Every technology. One single brand.
The compression and air treatment technologies the catalogue is made of. For each need - continuous operation, intermittent use, ultra-pure air, high pressure, massive flow - there's a fitting technology. Here's how each works, what each does well, what each does less well, and the ranges where you find it.
Our order of preference for Class 0
When a specification says Class 0, CEZIUM quotes an oil-free machine, as the trade understands it: scroll compressor up to 5 m³/min, rotary tooth compressor from 2.3 to 8.6 m³/min, dry screw or centrifugal beyond that. We also point out the alternative few suppliers mention: a lubricated screw followed by a treatment chain delivers oil-free air for a markedly lower purchase price, without carrying the Class 0 label.
In this trade, Class 0 means an oil-free machine. That is the convention, and it is what a specification expects when it writes Class 0, so that is what we quote. Technically, ISO 8573-1 classifies air at the point of use rather than the compressor, so a lubricated screw followed by multi-stage filtration and an adsorption dryer delivers oil-free air measured on acceptance. That is a genuine alternative, cheaper to buy and far better at heat recovery, but it does not give you a Class 0 certified machine. Both are worth knowing; your own documents decide.
| Rank | Technology | Catalogue flow | Power | Class 0 | Recoverable heat | Purchase cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Scroll compressor | 0.3 to 4.96 m³/min | 2.2 to 45 kW | Oil-free machine | Low | Moderate |
| 02 | Rotary tooth compressor | 2.3 to 8.6 m³/min | 15 to 55 kW | Oil-free machine | Low | High |
| 03 | Dry screw compressor | 6.8 to 43 m³/min | 45 to 250 kW | Oil-free machine | Limited | Very high |
| 04 | Centrifugal compressor | 48 to 3,000 m³/min | 198 to 12,055 kW | Oil-free machine | High | Very high |
| 05 | Lubricated screw + treatment chain | 0.95 to 44 m³/min | 5.5 to 250 kW | Treated air, no label | High | Low |
Flow rates and power ratings taken from the CEZIUM catalogue, oil-free technologies and variable-speed lubricated screw. Purchase cost is given in relative ranks, at comparable flow.
- 01
Scroll compressor
Up to 5 m³/minThe first choice below 5 m³/min: oil-free by design, quiet, compact. The right format for a laboratory, a dental practice or a small production line.
See the 13 catalogue models - 02
Rotary tooth compressor
2.3 to 8.6 m³/minAbove the scroll range and up to 8.6 m³/min. The rotors never touch: no friction inside the chamber, minimal wear, TÜV-certified Class 0. Beyond that flow, several units run in parallel.
See the 14 catalogue models - 03
Dry screw compressor
7.8 to 46 m³/minThe answer at high flow when the specification says Class 0. We also state its downside: it costs a great deal to buy and lends itself poorly to heat recovery. If your documents ask for oil-free air rather than a certified machine, the previous step is worth quoting alongside.
See the 20 catalogue models - 04
Centrifugal compressor
From 48 m³/minReserved for the continuous base load of very large sites, where no screw compressor can carry the flow in a single machine.
See the 11 catalogue models - 05
Lubricated screw + treatment chain
Alternative, above 8.6 m³/minThe alternative, when your specification asks for oil-free air rather than a certified machine: multi-stage filtration and an adsorption dryer behind a lubricated screw, with acceptance measurement at the point of use. Markedly lower purchase price, and compression heat is recovered from the oil circuit, which a dry machine does poorly. Rule it out if your documents say Class 0.
See the 33 catalogue models
Every principle, and the ranges that carry it.
Compress, dry, filter or pull a vacuum: two sentences for each principle, then the ranges where it lives, with the flow span computed from the catalogue.
Lubricated screw
140 machinesTwo helical rotors compress the air continuously, in a chamber where oil provides sealing, cooling and lubrication. It is the workhorse of industry, and the cheapest to buy at a given flow.
Detailed section ↓Oil-free screw
56 machinesThe same rotors, with no oil in the chamber: dry, with timing gears, or with injected water doing the sealing. The air is Class 0 by design.
