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    Atlas Copco mineral processing blowers: energy and air-quality gains for plant engineers

    April 10, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Atlas Copco mineral processing blowers: energy and air-quality gains for plant engineers

    First reported on Australian Mining

    30 Second Briefing

    Atlas Copco is targeting mineral processing plants with its oil-free ZS screw blowers, designed to deliver clean, ISO 8573-1 Class 0 compressed air for flotation cells, pneumatic conveying and filter presses. The units use variable speed drives and high-efficiency screw elements to cut specific energy consumption compared with conventional lobe blowers, while maintaining stable low-pressure air in the typical 0.3–1.5 bar(g) range. For plant engineers, the main gains are reduced blower-room power draw, lower heat load on ventilation systems and more consistent air supply to critical process circuits.

    Technical Brief

    • ZS screw blowers are supplied as fully enclosed, skid-mounted packages with integrated controls and silencers.
    • Oil-free design removes the need for downstream oil separators and associated differential-pressure losses.
    • Atlas Copco specifies long service intervals with minimal wear parts, reducing blower-room shutdown frequency.
    • Acoustic enclosures and screw technology significantly cut noise compared with bare lobe machines, easing plant noise compliance.
    • Standardised modular footprints simplify retrofit into existing blower rooms with constrained access and legacy pipework.
    • Integrated PLCs allow remote monitoring of blower status, alarms and trends via plant SCADA systems.
    • Heat rejection from the blower packages is managed via optimised cooling airflow, reducing local hot spots in blower galleries.

    Our Take

    Across our database, Atlas Copco’s recent launches – from the QHS hybrid generators (March 2026) to the B-Air 185-12 battery compressor (January 2026) – indicate a deliberate push to electrify and hybridise support equipment, which is directly relevant to mines in Australia looking to cut diesel use in mineral processing circuits.

    The DrillAir Y1260 deployment in Australia (February 2026) shows Atlas Copco Rental Australia already integrating high-capacity, single-source air solutions from drill pad to plant, suggesting that any new mineral processing offerings are likely to emphasise system-wide efficiency rather than stand-alone machines.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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