Step 1: Clarify the Core Requirements of Laser Cutting Machines for Compressed Air
Laser cutting (especially high-power fiber laser cutting) has three core requirements for compressed air:
High dryness (key indicator): A combination of a refrigerated dryer and an
Adsorption Dryer (micro-heat or heatless) must be used to ensure a pressure dew point of -40℃ or lower. Moisture will contaminate the cutting head lens, leading to energy attenuation, reduced cutting quality, and even lens rupture.
High cleanliness: A multi-stage precision filtration system (usually three stages: main line filter, ultra-fine filter, and activated carbon filter) must be configured to ensure a solid particle filtration accuracy of 0.01 microns (or 0.001 ppm oil content). Oil and dust will contaminate the optical path and gas nozzle.
Stable pressure and flow rate: Fluctuations in pressure and flow rate will directly affect the cutting surface quality (roughness, slag) and speed.
Step 2: Calculate and determine the core technical parameters of the air compressor.
Working pressure (Bar): Required pressure at the laser cutting machine's auxiliary gas inlet + pipeline pressure loss. Laser cutting typically requires 13-16 bar (approximately 1.3-1.6 MPa). It is crucial to confirm that this is the "cutting pressure," not the air compressor's discharge pressure. Pressure loss should be estimated at 0.1-0.2 bar per 10 meters of piping and per filter.
Air Consumption (m³/min): Maximum air consumption per laser machine × Number of laser machines × Simultaneous usage factor. This is the most critical parameter! Laser cutting consumes a large amount of air.
• Empirical formula: Laser power (kW) × 0.3~0.5 m³/min/kW. For example, a 6kW laser machine has a maximum air consumption of approximately 2.5-3 m³/min.
• Multiple devices: Consider the simultaneous usage factor (e.g., 0.8-0.9).
• A 10%-20% margin must be reserved for future potential capacity expansion.
Power (kW): Determined by the air compressor model after the pressure and flow rate are specified. Pay attention to the specific power (kW/(m³/min)); a lower value indicates greater energy efficiency. Two-stage compression offers a significant advantage in this regard.
