Reciprocating Air Compressor Line Diagram

Click the image to enlarge the simple reciprocating air compressor has a piston which reciprocates inside the cylinder wall and cylinder head.

Reciprocating air compressor line diagram.

Various compressors are found in almost every industrial facility. A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. The intake gas enters the suction manifold then flows into the compression cylinder where it gets compressed by a piston driven in a reciprocating motion via a crankshaft and is then discharged. But according to stages the building of discharge pressure is different in each compressor.

Reciprocating compressors have been the most widely used for industrial plant air systems. It is called as positive displacement compressor because air is first sucked in a chamber and then compression is achieved by decreasing area of the chamber. Reciprocating air compressor is a positive displacement air compressor in which air is sucked in a chamber and compressed with the help of a reciprocating piston. A reciprocating compressor is a positive displacement machine that uses a piston to compress a gas and deliver it at high pressure.

To understand the operation of an air compressor let us assume the cycle and indicator diagram for a simple single stage reciprocating air compressor as shown below.