Air dryers http://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/200/TechZone/AirFiltersandFR/Ar...

When pneumatic components wear or

become corroded as a result of
moisture, they consume more
compressed air - and lose energy
efficiency. When this wear or corrosion
becomes great enough, components
must be repaired or replaced -
increasing operating expense.

The cost of replacement parts, labor,

standby inventory, and downtime can
have a devastating effect on the plant's
bottom line. Eliminating even one of
them by drying a system's compressed
air will offset the cost of installing and
Fig. 1. Deliquescent chemical dryer takes moisture-laden
operating the equipment to do the job. air into collection chamber, passes it though support
screens into desiccant chamber where part of water
vapor is removed.
Types of dryers
Dryers remove water vapor from the air,
which lowers its dew point - the
temperature to which air can be cooled
before water vapor begins to condense.
In broadest terms, there are four basic
types of industrial compressed air
dryers: deliquescent, regenerative
desiccant, refrigeration, and
membrane.

Deliquescent dryers contain a

chemical desiccant which absorbs
moisture contained in the air, whether
the moisture has already condensed or
is still a vapor, Figure 1. The desiccant
is consumed in the water-removal
process and must be replenished
periodically. The solution that must be
drained from these dryers contains both
liquid water and the deliquescent
chemical, so disposal may be a
problem. Local environmental
regulations should be checked before Fig. 2. Cutaway view of one tower of heated
disposal of this solution. regenerative desiccant dryer shows electrically heated
fins used to dry saturated chemical desiccant.
Deliquescent dryers reduce the dew
point of the air 15° to 25° F below the
inlet air temperature. If the incoming air
has a dew point of 90° F, it will leave a
deliquescent dryer with a dew point of
about 65° F. Depending on operating
conditions, some deliquescent dryers
can produce dew points as low as 40°
F; new deliquescent chemicals may
produce even lower dew points. Two
important points: desiccant level should
not be allowed to fall below that
recommended by the dryer
manufacturer, and inlet temperature
should be limited to 100° F or less to
prevent excessive desiccant
consumption.
Fig. 3. Tube-in-tube refrigeration dryer uses refrigerant
Regenerative desiccant dryers evaporator to cool wet, hot incoming air. Air-to-air
remove water from air by adsorbing it precooler, top, allows heat from incoming air to warm
cool, dry outgoing air. Precooling/post-warming
on the surface of a microscopically
process boosts overall dryer efficiency. Separator
porous desiccant, usually silica gel, collects moisture condensed from air, drain discharges
activated alumina, or molecular sieve. it.
The desiccant does not react
chemically with the water, so it need not
be replenished. However, it must be

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