet it becomes necessary to use pure oxygen). The engines of a jet or gas turbine driven aeroplane themselves each have integral Air compressors to feed air to the combustion chambers. There are numerous other applications for Air compressors ranging from compressed air for pneumatic tyres at most petrol stations and the operation of pneumatic tools.