Which Atlas Copco GA industrial compressor is right for you?
Discover which GA compressor is best
Industrial compressors come in many shapes and sizes. Atlas Copco compressors lead the pack. Our GA range of oil-injected rotary screw compressors offers fixed-speed, dual-speed and variable speed drive versions. This article provides a quick overview of these 3 types and which one will work best for you.
3 screw compressor technologies
For more than a hundred years, rotary screw compressors only used fixed-speed technology. That means once you turn them on, they run at full speed until they switch off. This results in a lot of wasted energy. Most compressed air users don’t need the maximum capacity of their compressor at all times.
Then, four decades ago, Atlas Copco revolutionized compressors by introducing the first models with variable speed drive (VSD) technology. These screw compressors adjust their motor speed to the user’s compressed air demand. That not only greatly reduces their energy consumption and their total cost of ownership but also offers a range of other benefits.
In the intervening years, Atlas Copco has optimized this technology, and compressors equipped with VSD drives are now the industry benchmark.
Atlas Copco compressors with VSD are the optimal choice for most operations and applications. Still, there are users that are hesitant to adopt the technology.
And for them, Atlas Copco has now developed a third type of screw compressor: the dual-speed compressor. It offers a bit of both of its predecessors. Its investment cost is lower than that of a VSD model, but it also saves more energy and money than a fixed-speed compressor.
For compressed air users, that means there are now more screw compressor choices than ever before.
But what is the right technology for you? Let’s look at the differences and advantages of our fixed-speed (GA), dual-speed (GA FLX) and variable speed drive (GA VSD) compressors.
1. The GA range (fixed-speed)
As the name indicates, fixed-speed compressors only run at one speed. In terms of energy efficiency, that only makes them a good choice for operations with a continuously high compressed air demand.
In addition, because of their relatively low purchase price, they are often the starter compressor of choice for workshops and smaller operations. However, because VSD compressors are now also available in small sizes, they are often the superior option in those cases as well.
2. The GA FLX range (dual-speed)
This is the newcomer among compressors. The GA FLX gives you a bit of both: A lower purchase price and double-digit energy savings.
On the one hand, you get the low capital expense of a fixed-speed compressor. On the other hand, you enjoy some of the lower operational expenses of VSD technology.
Here’s how: The GA FLX has two speeds. Just like a fixed-speed model, it operates at 100% capacity in full load. However, there is also a second, minimum speed when air demand lowers and the compressor goes into unload.
That saves up to 20% in energy consumption and costs. GA FLX compressors also allow for free pressure setting without loss of air flow or FAD. This could allow users to select a smaller-sized GA FLX than the fixed-speed GA alternative to save even more on operational and investment costs.
3. The GA VSD range (variable speed)
Atlas Copco compressors with VSD technology are the gold standard in the industry. Now in their third generation (GA VSDˢ), they have raised the bar in every metric. This includes efficiency and sustainability, reliability, connectivity and ease of operation.
And, thanks to their low energy consumption, VSD compressors also feature the lowest total cost of ownership.
VSD compressors are almost always the right choice when your compressed air demand varies during the day, week or season.
The greater the variation in demand, the greater the potential savings. And those potential savings are substantial. The GA VSDˢ can reduce energy consumption by up to 60%.
VSD compressors can operate within a much tighter pressure band than other models. In addition, they can maintain the air system’s required minimum working pressure even with a lower delivery pressure.
Finally, a VSD compressor’s net pressure can be lower than the unloaded pressure of fixed-speed models. All of this adds up to savings for you. After all, each 1 bar saved means that you have to use 7 percent less energy.
Atlas Copco compressors: which GA is best for you?
So many Atlas Copco compressors, but which compressor is best for you? In almost all cases, the answer to that question is: “The VSD.”
Now that these models also come in small sizes, there is hardly a reason to go with anything else.
The GA FLX also offers a good choice for those who want better than fixed-speed, but don’t want to or cannot invest in a VSD compressor.
If you want to find out more about any of our different compressor types and models, simply contact us. An Atlas Copco representative is always around to answer your questions and discuss which solution is best for you.
The complete guide to dual-speed compressors & the GA FLX