n the multi-billion dollar empire of medical product manufacturing, contaminations such as oil and debris cannot be allowed to enter the process.
If a compressed air or gas system were to experience contamination of any kind, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could possibly stop production until proper recertification, causing costly downtime.
A leading developer, manufacturer and global supplier of scientific laboratory products installed a Hycomp air booster for their PET plastic blow molding process. A Hycomp oil-free air booster was chosen because this process takes place in a cleanroom environment where contamination is absolutely unacceptable and reliability was very important.
In the spring of 2010, Hycomp was contacted by this company requesting onsite service support to handle their regularly scheduled preventative maintenance. A Hycomp Service Technician had been to their plant once before for repairs and the quality of the work, level of service and expertise, built a relationship of trust that caused them to invite us back.
When Hycomp Service Technician, Andy Hansen, concluded the required service, he decided to examine the pistons and cylinders as he reassembled the compressor. Andy discovered a moderate amount of scarring in the cylinders and on the piston rings, which he concluded was caused by debris from the intake air. Even though air compressors always use filters for suction from ambient air, once that air leaves the initial compressor and travels to the booster, it can pick up debris along the way.
Harmful debris, such as: welding slag, mill scale, rust, Teflon tape and pipe dope could become dislodged from inside the piping or tanks and damage whatever is downstream. In this case the air booster did not have any additional filtration at its intake and was therefore absorbing 100% of the debris collected between the air compressor and booster. A 1/8th inch piece of welding slag was found lodged in one of the valves and signs of additional debris were easily detected.
The debris was not causing any significant problems yet, but would have absolutely lead to substantial problems had it not been caught as early as it was. Andy made recommendations on correct booster arrangement and how to properly filter their plant air before running it though the Hycomp air booster. Future issues stemming from this problem were averted and the air booster continues to provide pure and reliable air for their pharmaceutical PET blow molding application.