Accademia La Maison de la Danse Srld Italy

Compressors are mechanical devices used to increase pressure in

a variety of compressible fluids, or gases, the most common of these being air. Compressors are used throughout industry to

provide shop or instrument air; to power air tools, paint sprayers, and abrasive blast equipment; to phase shift refrigerants

for air conditioning and refrigeration; to propel gas through pipelines; etc. As with pumps, compressors are divided into

centrifugal (or dynamic or kinetic) and positive-displacement types; but where pumps are predominately represented by

centrifugal varieties, compressors are more often of the positive- displacement type. They can range in size from the fits-

in-a-glovebox unit that inflates tires to the giant reciprocating or turbocompressor machines found in pipeline service.

Positive-displacement compressors can be further broken out into reciprocating types, where the piston style predominates,

and rotary types such as the helical screw and rotary vane.