Air Compressor Air Dryer

Buying a compressed air dryer may not be a walk in the park. This is because in most cases, you may not be sure about which is the best-compressed air dryer in the market.

As if this is not enough, you may not be sure of the specifications of the compressed air dryer to get. Will the dryer work well with my air compressor?

Other factors such as compressed air dryer price and compressed air dryer manufacturer are likely to come. To help you make the best decision, read on as we guide you on how to choose the best compressed air dryer.

What is Air Compressor Dryer?

A compressed air dryer is a unique kind of filtering system that is explicitly intended to expel the water that is inalienable in compressed air.

Usually, the process of compressing air raises its temperature and concentrates air contaminants, mainly made of water vapour.

Thusly, the compressed air is not only hot but also humid

As the compressed air cools, water vapour gathers into the tank(s), funnels, hoses and instruments that are downstream from the compressor.

This water vapour is expelled from compacted air to prevent it from accumulating and to keep condensation from occurring in delicate mechanical sections.

You can choose to buy a small rotary air compressor or go for a large rotary air compressor depending on your needs and application area.

Why Do I Need a Compressed Air Dryer?

Condensing water and any other fluid can incredibly cause huge damage to hardware, apparatuses and processes that depend on the compressed air.

The water can cause erosion in the air compressor receiver tank and pipes. It can also wash out lubricants such as oils from pneumatic systems.

This water can also have a direct impact on all the painted surfaces that make up the air compressor system.

In this way, it is vital to expel condensing moisture from the air stream to prevent damaging the gear, air apparatuses and air compression processes.

The main role of expelling this undesirable water is assigned to the compressed air dryer.

But, my application is tolerant of the presence of moisture? You may wonder.

We cannot deny that there are applications that can endure low levels of moisture content and won’t need an intricate air-drying arrangement.

However, this does not negate the fact that the presence of moisture in the air compressor tank and lines can cause serious damages.

This means that drying the air and discharging the water is totally essential in all air compressor systems.

Where Does the Water Come From?

Air compressors are designed to suck in loads of air and compress it to around multiple times the original volume (that is, 7 bar pressure).

The air that is sucked in consistently contains a significant percentage of water. During the compression process, the air can be compressed, the water can’t!

At the point when the air leaves the compressor, it is hot and wet.

For instance, 1 cubic meter of hot compacted air despite everything contains a similar measure of water that the 7 cubic meters of cold air did before they were compressed.

Typically, the compressed air is passed through an aftercooler whereby it will cool off but still be higher than room temperature.

During the cooling process, a ton of water will condensate and will float with the air as tiny drops. Toward the exit of the aftercooler, there ought to be a condensation water trap, which will trap all the water that was in the air.

On the off chance that you didn’t have a compressed air dryer, the greater part of those water would wind up in your compressor piping system among other delicate components.

I guess you don’t want to know the impact that it will have on your air compressor hardware!

Types of Compressed Air Dryers

Shopping for the best compressor dryer filter? It is vital to know the type of dyer that you want to buy.

This is because there are different types of compressed air dryers for sale. Each type of compressor air dryer has a unique working mechanism.

Let’s have a brief look at the main types of air compressor dryer:

1. Refrigerated compressed air dryer

This type of compressed air dryer works by cooling the air to extremely low temperatures and gathering a significant volume of the water vapour.

A refrigerated air dryer can easily achieve the dew points which are below the freezing temperature.

Ideally planned refrigerated dryers can create air with dew focuses to around 36°F (2°C).

Since some water vapour is left noticeable all around, these dryers ought not to be utilized in water delicate applications.

2. Chemical dryers for air compressors

As the name suggests, these dryers use chemicals to get rid of the water vapour from the compressed air.

The moisture-laden compressed air is passed through chemicals that are capable of absorbing water. Such chemicals include calcium chloride and lithium chloride.

The chemical compounds become soaked with water fume and are disposed of. The least dew point reachable with this kind of dryer is 27°F (15°C).

It is important to regularly inspect the state of this type of dryer. This is because the life of the chemical substances tend to diminish gradually if fluid water enters the dryer.

When using this filter, you will need to install a particle removal filter on the downstream so as to prevent the chemical particles from being washed along with air.

