HISTORY
FROM THE HUMBLE BELLOWS TO TODAY’S ADVANCED AIR COMPRESSORS
A brief history of compressed air
First compressed air inventions
Air compressors have been used for hundreds of years to power an incredible array of different devices. Those who have experience in engineering, manufacturing and construction are especially aware of this, as these machines are responsible for a great deal of the power used in these industries.
Around 3000 BC, people began practicing metallurgy more regularly. To obtain the high temperatures required to melt metal, they needed a steady stream of oxygen to blow onto the fire. They somehow scraped along with rudimentary means until the invention of bellows around 1800 BC.
In mathematics, there are so-called “natural” numbers. They are named because they are self-evident, and the logical conclusion is that anyone with an inclination to look would inevitably discover them. If ever such a machine existed, it would be the air compressor. Its invention was as inevitable as the discovery of pi. Largely, this is because we have our very own air compressors built into our bodies — our lungs. We use our lungs’ compressing qualities whenever we blow on a struggling fire to supply it with oxygen, blow the dust off a surface or try to fill up a balloon. Prehistoric humans may not have known the exact mechanics of what was happening in their chest cavities — specifically, their diaphragms pressing upward on the lungs and creating pressure — but they understood the results.
The Three-Stage Compressor
John Smeaton's waterwheel.. 1762
Bellows.. an early form of air compressor
Bellows went through different designs, but are most commonly made of a flexible bag placed between two inflexible boards. Typically, these two boards are hinged together at one end, and they are then pumped together and apart to create alternating high and low pressure inside the bag. The result, of course, is a steady stream of air out the nozzle.
The invention of air compressors
Our lungs can act as an air compressor
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It was the Industrial Revolution that saw the rethinking of bellows. In 1762, the inventor John Smeaton found a way to rig a water wheel to power a blowing cylinder. Smeaton enjoyed a brief run of success with his invention — but as is the case with revolutions, more change was soon to come. A few years later, just as his country
was entrenched in losing the American Revolution, Englishman John Wilkinson’s hydraulic blowing machine came to prominence. It was this hydraulic blowing machine that became the inspiration for modern air compressors. It was no surprise that the idea caught on, as during this period air compression was making its way to many different industries. Far from just heating blacksmiths’ fires, the air compressor was now in use in metal mines, fabrication plants and in underground work areas where ventilation was needed.
A plant in Wales used compressed air to power its workings in the 1820s. This gave rise to the idea that this might be even more effective than steam power, which was the height of technology of the day. The very same 1857 rail tunnel that used air compressors for ventilation also used them for power. This came in the form of pneumatic drills, which both the French and Italian teams used to blast through rock inside the tunnel. Also known as a jackhammer, a pneumatic drill uses compressed air to power the up and down motion of its hammer.
In 1857, a rail system was installed between Italy and France that bore an eight-mile tunnel full of workers. Because oxygen can quickly get used up in such environments, air compressors were responsible for moving air into the tunnel. It was half a century earlier that air compressors appeared as more than just a way to move air — it also dawned on people they could transport energy. Much like the forthcoming era of electricity, this period saw a host of inventors exploiting compressed air’s other abilities.
Early portable compressor
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020
