Top 7 Air Compressor Related Formulas

Anyone who works with or helps maintain an industrial air compressor should have these valuable compressor related formulas.  Print them out and keep them handy…you might need one of them next week!

1.  Formula To Find:  Belt Length
Compressor Flywheel OD + Motor Pulley OD X 1.57 + 2 X Shaft’s Center To Center Distance In Inches

2. Formula To Find: Motor Pulley OD
Compressor Flywheel OD X Compressor Rpm’s / Motor Rpm’s

3. Formula To Find: Tank OD
Measure Circumference / 3.1416

4. Formula To Find: Volume Of Tank In Gallons
Tank OD X OD X .785 X Tank Length In Inches / 231

5. Formula To Find: PSIA Pressure
14.7 + Gauge Pressure

6. Formula To Find: Compressor CFM Using The Time Method
Tank Gallons X .536 X PSIG Increase / Total Seconds

7. Formula To Find: Motor Max AMP Draw Before Damage Begins
Motor Data Plate AMPS X Data Plate Service Factor

FORMULA SYMBOLS & DEFINITIONS:
/ = divide
X = multiply
+ = add

AMPS = Abbreviation of the plural for Ampere, a unit of electrical current

CFM or cfm = Abbreviation of Cubic feet per minute - a unit of measurement of the flow of a air/gas or liquid that indicates how much volume in cubic feet pass by a stationary point in one minute.

OD = Abbreviation for Outside diameter is a dimension commonly used to specify the size of tubing or pipe.

PSIA or psia = Abbreviation for Pounds per square inch absolute (including atmospheric pressure)

PSIG or psig = Abbreviation for Pounds per Square Inch Gauge

RPM or rpm = Abbreviation for Revolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis. It is used as a measure of rotational speed of a mechanical component.