What are the Hazards of Delayed Air Compressor Filter Replacement?

Oil filter elements are consumables that must be replaced promptly once they reach their service life. Premature clogging alerts before the service period are mainly 

caused by substandard oil filter quality, poor ambient air quality with excessive dust, and carbon deposits in air compressor oil.

Hazards of delayed oil filter replacement:

Insufficient oil return leads to excessively high exhaust temperature, shortening the service life of oil and oil-air separator elements

Inadequate lubrication of the main unit, drastically reducing its service life

After filter element damage, unfiltered oil containing a large amount of metal particles and impurities enters the main unit, causing severe damage to it

The air filter element is the air intake of an air compressor. Natural air enters the unit through the air filter and is compressed into compressed air. 

Air filter clogging is mostly caused by ambient operating conditions—frequent replacement is a must in industries such as cement, ceramics, textile and furniture manufacturing.

 In addition, a faulty differential pressure transmitter may trigger false clogging alarms and should be replaced if damaged.

Hazards of delayed air filter replacement:

Insufficient unit exhaust volume, disrupting production

Excessively high resistance of the air filter element, increasing unit energy consumption

Higher actual compression ratio and main load of the unit, shortening its service life

Foreign objects entering the main unit due to filter element damage, causing the main unit to seize up or even be scrapped

While separating compressed air from oil, the oil-air separator element traps impurities on its filter material, clogging the micro-pores and causing excessive resistance, 

which increases the air compressor's power consumption and is detrimental to energy conservation and emission reduction.

 Volatile gases in the air around the air compressor and high machine temperatures accelerate the oxidation of air compressor oil. Once these gases enter the unit and react chemically with the oil,

 carbon deposits and sludge are formed. Some impurities entering the oil circulation system are blocked by the oil filter, while the rest rise with the oil-gas mixture to the oil-air separator. 

As the gas passes through the separator, these impurities get trapped on its filter paper, clogging the pores and gradually increasing the separator's resistance, resulting in the need for premature replacement.

Hazards of delayed oil-air separator replacement:

Poor separation efficiency leads to increased oil consumption and operational costs; severe oil shortage may even cause main unit malfunctions

Higher oil content at the compressed air outlet disrupts the operation of downstream purification equipment and disables gas-using equipment

Increased resistance after clogging raises the unit's actual exhaust pressure and energy consumption

Detachment of glass fiber materials from the failed element into the oil shortens the oil filter's service life and causes abnormal wear of the main unit