The high
pressure air compressor is essential
for breathing. One of the principle uses for
the high pressure machines is to provide
breathable air for marine use and also for emergency
uses. A dramatic example might be miners trapped
in a collapsed mine shaft. As the air in the
shaft runs out, their lives may very well depend
upon getting breathable air from a high pressure
air compressor.
Modern technology and improved safety measures
have certainly reduced the number of underground
mine accidents imperilling lives. When those
accidents do happen, one of the first priorities
is getting breathable air to the trapped victims.
A high pressure air compressor is rushed into
place.
A
high pressure compressor is one that generates
greater pressures, measured in pounds per square
inch, than other units. These
compressors will generate pressures 10 to
50 times as great as conventional
air compressors.
High pressure compressor may produce pressures
of 3,000, 4,000 or even 5,000 psi. A conventional
compressor, the kind found in lumber yards
and department stores for home or farm use, in
tire repair shops and many auto repair shops
will produce 100 to 150 psi. Most air tools need
90 psi to operate properly.
It
isn’t just the pressure, though, that
determines the usefulness of a high pressure
air compressor. Another important factor is the
volume of air produced. This is measured in cubic
feet per minute (cfm). Many of the air compressors
sold to the home consumer market produce volumes
of three to five cfm. Industrial and marine use
high pressure air compressors pump out volumes
ranging from 500 cfm to 1,100 cfm. These are
the high pressure air compressors that are used
to perform multiple simultaneous functions on
a job site, fill dive tanks with breathable air
and pump emergency air supplies into job site
cave-ins and collapsed mine shafts.
High
pressure machines are sold as commercial/industrial
units and may be either stationary or portable.
They are also sold as marine units that produce
much cleaner, filtered air to fill dive tanks.
Some high pressure compressor models of these
units are also portable.
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