What Does Commissioning your Air Compressor Mean?

Air Compressor Commissioning & Installation Services

The definition of Commissioning from Compressed Air Best Practice magazine, “Compressed air system commissioning is the process for measuring, testing, adjusting, and documenting that the performance of an entire compressed air system achieves the target system efficiencies (scfm/kW as a whole and for each piece of equipment) in all load regimes and potential failure modes.”

Proper compressor installation and commissioning helps ensure trouble-free startup and long-term reliability. Thorough inspection and critical review during each phase of the installation process eliminates “built-in” deficiencies or problems which could later result in equipment failures or poor performance.

Commissioning: Start with the Preparation

Checking your air compressor before the installation is critical to its' success. The checklists in the below sections are intended to aid in this inspection/review process, but refer to your manufacturer's instruction manual for exact details.

Installation Checks

{"values":"Installation is per manufacturer's instructions "}
{"values":"Belt properly aligned "}
{"values":"Compressor turns freely"}
{"values":"Compressor in place and properly anchored"}
{"values":"Shipping pallets removed"}
{"values":"Power disconnect is located within site of the unit it controls and labeled"}
{"values":"All electric connections tight "}
{"values":"Safeties installed and operational "}

Reverse Rotation Check

This is probably the single most important startup item that should be conducted before starting the compressor.

The compressor should be “bump started” (i.e. control power de-energized immediately after startup) and the direction of the pressure gauge movement should be checked to insure that the discharge pressure rises upon compressor start. If the compressor rotation is backwards the discharge pressure will be pulled immediately into a vacuum, on a rotary unit this will starve the air-end of needed oil and cause air-end damage within a seconds. If the rotation is backwards, the phasing of the compressor should be corrected (reversing any two leads will change rotation) before attempting to re-start the compressor.

Some 3 phase units come with a piece of paper taped to the top of the cabinet. If the electrical phases are correct when started it will blow the paper up revealing an OK on the bottom, this indicates the rotation is correct. In cases the phases are out of sequence when started air will be pulled into the cabinet sucking the paper down, this would indicate incorrect phase sequence and wrong motor rotation and would need corrected immediately before restarting.

Start-Up Of the Compressor

Great news, your pre-commissioning is all set. Now is time for installation and the next round of commissioning checklists. Below are a few things to keep in mind during start up.