Compressed air in the context of Atmospheric pressure

Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove surface contaminants. A pressurised fluid, typically compressed air, or a centrifugal wheel is used to propel the blasting material (often called the media). The first abrasive blasting process was patented by Benjamin Chew Tilghman on 18 October 1870.

There are several variants of the process, using various media; some are highly abrasive, whereas others are milder. The most abrasive are shot blasting (with metal shot) and sandblasting (with sand). Moderately abrasive variants include glass bead blasting (with glass beads) and plastic media blasting (PMB) with ground-up plastic stock or walnut shells and corncobs. Some of these substances can cause anaphylactic shock to individuals allergic to the media. A mild version is sodablasting (with baking soda). In addition, there are alternatives that are barely abrasive or nonabrasive, such as ice blasting and dry-ice blasting.

Pneumatics (from Greek πνεῦμα pneuma 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems.

Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and electrically-powered compressor powers cylinders, air motors, pneumatic actuators, and other pneumatic devices. A pneumatic system controlled through manual or automatic solenoid valves is selected when it provides a lower cost, more flexible, or safer alternative to electric motors, and hydraulic actuators.

Soda blasting is a mild form of abrasive blasting in which sodium bicarbonate particles are blasted against a surface using compressed air. It has a much milder abrasive effect than sandblasting. An early use was in the conservation-restoration of the Statue of Liberty in the 1980s.

Soda blasting is a non-destructive method for many applications in cleaning, paint and varnish stripping, automotive restoration, industrial equipment maintenance, rust removal, graffiti removal, molecular steel passivation against rust, oil removal by saponification and translocation, masonry cleaning and restoration, soot remediation, boat hull cleaning and for food processing facilities and equipment and tooth cleaning at the dental laboratory.

Ice blasting (also known as wet-ice blasting, frozen-ice blasting, or water-ice blasting) is a form of non-abrasive blasting where frozen water particles are combined with compressed air and propelled towards a surface for cleaning purposes. Ice is one of several different media commonly used for blast cleaning. Another common method of non-abrasive blasting is dry ice blasting, which uses solid carbon dioxide as a blast media. Other forms of abrasive blasting use mediums such as sand, plastic beads, and baking soda.

Scuba diving is an underwater diving mode where divers use breathing equipment completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word scuba is an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus" and was coined by Christian J. Lambertsen in a patent submitted in 1952. Scuba divers carry their source of breathing gas, affording them greater independence and movement than surface-supplied divers, and more time underwater than freedivers. Although compressed air is commonly used, other gas blends are also employed.

Open-circuit scuba systems discharge the breathing gas into the environment as it is exhaled and consist of one or more diving cylinders containing breathing gas at high pressure which is supplied to the diver at ambient pressure through a diving regulator. They may include additional cylinders for range extension, decompression gas or emergency breathing gas. Closed-circuit or semi-closed circuit rebreather scuba systems allow recycling of exhaled gases. The volume of gas used is reduced compared to that of open-circuit, making longer dives feasible. Rebreathers extend the time spent underwater compared to open-circuit for the same metabolic gas consumption. They produce fewer bubbles and less noise than open-circuit scuba, which makes them attractive to covert military divers to avoid detection, scientific divers to avoid disturbing marine animals, and media diver to avoid bubble interference.

An actuator is a component of a machine that produces force, torque, or displacement, when an electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic input is supplied to it in a system (called an actuating system). The effect is usually produced in a controlled way. An actuator translates a stimulus such as an input signal into the required form of mechanical energy. It is a type of transducer. In simple terms, it is a "mover".

An actuator requires a control device (which provides control signal) and a source of energy. The control signal is relatively low in energy and may be voltage, electric current, pneumatic, or hydraulic fluid pressure, or even human power. In the electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic sense, it is a form of automation or automatic control.

An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a pneumatic device that converts mechanical power (from an electric motor, diesel or gasoline engine, etc.) into potential energy stored in compressed air, which has many uses. A common application is to compress air into a storage tank, for immediate or later use. When the delivery pressure reaches its set upper limit, the compressor is shut off, or the excess air is released through an overpressure valve. The compressed air is stored in the tank until it is needed. The pressure energy provided by the compressed air can be used for a variety of applications such as pneumatic tools as it is released. When tank pressure reaches its lower limit, the air compressor turns on again and re-pressurizes the tank.A compressor is different from a pump because it works on a gas, while pumps work on a liquid.

