Gas Booster: An Overview of Working Principle, Applications ...

Abstract

A gas booster is a compressor that increases the pressure of gases, such as natural gas and compressed air, to a higher level. It is used in various industries, including oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing. The booster consists of two chambers separated by a piston that compresses the gas in the first chamber and pumps it into the second chamber, increasing the gas pressure. Gas boosters offer advantages such as high pressure, energy efficiency, compact design, and low maintenance. However, they also have disadvantages, including a high initial cost, limited flow rate, limited gas compatibility, and high noise levels. The keywords associated with gas boosters are gas booster, compressor, natural gas, compressed air, high-pressure gas, piston, oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, and energy-efficient.

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Introduction:

A gas booster is a type of compressor used to increase the pressure of natural gas, compressed air, or other gases to a higher level. It is an essential component of many industrial processes where high-pressure gas is required. Gas boosters are widely used in industries such as oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing. In this article, we will discuss the gas booster in detail, its working principle, applications, advantages, and disadvantages.

Working principle of Gas Booster:

The working principle of a gas booster is simple. It uses compressed air or other gas to pump a larger volume of gas to a higher pressure. The gas booster consists of two chambers separated by a piston. The first chamber is connected to the inlet gas line, while the second chamber is connected to the outlet gas line. The piston separates the two chambers and is moved by the compressed air or gas. When the piston moves, it compresses the gas in the first chamber and pumps it into the second chamber, which then increases the pressure of the gas. This process is repeated until the desired pressure is achieved.

Applications of Gas Booster:

Gas boosters have a wide range of applications in various industries. Some of the common applications of gas boosters are:

1. Gas transmission and distribution: Gas boosters are used to increase the pressure of natural gas in pipelines for transportation and distribution.

2. Automotive industry: Gas boosters are used in automotive applications such as fuel injection, turbocharging, and intercooling.

3. Aerospace industry: Gas boosters are used in aircraft for cabin pressurization, hydraulic systems, and fuel systems.

4. Manufacturing industry: Gas boosters are used in various manufacturing processes such as welding, cutting, and spraying.

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5. Oil and gas industry: Gas boosters are used in oil and gas exploration and production, including gas lifting, wellhead compression, and gas injection.

Advantages of Gas Booster:

Gas boosters offer several advantages over traditional compressors. Some of the advantages are:

1. High pressure: Gas boosters can produce gas at high pressures, making them ideal for many industrial applications.

2. Energy-efficient: Gas boosters are more energy-efficient than traditional compressors, as they require less power to operate.

3. Compact design: Gas boosters are designed to be compact, making them suitable for applications where space is limited.

4. Low maintenance: Gas boosters require less maintenance than traditional compressors, as they have fewer moving parts.

Disadvantages of Gas Booster:

1. High initial cost: Gas boosters can be expensive to purchase and install, especially for small-scale applications.

2. Limited flow rate: Gas boosters have a limited flow rate, making them unsuitable for applications where a large volume of gas is required.

3. Limited gas compatibility: Gas boosters are designed to work with specific types of gas, making them unsuitable for applications where different gases are used.

4. High noise levels: Gas boosters can produce high noise levels, which can be a problem in some applications.

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I’m getting a little tired of the long drives that I’ve got to make in order to get fills for the 2 liter HP steel cylinders that I use with my CCR. The only local shop that can reliably supply O2 at sufficient pressure now charges much too much for a fill, ($20.00, as opposed to the $7.00 or so that I pay at more distant shops), and they cannot provide trimix fills.


I’ve done a bit of research and am seriously considering purchasing a small booster, either a Hydraulics International Compact Booster, or, more likely, a Haskel Mini Sport MSB- Booster.


For a variety of reasons, I do not wish to purchase a compressor, so must rely on OC cylinders and a regulator to supply drive gas.


I have been unable to find any hard data regarding the volume of drive gas that the Haskel booster requires. I’ll start with supply gas in steel 100’s at 3,500 PSI, and can probably get a couple of transfer fills without having to boost at all, then boost the gas as the supply cylinder pressure decreases.


Can any of you more experienced souls please provide me with an approximation of the volume of drive gas that I can expect to require to run the booster to fill the 2 liter cylinders?

Thank you TrimixToo. You posted a link to that very source recently in a thread started by boulderjohn. I downloaded the file, and opened the Zip and found that the software is only formatted for PCs. I use a Mac and was unable to access the information.

Regarding using a small shop compressor, (which I'd prefer to avoid,) doesn't the Haskel require drive gas to be delivered at a continuous 150 psi and at a reasonable fpm rate? That seems to demand a rather hefty compressor.

