Description
The 1616716287 is the OFS Q-27 compression element for an Atlas Copco oil-free screw compressor. It sits at the center of the machine and performs the main compression duty: air enters the element, the rotor pair compresses it, and the compressed air leaves without oil ever entering the compression chamber. Because the element carries the compression duty on its own, its condition shows up directly in delivered pressure, power draw and air quality.
This is a large-format stage. The 1616716287 measures 124 x 84 x 74 cm and weighs 890 kg, and it is delivered as one complete assembly: housing, matched rotor pair, bearing sets and shaft seals. Renewing it is a planned service operation, and the sections below set out what the element does, how the oil-free design differs from an oil-injected stage, and what a replacement involves.
What the OFS Q-27 Designation Means
OFS stands for Oil-Free Screw. It is the family name Atlas Copco uses for the screw elements in its oil-free compressor range, and it separates these stages from the OIS, oil-injected screw, elements at a glance. The Q-27 part identifies the size class within that family, so two elements from the same family can be told apart by the letter and number that follow the OFS mark. The 1616716287 carries both identifiers: the family name on the documentation, the full number on the element plate.
For ordering, the complete number is what counts. The 1616716287 is the reference that identifies this exact element in the parts documentation, and it is the number to quote when the stage is due for renewal. The designation describes the family, the number selects the part, and both together leave no room for confusion at the parts desk.
The two identifiers answer different questions. A question about what the component is and how it behaves is a question about the OFS Q-27 and the oil-free screw family it belongs to. A question about what is fitted to a specific machine, what was supplied last time, or what goes on the purchase order is a question the 1616716287 answers on its own. Keeping the two apart is what makes an enquiry fast: describe the requirement in one line, close the order with the other, and the 1616716287 arrives as the part the documentation called for.
Technical Specifications
The tables below record the identification and physical data for the 1616716287 as supplied through the service channel.
Part Identification
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Item number | 1616716287 |
| Description | OFS Q-27 |
| Product group | Oil-free screw element |
| Country of origin | Belgium |
| Tariff code | 8414900090 |
| Serialized | Yes |
Dimensions and Weight
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Length | 124 cm |
| Width | 84 cm |
| Height | 74 cm |
| Weight | 890 kg |
Each unit is serialized, and the number on the plate links the physical 1616716287 to its supply record. That serial stays with the unit through installation and service, so the element in the machine can always be traced back to the documentation that accompanied it. Plants that keep the serial together with the machine’s maintenance file can quote either the serial or the 1616716287 when the stage comes due.
Oil-Free Compression: What Changes When Oil Stays Out
An oil-injected screw element injects oil into the compression chamber, where it seals the running clearances, carries away the heat of compression and lubricates the surfaces along the air path. The 1616716287 works on the opposite principle. No oil enters the compression chamber at any point in the cycle, and the air that leaves the element is the air that entered it, compressed but not wetted with lubricant.
Lubrication Stays on Its Own Side
The rotors mesh through their machined profiles, and the running clearances between rotors and housing are held by geometry rather than by a film of injected oil. The bearings and lubricated surfaces are arranged so that the oil side and the air side remain apart, and the seals between them keep lubricant out of the compression chamber. That separation is the defining feature of an oil-free screw element, and it is why the 1616716287 can serve processes where oil carryover is unacceptable.
The same separation shapes how the stage is serviced. The surfaces that carry wear on the oil side, the bearings and the shaft seals, are renewed as part of the element rather than as an adjustment made on the machine around it. When the 1616716287 goes in, the boundary between oil and air is restored with it, and the air side starts its service life dry.
The Air Path Stays Clean
Because no oil is injected, the compressed air leaves the 1616716287 without carrying element lubricant. Downstream equipment is not asked to remove oil that the element itself put into the air, and the condensate and filtration systems around the compressor deal with a cleaner stream. For a plant that measures the oil content of its compressed air, the element is the component that makes those measurements possible in the first place.
Heat Leaves Through the Machine’s Coolers
Compression puts heat into the air, and in an oil-injected machine much of that heat is absorbed by the injected oil inside the chamber. In an oil-free stage the chamber is dry, so the heat of compression travels out with the air and is removed by the coolers in the machine around the 1616716287. The division of labor is clean: the element compresses, the cooling circuit carries the heat away, and neither job leans on the other’s fluid. In service this means the element and the coolers are read together — a discharge temperature that drifts upward is checked against cooler condition before it is charged to the stage.
Oil-Free Air Standards and Applications
Atlas Copco oil-free screw compressors are built for compressed air classified under ISO 8573-1 Class 0, the strictest classification for oil content in the standard. The 1616716287 is central to holding that classification in service: it is the component that keeps lubricant out of the air stream, and its internal condition carries through to the quality of the air the plant receives.
