Dry air compressors are essential for most industrial and residential applications. Operators therefore rely on compressed air dryer systems to achieve optimum operation. This article reveals how these systems can fully create functional dry compressed air.

What is a compressed air dryer?

Compressed air always contains water vapour and other forms of moisture that are harmful to your pipes， tools and equipment. They can lead to corrosion， control failures and ultimately equipment failure. Compressed air dryers prevent this by removing the water vapour and moisture content from compressed air before it enters moisture sensitive components and processes.

How do air dryers work?

Each type of compressed air dryer system has its own principle of operation; however， the general function of each is to remove most or all of the water vapour content from the compressed air. The resulting dew point of the compressed air is used as a measure of how dry the air is: the lower the dew point， the lower the moisture content and vice versa.

In this article， we will look at the various types of compressed air dryers and how they work.

Benefits of compressed air dryers

The use of compressed air dryers has its benefits. They include.

Effective removal of particles， water vapour and other moisture content from compressed air

Prevention of equipment corrosion

Extending the life of pipes， tools and equipment

Save on equipment maintenance costs

Types of compressed air dryers

The following outlines the four main types of compressed air dryers that can be used for most industrial applications.

Refrigerated dryers

Desiccant dryers

Chemical dryers

Membrane dryers

Refrigerated Dryers

The working principle of the freeze air dryer consists in causing water vapour to condense by cooling the compressed air. The system then collects this condensed water vapour with the aid of an internal moisture separator and sends it down the drain. The dryer achieves this cooling with the aid of a liquid refrigerant.

Some industry players are aware of the high efficiency and low purchase and maintenance costs of refrigerated compressed air dryers. They can remove more than 75% of the water content of the air， which is acceptable for general air compression applications.

Desiccant Dryers

Desiccant type air dryers work by adsorbing moisture from the compressed air stream onto a desiccant material. These materials are in compartments and effective drying occurs by pushing compressed air through them.

There are two types of desiccant air dryers: heated and non-thermal regenerative desiccant air dryers. Each has two compartments: a drying tower for adsorbed desiccant and a regeneration tower， which helps to remove the adsorbed moisture from the desiccant. However， the heat source makes them different: the former requires an external heat source， while the latter does not.

They can achieve moisture removal rates of up to 99.99%. This high efficacy makes them ideal for critical applications. However， they are more likely to have higher purchasing， operating and maintenance costs.

Contact our team today to purchase a compressed air dryer or get a quote for desiccant air dryer procurement!

Chemical dryers

Chemical dryers use chemicals such as calcium chloride and lithium chloride to strip the water vapour content from compressed air. They saturate the air with moisture by allowing the compressed air to pass through these chemical beds to reach a dew point of 15°C. A high efficiency coalescing filter is usually installed upstream of the dryer to prevent damage and a particle removal filter is installed downstream to avoid output of compressed air containing chemicals.

Membrane dryers

Membrane air dryers work by pushing compressed air through a membrane tube that collects and holds water vapour. A small proportion of the resulting dry air is then used to remove the trapped water vapour from the tubes.

The membrane dryer can reduce the dew point of the compressed air to -40°C without lowering its temperature. In addition to effectively removing most of the moisture content， they filter unwanted particles. In addition， they require very little space and zero power consumption.

Applications for compressed air dryers

Compressed air dryers currently play a role in the following industrial and commercial applications

Oil and gas recovery

Pharmaceutical industry

Materials manufacturing

Food and beverage production

Fabric synthesis

Anti-mould

Residential use

Oil and gas recovery

Compressed air dryers have a variety of applications in the oil and gas industry. Some of these include

High pressure enhanced oil recovery

Driving pneumatic systems

Operation of drilling rig controls

Oil and gas transportation

Most of these applications can be made hazardous by compressed air containing moisture. It therefore makes sense for the operator to effectively remove this water vapour content to ensure safe operation.

Pharmaceutical industry

Compressed air free of water vapour and moisture is vital to the operation of the pharmaceutical industry. Every process in tablet manufacturing， fermentation， instrumental air drying， drug drying and packaging requires dry compressed air. The air must be free from any form of moisture content to prevent contamination.

Material manufacturing

Material manufacturing operations， such as powering pneumatic equipment， lathe chucking operations， pressure washing of mechanical components and component cooling， often require dry compressed air to ensure and maintain an optimised manufacturing environment.

Food and beverage production

The production， packaging and preservation of high quality food and beverages requires dry compressed air. As air is a common food and beverage contaminant， proper compressed air drying can ensure its safe consumption.

Fabric synthesis

The textile production industry requires large quantities of compressed air for blow guns， air knives， lifting of pneumatic systems and cooling of equipment components. As moisture can damage fabrics， dry compressed air ensures their optimal synthesis.

Anti-mould

The formation of mould in the workplace can cause a range of health hazards and violations of safety regulations. Industrial compressed air dryers can easily deal with this problem by keeping ambient humidity within levels that limit the growth of mould.

Residential use

Residential heat pumps， rotary dryers， condensing dryers， blowers and cloth dryers also apply compressed air dryers. Most of these home-based applications are typically associated with material drying or incorporated into the type of equipment that requires air drying.