Meeting demand for oil-free solutions

When Michell Instruments needed to upgrade its compressed air supply to meet expanded capacity at its factory in Ely, it chose to install oilfree compressor and dryer solutions from Atlas Copco.

Michell Instruments manufactures transmitters, instruments and systems capable of measuring dew point, humidity and oxygen in a variety of applications and industries.

Its production and calibration processes are dependent upon a continuous supply of quality compressed air and over the past 10 years, as the company's production and calibration facility has expanded, Atlas Copco has matched this growth with oil-free compressor solutions.

The most recent addition, an oilfree ZT22 compressor and two CD dryers, supplied and installed by Anglian Compressors and Equipment, underlines the fact that air quality is vital to the calibration procedures.

Graham Daines, calibration laboratory manager, explains: "The calibration systems use pressure swing dryers to achieve the -100°C dew point air and require the air supplying them to be dry and oil free. We cannot risk contaminating the calibration systems or the sensors we calibrate. This is why we have never considered oil lubricated compressors with oil filtration."