Detailed section ↓Rotary vane
68 machinesAn off-centre rotor whose vanes slide and sweep the stator: a single part turns, slowly, which lasts. The same principle compresses air and, working the other way round, pulls a vacuum.
Scroll
13 machinesTwo nested spirals, one fixed, one orbiting: the trapped volume shrinks from the rim to the centre, with no contact and no oil. Quiet, vibration-free, and limited to small flows.
Rotary tooth
14 machinesTwo claw-shaped rotors that never touch, held apart by timing gears. Certified Class 0, in the range that starts where the scroll stops.
Centrifugal turbo
11 machinesThe air is not trapped then squeezed: it is accelerated by an impeller at very high speed, then slowed down, and that slowing is what compresses it. Reserved for very large continuous flows.
High-pressure piston
38 machinesA piston, valves, several successive passes: it is the catalogue's only route to very high pressure, up to 500 bar. Flow matters less here than the pressure reached.
Detailed section ↓Oil-free piston
14 machinesA piston with no oil in the chamber, in two or three air-cooled stages: it starts from ambient air and reaches 30, 40 or 60 bar in a single machine. The alternative to a booster when no low-pressure network exists.
Diesel driven
53 machinesAn air-end driven by a diesel engine instead of an electric motor: air is produced where there is no power. Site work, quarries, backup for a fixed installation.
Booster
22 machinesIt does not start from ambient air: it takes the network's already compressed air and pushes it higher. Only the fraction that needs it is boosted, instead of raising the whole network.
Integrated package
38 machinesCompressor, dryer, filtration and receiver in a single frame, connected and set at the factory. One electrical supply, one air outlet, and nothing to size in between.
Refrigerant dryer
75 machinesThe air is cooled to a few degrees above zero: the water it can no longer carry condenses and leaves through the drain. Dew point +2 to +10 °C, the right level for an indoor network.
Adsorption dryer
49 machinesTwo molecular sieve columns alternating: one dries, the other regenerates. Dew point -40 to -70 °C, for lines running outdoors and processes that need genuinely dry air.
Detailed section ↓Membrane dryer
12 machinesA bundle of hollow fibres lets water vapour out faster than air. No power, no moving part, no noise: point-of-use drying, paid for in purge air.
Filtration
63 machinesStages in cascade, coarse to fine: particles, oil aerosols by coalescence, then vapours adsorbed on activated carbon. The order is what makes the quality, not the fineness of the last filter.
Condensate draining
14 machinesEvery low point collects water, and the drain removes it without anyone thinking about it. Float, timed or level-sensing: only the last one does not throw compressed air away.
Condensate treatment
18 machinesWhat leaves the drains of a lubricated compressor is an oil and water emulsion, not water. Settling then adsorption bring it down to 15 mg/L of oil before discharge.
PSA nitrogen and oxygen
67 machinesCompressed air passes through an adsorbent that holds one gas back and lets the other through, alternating between two columns. The site produces its own nitrogen or oxygen instead of having it delivered.
Membrane separation
20 machinesSelectively permeable hollow fibres separate the gases of air with no moving part. The same principle as the membrane dryer, applied here to producing nitrogen.
Air receiver
32 machinesIt absorbs demand swings, steadies the pressure and lets condensate settle. Its real effect is elsewhere: it spaces out compressor starts, and therefore wear.
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Lubricated screw compressors.
The workhorse of industry. Two helical rotors turn in opposite directions and compress the air in a chamber where oil is injected: it seals the gap between the rotors, carries away the heat of compression and lubricates the bearings. It is the most widespread technology for continuous duty; in the catalogue, from 3.7 to 250 kW.
- Continuous flow, without pulsation
- Bearings rated for 80,000 to 100,000 h
- 3rd-generation air-end with an asymmetric rotor profile
- Air/oil separator: residual oil below 3 ppm
- IP55 motor
- Permanent magnet variable speed versions: flow follows demand, with no off-load hours
- Oil carries over into the air: dryer and filtration downstream depending on the use
- Oil changes and filters at regular intervals
- Dislikes a hot or dusty plant room
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Oil-free screw compressors.
