A fluid
compression system includes a plurality of compressors, each compressor having a local controller for controlling operation thereof and a sensor for sensing the pressure of
compressed fluid discharged therefrom. A method for controlling operation of the fluid
compression system includes establishing a
set point pressure threshold for loading and unloading each compressor, and assigning a
ranking to each compressor for identifying a highest ranked compressor and a lowest ranked compressor, whereby the highest ranked compressor for the
compression system initiates all commands for controlling all of the lower ranked compressors in the compression
system. The method also includes commencing a loading
subroutine including loading the highest ranked unloaded compressor, setting a load
delay timer, sensing the pressure of the
compressed fluid discharged from the highest ranked compressor, comparing the sensed
discharge pressure of the highest ranked compressor to the
set point pressure threshold established for the highest ranked compressor, and transmitting a load command from the controller of the highest ranked compressor to the controller of the next highest ranked unloaded compressor if the sensed
discharge pressure of the highest ranked compressor remains less than or equal to the
set point pressure threshold established for the highest ranked compressor, and the load
delay timer equals zero. The loading
subroutine is repeated until the
discharge pressure of the highest ranked compressor is greater than the set point pressure threshold established therefor.