What Is A Two Stage Air Compressor?
Nowadays, almost every hardware based industry is relying on air compressors to work efficiently and effortlessly. There are two types of air compressors i.e single and double stage compressor.
For increased efficiency and smoother work, you need to know what is a two stage air compressor. This compressor is used for more comprehensive tasks which comes from the umbrella of the compressors producing positive displacement.
There is a thoroughly working principle and different components of 2-stage compressors. In this blog, we will analyse the two-stage air compressor with deeper research.
More About Dual-Stage Air Compressor
The type of air compressor which stores and compresses the air in two steps or two stages is the two stage air compressor. In this air compressor, the air is being compressed twice, thus it has two different cylinders to store the gas.
These two different cylinders are high and low pressure cylinders, each of which having a dedicated piston. One piston is responsible for compressing the air when it is being sucked, whereas the other one transfers the air between the cylinders.
There are many clear benefits of the two stage air compressor, however, the usage only depends upon your requirements. This type of air compressor offers a more reliable and high pressure working mechanism.
The basic application of two stage compressors is with high pressure operations, mostly in automobile and heavy duty power tools.
Difference Between Single & Dual Compressor
There are many key differences between both types of air compressors.
- Single stage air compressor fulfills the compression process in one step while the dual stage compressor completes it in at least two stages.
- Single stage compressors have only one cylinder while dual stage works on two cylinder
- The cylinder diameter of both the compressors are different, with two stage compressors having different diameters for both of its cylinders.
- There is no intercooler in single stage compressors while the two stage air compressors have air cooler vents to reduce the air temperature.
How Does it Work
The working principle of a two stage air compressor is quite simple, having a piston that is connected through the rod to the crankshaft. The piston moves back and forth, after the crankshaft rotates. When the external source is linked through the hose, the low pressure piston works automatically to store the compressed air.
After the low pressure cylinder is filled completely, the second piston starts filling the second cylinder by reducing the air temperature on the way. Later on when the second cylinder is also full, the air compressor is ready to boost any air powered tools and operations.
Components of Two-stage Air Compressor
There are six primary components of dual-stage compressors listed as follows:
Inlet Valve
The valve responsible for finding an external source and sucking all the air from it into the compressor is inlet valve.
Cylinder
This component is used for storing all the air sucked from external sources. There are two types of cylinders in an air compressor, mainly differentiated based on low and high pressure.
Piston
When the inlet valve sucks in the air, the piston compresses the air into the cylinder to make room for maximum air. The piston of an air compressor is similar to that of a vehicle moving up and down to store more air in the cylinder.
It compresses the air when pushed downwards and sucks it into the cylinder when it moves upwards. Each cylinder has its own piston attached to it for maximum efficiency.
Connecting Rod
The rod which connects the crankshaft and piston so that the air can be compressed is the connecting rod. The movement of the piston is all because of the connecting rod.
Intercooler
As the high pressure cylinder needs lower temperature air to suck in, the intercooler reduces the air temperature and cools it before passing it onto the high pressure cylinder.
Outlet Valve
The outlet valve discharges compressed air to the air powered tools and is connected to the high pressure cylinder.
FAQs
As we’ve reached the end of this blog, you must have some questions left to be answered, some of which are mentioned below;
What are the primary benefits of a two stage air compressor?
One of the basic advantages of a double-stage air compressor is that it tends to generate more air pressure so that your air powered tools can operate more efficiently. With the help of increased air pressure, heavy duty operations can be performed more effectively.
Which air compressor is better: single-stage or dual-stage?
When compared in the same circumstances and difficulties, we can clearly say that the dual-stage air compressor is much better with higher efficiency ratio, being the quietest and smoothest running option and can produce more CFM than single-stage.
Which option is more expensive in the types of air compressor?
Dual-stage air compressors are pricier than single-stage, clearly having more features and components.