Looping Your Air System Can Reduce Problems

It's a not-so-well-kept secret: looping your air system can save your plant energy in the long run. 

We often have customers call us to say they don't have enough air pressure at the tail end of their system. Typically, we call this a dead end and a quick fix would be to "loop" the air lines so air flow can run in different directions. 

Compressed air pipe systems

Let's look at a more specific example.  Given, air flow of 100 CFM, using 3/4" pipe.   

If you have 300 feet of 3/4-inch air line (which is not looped) with eight, 90-degree elbows (each elbow is considered 25' of pipe), you end with a total of 500 feet. The pressure drop from the compressor room to the end of that line could be as high as 7.69 pound-force per square inch, or PSI, for for every 100' of pipe, a total of 38.45 PSI to the furthest point.   '

In many cases, customers would call and say they have a capacity problem.  In reality, it could be a distribution problem.  A fix for this issue would be; 1.  Increase the pipe size to 1-1/2" pipe or 2".   1-1/2" pipe will have 0.247 PSI drop for every 100'.  2" pipe will offer 0.070 PSI drop for every 100'
2.  "Loop" the air system, this allows the air to flow in any direction and reach the path of least resistance. With the example used above, once air can flow in both directions our pressure drop is calculated on 250' vs. 500' — roughly half of what it was before. 

Types of air piping

We recommend Aluminum air pipe or Type-L Copper for all air installations. There are two main reasons why:

Aluminum is another popular choice for air lines. Installing aluminum air lines is quick and easy, especially with the fittings they have designed. It is like installing Legos with an adjustable wrench and cutting tool. The largest disadvantage to this route would be stock; you might have to wait a few days to receive added stock. 

Still have lingering questions on this topic or others? Reach out to our team of experienced air compressor experts by calling 866-778-6572 or sending an email to info@compressorworld.com