Air Compressor Works
Med-Craft Inc

Med-Craft Inc

Med-Craft was operating a Kaeser DSD 150 for over 20 years but their repair services business was growing.

They wanted to design a new testing facility for the Boeing 777 engine which required 217 psi. As a result of a referral, the president of Summit Aerospace in Medley, Florida, Med-Craft invited Air Compressor Works to assist with the new system design and installation.

Critical for success was to design a system to meet the varying needs of the testing and repair programs as outlined below

• Accessory Class 1: Mechanical Accessories
• Accessory Class 2: Electrical Accessories
• Accessory Class 3: Electronic Accessories
• Limited Landing Gear components, and Instruments

One day it could be limited equipment air requirements in the 300 CFM range, and another could be major testing requiring over 2000 CFM. On top of this requirement, they could have absolutely no moisture in the system that could damage the extremely expensive jet engine components.

Med-Craft required the system to provide shop air at 125 PSI, as well as testing air in large quantities up to 217 psi (which many rotary compressors cannot offer.) Both supplies required bone dry air, with absolutely no oil contaminants.

After a review of several different design configurations to meet the extreme system variation demands of flow and pressure, the following system design evolved

• 3 each 100 HP Kaeser CSD 100 compressors capable of 332 CFM at 217 psi
• 1 each 300 HP Kaeser ESD 300 compressor capable of 820 CFM at 217 psi
• 2 each 1600 CFM -40° F pressure dewpoint desiccant dryers
• Filters for oil free air quality
• 2 each 5000 gallon and one 1060 gallon vertical receivers
• Kaeser SAM compressor management system with network interface
• Pressure reduction valves for multiple tier pressure testing

This compressor equipment by itself was an excellent selection but it had to work in a system to meet the varying CFM and pressure demands of Med-Craft testing and shop requirements. The brains of the system is the SAM controller which selects the correct combination of compressors for the flow and pressure that is required at that point in time.

The Sigma Air Manager (or SAM) not only selects the equipment combination to provide the correct flow and pressure required, but allows the engineers to monitor the system remotely anywhere in the plant or off-site. This ensures that the test parameters can be monitored day and night for quality control. Along with this, the SAM selects the most efficient compressor combination for the testing requirements.

The key to success is the proper installation of the complex system for Med-Craft. This was accomplished by the Air Compressor Works installation team which took over six weeks and resulted in a system whose operation met customer expectations.

A complex requirement for Med-Craft testing resulted in an engineered solution by the Air Compressor Works team.