When a large South African power generation organisation began the long-term maintenance project during 2011/12 at one of its facilities, the need for additional compressors led the company to Rand-Air. “This organisation owns a number of compressors, but they required extra compressed air capacity to operate their instrumentation and tools for the scheduled maintenance,” says Louwrens Erasmus, General Manager of Rand-Air. In order to ensure ongoing operation of their units, it was necessary to undertake regular, scheduled maintenance. They approached Rand-Air in early 2011 and shortly thereafter two Atlas Copco 1500 cfm oil-free diesel compressors and one electric 1500 cfm oil-free compressor were delivered to site,” says Louwrens.

Regular monthly visits, by a technical team from Rand-Air, ensured that any queries or servicing requirements were handled immediately and also that the customer was satisfied with the performance and output of our compressors,” he explains. He adds that in order to ensure no damage was inflicted on the instrumentation and tools used for maintenance, the oil-free compressors were a necessity. “In two of the locations where we were undertaking maintenance there was no available power supply, hence the need for the diesel compressors. In all instances, we required a controlled air flow and the Atlas Copco compressors performed excellently.”

In addition to the three high-capacity compressors, the customer also requested an air dryer. “It was critical that the moisture levels on their instrumentation and compressed air-driven power tools were kept to a bare minimum at all times. Excess moisture causes equipment failure through ingress and corrosion. The air dryers proved their worth and have provided the customer with high levels of uptime.” “Rand-Air takes great pride in finding solutions which fit customer needs on a tailored basis. Very few companies can supply a 1500 cfm oil-free diesel compressor, so we pulled out all the stops to accommodate the requirements of the maintenance team at this facility. Our mission is to provide customers with superior products that will enhance their productivity and decrease their downtime,” Louwrens concludes.