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Richard J Kinch
 
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Default SCFM vs. CFM, also air flow/pressure across a regulator

Gary Hallenbeck writes:

A cubic foot VOLUME is a cubic foot VOLUME regardless of
pressure, temperature or phase of the moon. A STANDARD cubic foot, on
the other hand is a specific mass of the gas in question. Which is
why a 600 cfm compressor can have a 1/3 hp motor and a 10 cfm
compressor can require a 500 hp motor. The 600 cfm compressor being a
cooling fan producing flow @ an inch or two of water and the 10 cfm
compressor producing flow @ 1000 psig. Obviously the 10 cfm @1000 psig
results in a much larger SCFM than the 600cfm @ inches of H20.


Again, you are misunderstanding.

"SCFM" and "CFM" are the SAME THING, except that the "S" prefix indicates
the input air for the system is specified to be 68 deg F and 36 percent
relative humidity, while "CFM" without the "S" prefix just *does not*
specify what the free air temperature and humidity are. Thus performance
of a system in "CFM" could be "better", "about the same", or "worse" than
in SCFM, depending on the temp and humidity of the ambient environment.