The applications follow from that. Food and beverage lines, pharmaceutical production, electronics manufacturing and laboratories all specify oil-free air because a trace of oil in the supply damages the product or the process. In each of these plants the 1616716287, or the element fitted to the machine in question, is the part whose renewal restores the air quality the process was designed around. The rest of the machine supports that job; the element performs it.
Condition Indicators and Renewal
An element wears gradually, and the change appears in operating data before it becomes a stoppage. Free air delivery falls against the same power input. Discharge temperature drifts upward as internal clearances leak. Specific energy climbs, so the machine pays more kilowatt-hours for the same cubic meter of air. Noise and vibration at the element sharpen as bearing clearances grow.
Each of these readings has other possible causes in the surrounding system, so the coolers, filters and control system are ruled out first and the element is confirmed by inspection. Plants that log these readings over time hold an advantage here: a slow climb spread across months tells a different story from a step change after a cooler blockage, and the trend line is what separates the two. When the readings point at the stage, renewal is planned rather than reactive: the 1616716287 is ordered against the confirmed number, the shutdown window is set, and the change is made before an unplanned stop decides the timing instead.
Installation and Replacement Planning
The 890 kg mass of the 1616716287 sets the shape of the replacement job. Lifting equipment rated for the weight is arranged in advance, and the route from the delivery point to the compressor is walked before the shutdown: door widths, floor loading along the path and the position of the crane relative to the machine. The old element leaves by the same route, so the 1616716287 is surveyed in both directions before the shutdown begins.
On the day, the new stage is kept in its crating until it is at the machine, and the port caps stay on until connection so nothing enters the rotor chamber. The element is set down on its supports, never on a shaft end, and the mounting faces, ducting and fastener torques follow the values in the compressor manual. The 1616716287 goes in as one assembly, so there is no on-site internals work: the time in the shutdown window is spent on the change itself, not on building a stage out of loose parts. Planned this way, the renewal is a controlled operation inside a known window rather than a lift improvised around a broken machine.
Ordering the Correct Element
Two pieces of information lock the order down: the part number and the machine it is going into. The number is read from the plate on the old 1616716287, from the machine parts list, or from a previous quotation. The machine is identified by the model and serial number on the compressor nameplate.
Send both together and the parts desk confirms the match in one pass, without a chain of follow-up questions. Where the plate on the old stage has worn past reading, the nameplate details still identify the machine, and the parts documentation for that serial number carries the element reference. The 1616716287 then goes on order with the identification already settled, and the change is scheduled into the shutdown window the maintenance team has set.
Genuine Atlas Copco Supply from Seadweer
Seadweer supplies genuine Atlas Copco oil-free screw elements and the machines they serve, alongside the wider range of compressors and original parts. Send the 1616716287 reference with your machine details and we will confirm the match and prepare the quotation.
FAQ
What does OFS Q-27 stand for?
OFS is the Atlas Copco family name for Oil-Free Screw elements, and Q-27 is the size class within that family. The complete ordering reference for this element is 1616716287, and that number is what identifies the part in the documentation. The name tells you the type of component; the number tells you which one.
How do I confirm the 1616716287 is the element for my machine?
Read the number from the plate on the existing element, or take the model and serial number from the compressor nameplate. Send either or both, and the match is confirmed against the parts documentation before the order is placed. One message with those details is enough to close the identification.
Does oil really never enter the compression chamber?
That is the defining property of an oil-free screw element. In the 1616716287 the lubricated bearings and seals sit on the oil side of the chamber boundary, and the air path through the rotors carries no injected oil from intake to discharge. The air that leaves is the air that entered, compressed and dry.
What handling equipment does an 890 kg element need?
Lifting gear rated for the full weight, with the route from delivery point to machine planned in advance. The 1616716287 is a single assembly of 124 x 84 x 74 cm, so a planned shutdown with crane access is the normal way the change is made, and the old stage leaves by the same route.
What happens to air quality as the element wears?
Wear shows first in delivery and energy: free air delivery falls, specific energy climbs and discharge temperature drifts. Because the element is the barrier that keeps lubricant out of the air stream, its internal condition is also part of holding the oil-free classification the process depends on. Renewing the 1616716287 restores both the output and the air-quality boundary in one step.
Is the 1616716287 serialized?
Yes. Each unit carries a serial number on the element plate, and that number links the physical stage to its supply and documentation record through installation and service. Keep the serial with the machine’s maintenance file when the element is installed.
Khalid Al-Harbi –
We ordered the 1616716287 against the number on the old element plate and had the match confirmed before the order went in. The element arrived crated, with the serial plate in place for our maintenance records. Our contractor rigged it in with the overhead crane during the planned shutdown, and the compressor went back to its rated pressure and delivery. The whole exchange was straightforward from enquiry to installation.