We’ve partnered with Stewart-Haas Racing since 2007, both as a compressed air provider and a sponsor. As part of the continued partnership, we will also install our new SmartLink technology into the Stewart-Haas Racing shop. The SmartLink Data Monitoring System will provide 24/7 remote monitoring of the team’s compressed air system to ensure continuous uptime and peak performance.

A few lucky customers will also join Atlas Copco at the track for the weekend’s events, including an opportunity to access the garage with credentials for the full race weekend, two suite tickets to the race on Oct. 12 and an opportunity to visit Ryan Newman’s No. 39 transporter. Learn more by visiting this link.

Last but not least, Atlas Copco employees will have the opportunity to win their name printed on Ryan Newman’s car along with the Atlas Copco logo. So, as No. 39 races around the track, we’ll be cheering for our employees too.

In honor of our 140^th Anniversary, we asked some of our product managers to tell us about their favorite Atlas Copco products. Over the past several weeks, we’ve covered the original GA VSD, filters, the ZS series and energy recovery, to name a few. The latest installment in our series comes from Deepak Vetal, product marketing manager, ZH and High pressure compressors. You can catch up on all of the top product entries by visiting this link.

On the ZH centrifugal compressor, Vetal writes:

“The ZH range is the most advanced centrifugal compressor series on the market. It is a unique package—meeting customer expectations for low installation, operating and maintenance costs, along with high reliability and ease-of-use.

The ZH range is what we call a ‘plug-and-play’ compressor solution because there are no hidden costs to the customer. The ZH is full of innovative features such as efficient coolers with reliable, premium stainless steel tube bundles, ISO 8573-1 Class Zero certification for air quality, AGMA Q13 gears with very low mechanical losses, low noise levels, an oil demister that prevents oil leakage to the atmosphere and advanced control and monitoring.”

Do you have a favorite Atlas Copco product? Share it with us or leave a comment below.

Last week, we sang the praises of Atlas Copco filters in a “top product” post and then dove into a new understanding of filtration mechanisms. You could say we care about compressed air quality, and we care equally about saving our customers energy.

That’s why our filter competence team has designed a new generation of filters that increase efficiency and save energy by reducing system pressure drops. The filters are also fully certified according to ISO standards, ensuring the highest air quality in the industry.

The magic is in the makeup. The new filter designs feature a new micro-glass fiber filter media and a six layer wrapped construction to ensure high purity filtration, while guaranteeing consistent performance over the filter lifetime. Moreover, the performance is independent of the relative humidity.

The filter construction was further strengthened with an enhanced perforated stainless steel metal core to ensure ultimate mechanical strength and drastically reduce the risk of implosion.

The new filters include:

• DD+ and PD+ Filters for the filtration of oil aerosols: compared to the previous generation, the pressure drop of the new DD+ and PD+ filters has been reduced and the oil carry over has been decreased by more than 20%.
• DDp+ and PDp+ Filters for the filtration of solid particles: the new dust filters, DDp+ and PDp+, have extremely high particle removal efficiencies of 99.92% (DDp+) and 99.98% (PDp+).

You can watch this animated video to learn more about the new design.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve posted interviews with some of our product marketing managers. When we asked the product managers what is their favorite Atlas Copco product, we received answers that cover a broad range of Atlas Copco products and a variety of industries. Today’s contribution comes from Rick Schadt. Visit this link to explore the previous entries.

In response to our query, Schadt writes:

“The full feature version of the ZR/ZT model compressor with integrated MD dryer is my favorite Atlas Copco product, because it delivers high quality, 100% oil-free, dry compressed air that can be used directly by the customer—all from a single piece of equipment.

The MD dryer is mounted inside the same package enclosure as the ZR/ZT compressor, providing a pre-wired and pre-piped solution that is ready to use, resulting in lower installation costs. The pressure drop through the dryer is minimal, cutting down on operating costs.  And, energy costs to run the MD dryer are negligible, as no purge air or external heaters are required.”

So, what is your top product? Contact us directly or leave a comment below.

This week, we announced the creation of a centralized Technical Support Competency Group and a new Distributor Support Service. The group will be headquartered in Rock Hill, S.C.

The creation of the support group is part of a broader strategy to align technical support with product competencies as opposed to geographic regions. The new group will expand the current customer service model to include high-level technical support and product knowledge to customers, distributors and employees across the U.S. The Technical Support Competency Group can be reached at 866-865-7995.

The Distributor Support Service will provide sales support and technical assistance to Atlas Copco’s expanding distributor network. The centralized service group will support distributors with pricing inquiries and advise on lead time and delivery dates for new and existing orders. The group will also support distributors with familiar extranet tools, including the Global Business Portal (GBP) and ACConnect.

By combining sales support and technical assistance into one central hub, the new Distributor Support Service will be able to provide a more complete customer service experience. Distributor Support Service representatives and can be reached at 866-865-7999.

To learn more about the Distributor Support Service, visit this link.
To learn more about the Technical Support Competency Group, visit this link.

Just like the air conditioners in our homes, compressed air systems are outfitted with filters to capture air impurities. But the filtration principles, engineered specifically for compressed air, are a bit more advanced than your average home air filter.

Originating from the intake air, installation or the lubrication of the compressor element, dust or oil aerosol particles contaminate compressed air and must be removed before the air is used in its intended process. Therefore, filters are installed after the compressor.

Inside the filter is a layer of filter media, made up of glass fiber layers distributed randomly and oriented in all directions. If contaminant particles are larger than the openings between the fibers, they will be separated from the air stream mechanically, like a soccer ball that gets caught in the net of the goal. This process is called “sieving.”

While sieving works for particles that are larger than 1 mm, most contaminants are much smaller than the spaces through which the air flows. In order to remove these tiny particles, three different filtration mechanisms come into play.

