Reciprocating Air Compressor

A reciprocating air compressor uses a piston driven by a crankshaft to compress air in one or more stages. Vikay Mining Equipments supplies two stage and multi stage piston compressors and vacuum compressors from India, in the PFC and VK series, covering roughly 2 to 30 HP.

Reciprocating compressors remain the practical choice wherever duty is intermittent, pressure is high and field repair matters more than duty cycle: workshops, garages, PET blowing lines, mining and quarry sites, and any plant where a rebuild has to be possible on site with hand tools.

Two stage piston compressors compress air in a low-pressure cylinder, cool it through an intercooler, then finish in a smaller high-pressure cylinder. That second stage is what makes 12 bar and above practical while keeping discharge temperature and power draw down. The range spans roughly 2 to 30 HP under references such as PFC 284, PFC 292, PFC 303, PFC 2390, PFC 2525, PFC 2595, PFC 65T, PFC 75T2, PFC 121T2, PFC 3050 and PFC 7150.

Multi stage piston compressors add a third stage for higher discharge pressures, in models PFC 281, PFC 57T2 and PFC 65T2 at roughly 3, 12.5 and 15 HP.

Vacuum compressors run the same rugged piston design in reverse to pull vacuum for packaging, moulding, degassing and laboratory duty, in the PFC 285V, 294V, 305V, 57V and 65V series with tank-mounted T variants.

Units are supplied as bare pumps or as complete sets with motor, tank and controls. Wear parts for these and for Ingersoll Rand, Atlas Copco and Chicago Pneumatic compressors are listed under Air Compressor Parts.

- A single stage compresses air once and typically tops out around 7-8 bar. A two stage compresses, cools and compresses again, reaching 12 bar and above with lower discharge temperature and better efficiency at high pressure.

- When the application needs pressure above what a two stage delivers comfortably, such as PET bottle blowing, gas boosting or high-pressure testing. A third stage keeps each stage's compression ratio and heat load manageable.

- Vacuum packaging, thermoforming and moulding, degassing, filtration, pick-and-place handling and laboratory work. It is a reciprocating pump run to draw air out of a vessel rather than push it into one.

- Both. Bare pumps suit replacement of an existing head on a working tank and motor; complete sets are supplied with motor, receiver, pressure switch and safety valve.

- They are manufactured in India and exported worldwide by Vikay Mining Equipments, which also runs the aftermarket compressor and parts brand Parts for Compressor.