Compressor supplier CompAir, a wholly owned subsidiary of international compressor company Gardner Denver, hosted the first Masters of Air conference at Emperors Palace, in Johannesburg, from June 1 to 3, to showcase its diverse range of compressor solutions.
CompAir business director Marc Willmers told Engineering News at the event that the company focused the conference on “seven key messages we believe are currently very topical for our industry”.
The conference focused on highlighting Gardner Denver’s range of portable compressors, nitrogen generation solutions, solutions for downstream applications, base compressors, vacuums and blowers, as well as the risks of using aftermarket spares instead of original-equipment manufacturer spares.
Of particular interest were the nitrogen generation solutions, which Willmers noted were “a fast-growing application for compressed air systems globally, but [one that] has not been properly communicated to the local market and, as such, is not very popular here”.
He pointed out that CompAir had supplied few nitrogen generation solutions locally but highlighted that its most notable installation to date was a laser cutting application.
“If there is a reason for the lack of uptake it is, firstly, because we are not doing enough to educate the market on the advantages of nitrogen generation and also because there are significant barriers to entry [created] by existing nitrogen suppliers,” Willmers said.
He explained that South African companies were typically locked into long-term agreements with nitrogen suppliers and that companies often paid more for less.
The reason was that the nozzles of high-pressure nitrogen cylinders, the typical form in which nitrogen was supplied, were designed not to release the final 10% of nitrogen within the unit, claimed Gardner Denver sales manager James Cutting.
Also, the high pressure in the bottles represented a safety risk should the bottles be damaged.
Cutting explained that, by installing a nitrogen generation unit on an existing compressed air system, it was possible for companies to generate their own supply of nitrogen, thanks to
the relative densities of the individual elements of air – argon, oxygen and nitrogen – with nitrogen being the least dense. This made it possible to separate nitrogen from the ambient air in a compressed air system, owing to the pressure generated in the system.
Cutting asserted that it was nonsensical to pay external companies for nitrogen, as it was the most widely available element, comprising about 78% of the air.
He highlighted that nitrogen generation was particularly useful in the food and pharmaceuticals industries, as it significantly extended the life of food and pharmaceutical products.
Meanwhile, Willmers highlighted that one of the highlights of the conference was “the quality of the people that attended”. “We had a fantastic distribution of distributors, business partners, suppliers, new and existing customers and even some competitors.
“This is all about the customer and the level of enquiry we got was the most pleasing thing for me and I am confident that this event will give us a return on investment,” he concluded.