For processes where the air touches the product. Two families: the dry screw, whose rotors never touch and turn with no fluid at all in the chamber, and the water-injected screw, where water replaces oil for sealing and cooling. No oil in the compression chamber: class 0 as the trade understands it.
- No oil in the compression chamber
- Class 0 (ISO 8573-1) and FDA stated on every sheet
- Dry screw: non-contacting rotors, synchronised by gears, from 45 to 250 kW
- Water injection: the water cools during compression, from 5.5 to 220 kW
- No oil to separate or treat in the condensate
- A more complex machine, dearer to buy than the lubricated screw
- Dry screw: demanding mechanics, often in two stages
- No small dry screw: below 45 kW, water injection or scroll
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Two-stage screw compressors.
Our strength. Compression takes place in two stages, with cooling in between: it comes closer to isothermal compression, the one that takes the least energy. It saves most in continuous duty, 16 to 24 h a day; it remains worthwhile with fewer hours, as soon as energy matters.
- Energy saving of around 10% against the standard version at constant load
- The permanent magnet drive adds its own gain when the load varies
- Intercooling between the two stages
- Each stage works at a lower compression ratio
- From 22 to 250 kW, up to 15 bar
- Higher investment than the standard version
- Slightly larger footprint
- The annual gain grows with running hours
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Piston compressors.
Where the screw cannot go: high pressure. A piston compresses the air in a cylinder; by chaining several cylinders cooled in between, it reaches pressures no screw reaches. In the catalogue: dry piston, oil-free, from 30 to 60 bar, and high-pressure piston at 300 or 500 bar, for small flows, from 0.08 to 2.4 m³/min.
- The highest pressures in the catalogue: 300 and 500 bar
- Dry piston from 30 to 60 bar, with no oil in the chamber
- Small flows: from 0.08 to 2.4 m³/min
- Copes with the frequent starts of intermittent use
- Pulsating flow: a buffer receiver is a must
- Noisier and more vibration than a rotary machine
- Less efficient than a screw in continuous duty
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Rotary vane compressors.
A single rotor turns in an eccentric stator; sliding vanes form the compression chambers. The rotor is driven directly, at around 1,450 rpm, with few moving parts, and the vanes slide out towards the stator as they wear: the seal, and so the efficiency, holds over the hours.
- Vanes that keep their seal as they wear: efficiency does not drop over the hours
- A single rotor, few moving parts
- Rotor in direct drive at around 1,450 rpm, without a gearbox
- Frequent stops and restarts accepted
- Silent, variable speed, tank-mounted, integrated and on-board versions
- From 4 to 110 kW: beyond that, the screw takes over
- More modest flows: up to 21 m³/min
- Lubricated machine: dryer and filtration downstream depending on the use
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Refrigerant dryers.
The most widespread drying technology, enough for most industrial uses. The compressed air is cooled by a refrigeration circuit: the water condenses and is drained, then the air warms up again before leaving. In the catalogue, a dew point of +2 to +10 °C depending on the model, from 0.7 to 400 m³/min.
- Uses no compressed air
- Simple, proven technology
- Light maintenance: a clean condenser, a drain that works
- High-temperature and water-cooled versions
- Dew point above 0 °C: does not protect a network exposed to frost
- Not enough when a process demands very dry air
Swipe to see the whole drawing
Adsorption dryers.
When a refrigerated dryer is not enough. Two columns filled with adsorbent work in turn: while one dries the air, the other regenerates. Dew point of −40 °C, down to −70 °C depending on the model. Heatless version, regenerated by part of the dry air, or heated version, which uses less of it.
- Dew point of −40 °C, down to −70 °C
- Protects networks exposed to frost
- For pharmaceuticals, electronics and sensitive food production
- Heated version: 3% purge air at most, against 6% heatless
- Uses compressed air to regenerate
- Adsorbent to be renewed
- Bulkier than a refrigerated dryer