3. Desiccant Dryers

The compressed air is passed through a bed of desiccant material which retains water vapour.

At the point when the desiccant bed limit is about soaked, the compressed air stream is changed to the second bed of desiccant material.

The main bed is then recovered. Clocks or dew point observing gear can be utilized to control the recovery process of the desiccant. This type of drying technology is capable of delivering below the prescribed dew point.

There are two types of desiccant used for compressed air dryer. These are heated and heatless. The heated desiccant dryer uses heat to remove water vapour from the desiccant.

Heatless desiccant uses dry air that it generates by itself to get rid of the water vapour. It is preferred to the heated one since it does not depend on the external heat sources such as electricity.

4. Membrane air dryers

These dryers utilize special layer microtubes that are specifically porous to water fume. The microtubes give an ideal medium to creating dry air from standard compressed air.

As the compressed air goes along the length of the film, water vapour diffuses through the layer, delivering perfect, dry compressed air at the outlet.

A little division of the dry air is then coordinated along the outside surface of the layer to clear the moist air away from the membrane.

These dryers can reduce the dew point to as low as -40F. Membrane dryers for air compressors are ideal for the non-moving components. They also don’t need electrical energy to operate.

Which Type Of Compressed Air Dryer Should I Buy?

Source: airbestpractices.com

As we have seen, each type of compressed air dryer comes with a set of unique features.

But which one should I choose?

There are several factors to consider when choosing the best type of compressed air dryer for your application.

Some of these factors include:

1. Operating pressure

By evaluating the greatest required working pressure, you can decide the size and type of air blower you need.

Pounds per square inch, or PSI, is the proportion of compressed air conveyed by the air pressure.

The higher the PSI, the bigger the volume of air it can compress at any given moment.

Most commercial air compressors offer pressures somewhere in the range of 100 and 185 PSI.

In any case, the necessary air pressure relies upon the air utilization of apparatuses normally utilized simultaneously.

2. The usage volume of the compressed air

The volume of flow rate in an air compressor is measured in terms of Cubic feet every moment or CFM.

As it were, what amount of air can a compressor pump in one moment?

Naturally, large-scale applications require higher CFM units.

The most ideal approach to compare different compressors is to use SCFM, or standard cubic feet every moment.

To calculate this value, you will have to consider other conditional factors that affect the performance of the air compressor temperature.

3. The size of the tank

Before you purchase a drier, you ought to think about the sort and type of tank.

This is on the size or capacity of a tank will in general influence the flow of compressed air.

A small-sized tank is appropriate for applications that come in spontaneous, concentrated blasts of air.

Bigger tanks will be fundamental for applications that require a continuous supply of air.

Units with bigger tanks and high-performance motors can produce more elevated levels of PSI for longer timeframes.

An extremely large six-gallon tank can store more air, requiring fewer siphon cycles.

In all these scenarios, the drier should keep up with the supply of compressed air.

4. The power of the air compressor

The power of an air compressor is measured in terms of horsepower (HP).

Before you buy an air compressor dryer, you should know the output power of the compressor.

Will the dryer be able to cope up with the power?

If you are using a powerful compressor, the dryer should be capable of handling a heavy workload.

For the less powerful compressor, you can explore with any type of dryer.

Once you consider the above factors, you should be able to choose the right dryer for your air compressor.

Even if you are not sure, don’t hesitate to consult experts in this field.

What Is The Best Size of Air Compressor Dryer

Compressed air dryers come in different sizes. The sizes are usually denoted in terms of CFM or capacity. While buying you need to ensure that your dryer is not oversized or undersized.

When measuring a dryer, it’s imperative to see how temperature and weight influence water content in the air. The water vapor content in of air fluctuates directly depending on temperature.

If temperature builds, the air’s capacity to hold water increments. As a general guideline, each 20° F increase in inlet air temperature may increase the water load on a dryer. This, on the other hand, will reduce the pressure.

The water fume substance of air differs contrarily with pressure. If the pressure builds, it gets rid of the moisture build-up.

Due to these two connections, compressed air dryers have the self-management factors designed by the manufacturers.

These correction factors help decide how much air a dryer can really deal with for different conditions. External factors such as humidity are used for designing the correction factors.

The chart below provides the exact figures for sizing an air compressor dryer: