Local air compressor com- pany Air Supreme marketing manager Shaun Botha tells Engineering News that the launch of its SolidAir SS range of air compressors is tailored for Africa’s harsh working conditions.

“The African continent often poses unconsidered challenges to compressor designs based on First World conditions, including the geography, climate, poor installations, working conditions, scarcity of technical skills and insufficient customer support,” he says.

However, Botha notes that the company has found a solution in the SS range, which will be marketed under the SolidAir brand. He states that the products under the SolidAir SS brand satisfied stringent requirements by the company’s technical experts and went through a rigorous testing phase.

During this phase, Air Supreme sought out demanding locations to test the product, including two industrial plants which ran 24/7 and the rigours of a training mine. “These compressors have run for more than a year in the most challenging conditions the company could find, without any unscheduled downtime,” reports Botha.

The SS range of air compressors uses heavy duty, cast iron motor designs, which increases motor life and provides sufficient cooling, even at altitude. The product’s larger-than-average air filters and coolers result in increased protection from dust and create more efficient heat dissipation, reducing condensate and discharge temperatures.

Further, the compressor has a gearless, close-coupled direct drive, which eliminates drive belt and gearbox issues. The airend design results in no unbalanced forces, which almost eliminates stresses on load-bearing components. This, in turn, reduces vibration, which extends motor and compressor bearing life and enhances reliability.

The SS range has a simplified air, oil and control circuit, with a spacious layout of internal components and access panels. The spares are standardised across all models, which facilitates maintenance and reduces downtime. Air Supreme also offers a countrywide aftermarket service and support network for the SS range.

The SolidAir SS air compressors range in size from 15 kW to 355 kW, which Botha believes will make a mark on the African industrial landscape.

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