John McGraw
Promoted Users
Still trying to wrap my head around this. So from the video I posted with the gentleman installing the B&M transmission cooler between the compressor pump and the compressor tank, he is trapping some water before it goes into the tank. Less water in the tank equals less water in the air?
Would this be correct?
Also, if I'm understanding you, a compressor pump that produces more heat than another pump, has no effect on how much water is generated? I'm trying to see if the transmission cooler really has any benifit?
How to read a physcrometric chart
https://www.brighthubengineering.com/hvac/41264-how-to-use-psychrometric-chart/
Physcrometric chart
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/docs/documents/816/psychrometric_chart_29inHg.pdf
If the trans cooler was removing moisture from the compressed air and draining it away before entering the tank, it would equate to less air in the tank, but not necessarily less air in the air system. Keep in mind that the air leaving that trans cooler would need to be a lower temperature than the temperature of the air lines in your shop, basically lower than the temp of your shop. If you were blowing ambient air across the trans cooler, the best you could hope for is a dewpoint slightly above the ambient temperature of the shop, and that assumes that the heat exchanger from the trans is large enough to reject all this heat which is unlikely. it appears to me that they are just exchanging the place that some of the moisture condenses from the tank to the trans cooler, without really affecting the moisture at the end of the system. It is akin to taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other pocket, as nothing has really changed.
Remember, the air is basically at 100% humidity at almost any point in the system, and the only way to affect that is to lower the temp of that air dramatically to condense the water out, and then let it warm back up to room temp, or to run it through a desiccant.
Yes, you are correct. The amount of heat the compressor generates has absolutely no impact on the amount of moisture. The only factor is the compression ratio compared to ambient air. If the compression ratio is 10:1, then the grains of moisture in the compressed air will go up by 10 times. You can as others have stated, spin the compressor slower, and that will make less moisture over time, but it will also make less air over time, which means that you have to run the compressor longer, which then makes the same amount of moisture over time. It also does not change the fact that the air will still be saturated (100% humidity) at the air drop in the shop.
Regards, John McGraw