What is The Point of Using Oilless Air Compressors?

There are many different kinds of air compressors on the market today offering a wide range of various features. One of the big divisions between kinds of air compressors are those that use oil and those that do not. The concept of blending oil and air together to prevent air from escaping the pressurizing process has become very popular and it is fair to say that air compressors that use oil now hold the dominate position in the market. So why would anyone want to use an oilless, or oil-free, air compressor?

Perhaps the most important advantage offered by oilless air compressors is the cleaner air that they produce. In all of the compressors that use oil, the oil and air are blended together during the compression process. This mixture is then fed through a separator unit which separates most of the air from the oil; with the air being run to the output mechanism and the oil being recycled back through the air compressor and repeatedly reused. The problem is that to date no separator technology removes all of the oil from the air in the separator unit. That is, even the very best separator units miss at least some percentage of the oil, which is then output along with the air at the end of the cycle.

In many applications this small amount of oil in the compressed air does not matter and is not a problem, which is why the oil-based compressors are so widely accepted. However, in other applications, this is manifested unacceptable. This is particularly true when it comes the air compression for breathing purposes (like scuba tanks, oxygen tanks used by firemen, or medical oxygen) or compression used in high technology applications that are sensitive to foreign contaminants (such as air compression used in the production of conductors and circuitry). In these cases, the quality of the air being compressed is just as important as the strength of compressed air and only oilless air compressors can provide that quality.

While claims that oilless air compressors are more efficient than those using oil are debatable at best, what is certain is that oilless compressors are considerably cleaner. Air compressors that use oil tend to be much messier to operate as the oil has a habit of getting all over the compressor – inside and outside – and requires many more connections (places where things can go wrong), filters (that have to be changed), and lines (which have to be maintained). Further, oil – mixed with dust and other contaminants – has a penchant of clogging up air hoses and tubes. Generally speaking, oilless compressors have none of these problems since they use no oil.

On the downside, oilless air compressors usually require more maintenance than the units that use oil and are almost always much louder than those that use oil. The increased maintenance costs is somewhat offset because in many cases oilless units cost less at the time of the initial purchase, but this all depends on the kind of compressor in question. As for the sound, frankly the fact that oilless systems are louder is indisputable, but if volume is not a significant concern for your application, then it probably does not matter.

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