Air oil separator mainly uses the difference in specific gravity and density between gas and liquid to separate oil and compressed air from the oil-gas mixture through gravity, centrifugal force and barrier. In this process, there are many factors need to be considered, such as the flow rate, viscosity, density of oil and air, temperature of gas, as well as what type of oil to use for air compressor. How does air oil separator work can be summarized in the following steps.
Centrifugal separation:
The compressed air from the air compressor mixed with a large amount of oil mist enters the air oil separator barrel. Since the air inlet on the air oil separator is installed on the cylindrical barrel wall, the compressed airand oil mixture gushing in with high pressure begins to rotate around in the cylindrical barrel.
Because the density and mass of oil is greater than that of air, the oil in the air will be inertiallyseparated and thrown onto the wall of barrel, slowly gather and flow down the barrel wall due to gravity, and sediment at the bottom of the air oil separator
The lubricating oil that just separated from the air still has a high-temperature, it will be extruded to the after-cooler through the oil pipe system under the action of separator barrel internal pressure, after cooling it will enter the lubrication system again to provide lubrication and cooling for the air compressor.
Collision separation:
After the centrifugal separation, the remaining small amount of oil particles will enter the second separation process together with the compressed air—the air oil separator element for secondary separation. The multi-layer fine glass fiber filtersin the air oil separator element can almost intercept all the remaining oil particles in the air.
These intercepted oil particles gather together to form larger oil droplets and flow into the sedimentation plate at the bottom of the air oil separator element along the metal mesh support wall. Then, under the action of the internal pressure in the air oil separator barrel, they enter the air compressor air endagain through the oil return pipe that connect the air oil separator element and the air end to participate lubrication
The compressed air after secondary separation and filtration by the air oil separator element has reached the exhaust standard of the air compressor. These de-oiled compressed air will enter the after-cooler through the minimum pressure valve and exhaust pipe at the top of the air oil separator and be cooled and discharged for use or enter the post-treatment equipment.