A Haskel does not need to be operated at a constant drive gas pressure. Varying the pressure at the pump (via adjustable regulator or valve or both) is how you control cyclic rate and maximum output pressure. For a mini-booster you should not need anything close to the 5HP shop compressor I use for my AG-30. For pumping 02, you will want the cycle rate to be 50/minute *or less* for my booster, and if the drive gas pressure is set to 100 PSI, for example, the maximum O2 pressure would be PSI. The MB probably has different numbers.

I fired up the software, though, and I don't see the mini-booster in it. You could call Haskel or Nuvair to ask about drive gas requirements, or find a PC (yeah, I know) and calculate what you need from a similar but larger booster's numbers.

For my AG-30, it's impractical to use stored drive air to do anything much. The drive gas requirements are just too high for blending into large doubles and LP72 deco tanks. For a RB, it might be reasonable, but you will need a fairly expensive adjustable HP regulator that might well cost more than a small shop compressor, and you will need air fills to do anything at all. You might look into using T bottles of N2 as drive gas instead, which might cost less, if you are really opposed to a shop compressor. Thank you RayfromTX, and thank you once again TrimixToo for your courteous, insightful and informative response. Thank you as well for opening the files that I could not access on my Mac. I am truly appreciative of your going the extra mile to assist a compatriot who also happens to be a total stranger.

My next step may well be to contact the folks at Haskel or Nuvair. (I have a friend who used to work for Nuvair, but he left that position several years ago.)

There are several reasons why I’d prefer not to have a compressor. The only place where I could put and use it would be in our garage, and my wife has this inexplicable desire to occasionally put her car inside, especially when she returns home during one of our frequent torrential rain storms. Who could have imagined that?

Most of the units that have the capacity to run the Haskel are very loud. I’ll be doing fills well into the night and have no desire to disrupt the neighborhood with noise pollution. Things are bad enough around here with the infernal whine and bellowing of the local leaf blowers, barking dogs, ambulance sirens, and heliport.

Our garage’s wiring may not be able to support the amperage that a suitable compressor requires. Putting a 15 amp load on an already busy 120 circuit may not be tenable. We’ve got a 220 line which we use for our clothes dryer, but any compressor that runs off of 220 will most likely be very loud and probably be overkill for its’ intended purpose.

A compressor is yet another bit of equipment that will require my attention and maintenance. I’ve owned one in the past, and this is not a major obstacle, but one that I’d prefer to avoid. A preliminary search yielded a pair of compressors that may suit my needs, but I’ve never actually seen either of them, an Eagle EA-, and Campbell Hausfeld DC both seem to be quiet enough for my domestic situation, and pull low enough amperage to suit the available circuit. I do not know however if they have the capacity to efficiently run the booster.

I’ve got well over a dozen SCUBA cylinders, a pair of which I’d use for supply O2, and another pair for trimix dil; leaving me with plenty to use for my OC dives, air dil, and drive gas. Getting good, affordable, fast EANx and air fills locally is not an issue, just O2 and mix, for which I’ll have to drive and wait a few hours when necessary. I can deal with that a couple of times a month. I’ve also got several reliable regulators, one of which I can designate for use of the drive gas supply. I can't give you hard data, only anecdotes. I have a mini HI booster, I can dig up the exact reference, but it's the one sold by Add Helium (I'm a dealer too). When filling 2 or 3 liter steels from a full O2 cylinder, it takes a couple of hundred PSI out of your steel hundred. When filling your 3 liter from a nearly empty O2 bottle (getting the last 100 PSI from 400 to 300), it takes nearly the whole steel 100.

My friends in Hawaii have the Haskel version of that booster. They drive it with a home depot 2 HP shop air compressor (the rigid with the 40 gallon tank) at 240 volts (they unplug the dryer and plug in the air compressor) with no issues at all.

Your question is how much air does it take. The answer is "it depends on how much pressure you start with". That's the best I can do for you. If you dive semi-regularly, you will save money buying a shop compressor over getting your hundreds filled. It’s going to be interesting to see just how many posts folk can do before someone answers the OP question properly.
Either that or this has to be the hardest question in the world of diving to ask.

“How much drive air does it take to run a Haskel Mini Sport” over the full range of supply oxygen pressures.

Would have thought we would have the answer by now, after all the companies selling them have been doing it for years.
That, or its so darn much no one dare give you a straight answer for fear knowing at $2 a tank for drive air it costs more than the $7.00 oxygen fill.

Who would have thought a drive air chart would be such hard work to get hold of.
Hope we get there by around post 30 which is just about the same CFM rate you need to drive the thing full range in the first place.