In a lubricant-cooled gas compressor (10) the temperature of separated
lubricant returned to the air-side (11) is monitored by a
thermostatically controlled restrictor valve (22) which minimises the
flow of returned lubricant when temperature is low as on start up or when
running on reduced load but increases the flow as the lubricant
temperature increases. This will minimise he condensation of water from
indrawn air when the temperature of the compressed air is too low to
retain the water as vapour, so that the returned lubricant is
contaminated with water which will damage the moving components of the
air-end.