Cooling air energy recovery in portable air compressor: an exergoeconomic analysis

This work aims to optimise the axial fan used in cooling system of a portable air compressor to obtain a lower power consumption of its drive motor that uses an internal combustion engine. The methodology starts with the thermodynamic modelling of compressor element and fan selection by comparison between fan manufacturer curves and experimental ones. At last, exergoeconomic analysis provides a cost estimation for products associate. Selecting a commercial fan-based more accurate according to cooling system data provided indicates that it is possible to reduce the ventilator power consumption, 21.5% for this case study. Based on the results of this study there is a reduction of 2.58% in fuel consumption, keeping the air flow in the cooling system indicating that the fan could be changed so that compressor to increase its energy efficiency and therefore operating costs of the equipment as it is directly reflected in spending on fuel.