The 2026 edition of EXPONOR closed last week in Antofagasta, and the question we were asked most often on the stand had nothing to do with price: what happens to a screw compressor when the site sits three or four thousand metres above sea level?
What altitude does to a compressor
A compressor moves a volume of air, not a mass of it. At 3,900 m the air is roughly 40% thinner than at sea level, so the same airend displaces the same volume but delivers far less usable air to the tools. A machine sized on sea-level figures arrives at the mine underpowered, and the usual reaction is to run it harder — which shortens its life.
- Capacity has to be corrected for altitude before the model is chosen, not after commissioning
- The motor has to be re-rated, because the cooling air is thinner and the ambient is colder at the same time
- Drive and controller settings are adjusted at the factory so the machine holds pressure at the site elevation
What we are shipping
The four units leaving for Antofagasta are screw machines with corrected airends, tropicalised cooling and control panels set to the mine elevation. Two will feed drill rigs, and two will run workshop air and the camp maintenance bay.
If you are specifying for a site above 2,000 m, send us the elevation with the enquiry. It takes one line in the quote and saves a costly mistake.