A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, designed to match the vehicle's weight and the bearing on the surface that it rolls over by exerting a pressure that will avoid deforming the surface.

The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, tires were metal bands fitted around wooden wheels to hold the wheel together under load and to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Pneumatic tires are used on many vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymers) tires are also used in various non-automotive applications, such as casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.

Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (Ancient Greek: Κτησίβιος; fl. 285–222 BCE) was an ethnically Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. Very little is known of Ctesibius' life, but his inventions were well known in his lifetime. He was likely the first head of the Museum of Alexandria. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps (and even in a kind of cannon). This, in combination with his work On pneumatics on the elasticity of air, earned him the title of "father of pneumatics." None of his written work has survived, including his Memorabilia, a compilation of his research that was cited by Athenaeus. Ctesibius' most commonly known invention today is a pipe organ (hydraulis), a predecessor of the modern church organ. He was married to a woman named Thais, who is not to be confused with Thaïs, the Greek hetaira who travelled with Alexander the Great on his military campaigns.

Compressed-air-energy storage (CAES) is a way to store energy for later use using compressed air. At a utility scale, energy generated during periods of low demand can be released during peak load periods.

The first utility-scale CAES project was in the Huntorf power plant in Elsfleth, Germany, and is still operational as of 2024. The Huntorf plant was initially developed as a load balancer for fossil-fuel-generated electricity, but the global shift towards renewable energy renewed interest in CAES systems, to help highly intermittent energy sources like photovoltaics and wind satisfy fluctuating electricity demands.

A water rocket is a type of model rocket using water as its reaction mass. The water is forced out by a pressurized gas, typically compressed air. Like all rocket engines, it operates on the principle of Newton's third law of motion. Water rocket hobbyists typically use one or more plastic soft drink bottles as the rocket's pressure vessel. A variety of designs are possible including multi-stage rockets. Water rockets are also custom-built from composite materials to achieve world record altitudes.

An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses compressed air or other pressurized gases to fire projectiles, reminiscent of the principle behind the ancient blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using pressure generated via combustion of a chemical propellant, most often black powder in antique firearms and smokeless powder in modern firearms.

Air guns come in both long gun (air rifle) and handgun (air pistol) forms. Both types typically propel metallic projectiles that are either diabolo-shaped pellets or spherical shots called BBs, although in recent years Minié ball-shaped cylindro-conoidal projectiles called slugs are gaining more popularity. Certain types of air guns (usually air rifles) may also launch fin-stabilized projectile such as darts (e.g., tranquilizer guns) or hollow-shaft arrows (so-called "airbows").

A power tool is a tool that is actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed air are also commonly used. Tools directly driven by animal power are not generally considered power tools. Power tools can produce large amounts of particulates, including ultrafine particles. Airborne particulate matter is a Group 1 carcinogen.

Compressed air gramophones were gramophones which employed compressed air and a pneumatic amplifier to amplify the recorded sound.

One of the earliest versions was the Auxetophone, designed by the Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons. It was capable of producing sufficient volume to broadcast public music performances from the top of the Blackpool Tower, and was said to be loud enough to cause people to vacate the front rows of seats in an auditorium. The Auxetophone was sold in the United States as the Victor Auxetophone.

An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create a loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air causes the reed or diaphragm to vibrate, creating sound waves, then the horn amplifies the sound making it louder. Air horns are widely employed as vehicle horns, installed on large buses, semi-trailer trucks, fire trucks, trains, and some ambulances as a warning device, and on ships as a signaling device.

Sonic soot blowers offer a cost-effective and non-destructive means of preventing ash and particulate build-up within the power generation industry. They use high energy – low frequency sound waves that provide 360° particulate de-bonding and at a speed in excess of 344 metres per second. Because they employ non-destructive sound waves, unlike steam soot blowers they eliminate any concerns over corrosion, erosion or mechanical damage and do not produce an effluent stream.

The sonic soot blower operates in the same manner, the ‘base tone’ being produced by passing compressed air into a wave generator which houses a titanium diaphragm causing it to oscillate rapidly. This ‘base tone’ is then converted into a range of selected frequencies ranging from 350 Hz down to 60 Hz by the design and length of the horn section, producing the desired sound frequency at a sound level approaching 200 dB. The sonic soot blower is usually ‘sounded’ for a few seconds at intervals of between 3 and 10 minutes. This ‘sounding’ pattern is normally controlled via the plant’s PLC. However, it may also be operated by such means as a SCADA system, individual timers on each solenoid valve or via a manual ball valve.