Corporate Buyers Guide

To choose a dryer for compressed air, some important parameters have to be considered. 1. The pressure and temperature of the compressor output. 2. The air capacity. 3. Air or water cooled. 4. The desired dew point (humidity) of the air, 5. The cost to purchase dryer, 6. The operating costs.

For refrigerated air dryers:

1.      The performance of a refrigerated air dryer are based on an inlet temperature of 100 F and pressure of 100 psig.

2.      The air capacity is rated in scfm as usually the same rating as the compressor.

3.      Both, air and water cooling are available. Water cooled units have a slightly higher rating but, are more expensive.

4.      The normal dew point rating is 35 F. This can be lowered by operating below the rated capacity. The humidity of the surrounding air has to be considered. Humid regions will have a higher dew point air output.

5.      The initial cost to purchase a refrigerated air dryer is lower than for desiccant dryers. The installation cost is simpler and less expensive

6.      The refrigerated air dryer uses large amounts of electricity. This makes the operating costs high

One advantage of refrigerated air dryers is that they can operate at higher inlet temperatures and pressure than desiccant air dryers.. Therefore, for plastic molding machines plus in many food and pharmaceutical applications the refrigerated air dryer is used at the output of piston compressors.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Air Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.