If you plan to buy an air compressor for your industrial application, you need to mull over several factors that best suit your needs. One important consideration is the air pressure requirement of the equipment that the air compressor will operate.

The free air delivery in an air compressor is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). It is the amount of air generated by the air compressor at a certain pressure level. Another parameter considered along with CFM is the amount of pressure that the air compressor can offer, which is measured in bar, kg/cm2 or PSI.

For instance, small pneumatic tools usually need up to 5 CFM at 4.8-6.2 bar. Larger equipment, on the other hand, demand more than 10 CFM at 6.9-8.2 bar. Remember that when you have multiple applications with different airflow demands, you should add up their individual requirement and consider the total usage to be 40-50% higher than the obtained number. This is to ensure the air compressor doesn’t run at full capacity at all times.

Take a look at the airflow required for some common air compressor applications: