Invention relates to a hydraulic compressor
system for compressing gas, comprising: at least one pump for pumping liquid; a gas reservoir for storing compressed gas; at least two compression tanks, each of said compression tanks comprises an expandable bladder defining a
bladder cavity, wherein the expandable bladder contains a liquid in the expandable
bladder cavity and the expandable bladder is configured to expand when liquid is input into the expandable
bladder cavity and a tank cavity outside of the expandable bladder, wherein the cavity comprises a compressible gas wherein the expandable bladder and the tank cavity outside the expandable bladder form interdependent volumes of liquid and gas; a
liquid line configured to fluidly couple the expandable bladder cavity with at least one of the one or more pumps such that the liquid is pumped into or out of the expandable bladder via the
liquid line; a gas line configured to fluidly couple the gas reservoir with the tank cavity such that the gas flows into or out of the tank cavity via the gas line; wherein, during operation of the
system, liquid is pumped by the one or more pumps to the expandable bladder in the first compression tank and gas is expelled from the tank cavity of the first compression tank and directed to gas reservoir where it is compressed, characterised in that Switching from compressing the first compression tank (21) to compressing the second compression tank (22); is achieved by changing the direction of flow; wherein the pump (10) direction of rotation is reversed to reverse the flow of liquid; wherein said pump (10) comprises a variable speed pump wherein the speed of said pump (10) is adjusted so that towards the end of the compression
stroke the pump speed is reduced and hence the liquid flowrate is reduced to allow a smooth change-over from one compression tank to another compression tank as the automatically controlled switch over is executed or the speed of said pump is adjusted so that the
maximum efficiency of the compression cycle is maintained thought continuous speed adjustment of the pump.