When particles are on the relatively larger end of the spectrum, inertial impaction occurs. Due to inertia, the heavier particles do not follow the air stream but rather flow through the media in a straight line until they collide with a fiber and are separated from the air. When particles are light enough to follow the stream line of the air flowing through the media, but the radius of the particle is larger than the space through which it should flow, the particle hits the fiber. This is known as interception.

The third mechanism, diffusion, occurs with particles that are so small that they do not follow the stream line of air, but rather move erratically through the media due to collisions with gas molecules, also known as Brownian motion. Smaller particles have more freedom of movement, making the particles more likely to hit a fiber and be removed from the air. This mechanism becomes increasingly important with smaller particle size and lower air velocity.

The calculation of filter efficiency takes into account all three mechanisms. Therefore, filters are engineered to meet both high filtration efficiency and ISO air quality standards. And quality air leads to many benefits including less ongoing maintenance, energy efficiency and of course, cost savings.

Learn more about the filtration process—request a free copy of Atlas Copco’s Compressed Air Manual.

The latest installment in our “top product” series comes from Mike Robinson, product marketing manager for quality air solutions. We will continue to feature top product stories in honor of our 140^th Anniversary for a few more weeks. You can read the previous five entries by visiting this link.

Robinson writes:

“My favorite Atlas Copco products are our filters. While filters appear to be a simple product, they form the backbone of our air treatment offering.

Filters help ensure the purity of processed air and are either built directly into our equipment or supplied for customer installation. Filters extend the life of any downstream equipment that may be using the air. They are not only rigorously tested to ensure that they meet or exceed the most current international standards for contaminant removal, but they also use optimized media to provide some of the lowest pressure drops in the industry, thus lowering the energy usage and costs of every compressed air system in which they are installed.

The combination of technical design and energy efficiency make filters my favorite Atlas Copco product.”

Do you have a top product suggestion? Share your ideas with us or leave a comment below.

Don’t let the title scare you. We won’t get into the molecular structures of compressor lubricants on this blog (at least not today). Rather, we’d like to talk about the chemical properties that make lubricants a vital part of your compressor system.

Proper compressor maintenance includes replenishing lubricants with fluids that are engineered for optimal performance in their dedicated functions. For instance, if you work in the food and beverage industry and operate an oil-injected screw compressor, replenishing the lubricant with a non-food grade fluid could result in contamination and costly product recalls. Additionally, choosing poorly performing lubricants can lead to lower cooling efficiency, poor stability and insufficient protection, which could damage internal components.

The correct lubricant will optimize the performance of a compressor, resulting in a longer life at a low operating cost. The real chemistry is in the lubricant additives, which support base lubrication requirements and interact in multiple processes within the compressor. With the proper blend of chemical additives, a high quality lubricant can operate for thousands of hours at optimal performance levels.

The following properties or additives should be present in a high quality compressor lubricant:

• Demulsification or detergent properties facilitate the water-oil separation in the internal circuit and efficiently remove the condensate to decrease external pollution. This is especially important when operating in a dusty or aggressive environment.
• Anti-foaming properties efficiently separate air from the lubricant by maintaining a lubrication film. This results in lower oil carry-over and reduced contamination.
• Anti-wear additives protect the metallic surface against wear under high loads.
• Air release additives facilitate air separation to reduce oxidation within the lubricant. Reducing oxidation results in longer drain intervals even under heavy duty conditions.

High quality compressor lubricants result in a longer operating life for your compressor while extending the time between service calls. And more time between service calls means more money on your bottom line.

Atlas Copco offers a full line of compressor lubricants to meet your compressor’s unique operating needs. Contact your service representative or drop us a line for more information.

Fitted with an intelligent drive system, a variable speed drive compressor continuously changes the speed to match supply and demand of air and avoid off-load conditions. This simple concept yields significant energy savings for manufacturers in a variety of industries.

How does the VSD actually work?

The variable speed drive measures the system pressure and maintains a constant delivery pressure of air within a narrow pressure band. The motor speed of the compressor is regulated by frequency conversion, which results in the variation of air flow. With the addition of advanced electronic controls, the delivery pressure is kept within a + 1.5 psi band, rather than the conventional 10-15 psig pressure band used on inlet controls for non-VSD equipment. Therefore, a lower air compressor delivery pressure can be used to maintain the required minimum working pressure of the system, resulting in increased energy savings and profitability.

Additionally, the converter in the VSD system performs a “soft” start/stop operation by automatically controlling both acceleration and deceleration levels, thus eliminating amperage peaks which could result in penalties from your utility company. Eliminating peaks also protects electrical and mechanical components from the stresses that can shorten the life of an air compressor.

By varying the speed of its drive motor as air demand decreases, the VSD lowers the delivered air flow as well as the electrical power consumption as illustrated in this short video animation. Properly sized VSD compressors offer manufacturers the ability to fine tune the compressors output to fluctuating compressed air demands.

If you are looking to optimize productivity and control energy costs, contact us to learn how much you can save by installing a VSD compressor.

Marciniak writes:

“In my opinion, one of the most interesting products offered by Atlas Copco is the Z-Series tooth design oil-free compressor. When most manufacturers were only offering oil-free screw products, Atlas Copco decided to take a deeper look at the technology. Realizing the lack of efficiency in oil-free screw compressors around 50 horsepower, Atlas Copco looked to the tooth design to offer a broader oil-free range. The tooth design utilizes tighter clearances between components and as a result, less air leaks into the compression chamber.

In the full line of Z-Series oil-free compressors you will find both tooth and screw technology to optimize performance across a broader range. This is a testament to the engineering innovation and resources you will only find in Atlas Copco products.”

Do you have a top product suggestion? Share your ideas with us or leave a comment below.