Need for dryer

When the atmospheric air comprising of moisture, particle contaminants, and oil gets compressed, the concentration of such particles and moisture increases by 6-10 times. Other contaminants like oil and traces of metal get added during the compression process with the air compressor.

When compressed air cools down, water vapor (moisture) precipitates as condensate, which must be removed from the compressed air system. Drying compressed air is an important part of the air treatment process.

Let us understand the problems resulting from the presence of moisture in compressed air:

• Damages and causes malfunctioning of air-powered equipment and instruments.
• Corrodes compressed air piping causing leakages and adding impurities to the air.
• Degradation of product quality and growth of microbiological contaminants where the air comes into direct contact with the end product, such as food, medicine, chemicals, etc.

A dryer reduces the moisture content, avoids condensation in piping, and hence is an ideal accessory that can be used for a wide range of applications.

According to the International Standard, ISO 8573-1:2010, compressed air contaminants like particles, water, and oil are segregated as per purity classes. In this standard, microorganisms and other gases are not included. As a result, the air purity is indicated as [P, W, O] and is ordered as per the number of particles, water, and oil.

Based on the application requirement, water vapor is to be removed from the compressed air by using the suitable dryer.

• With a refrigerated air dryer, class 4,5,6 of water vapor can be achieved, i.e. ISO 8573-1:2010 [-: 4 :-]
• With a desiccant air dryer, class 1,2,3 of water vapor can be achieved, i.e. ISO 8573-1:2010 [-: 1 :-]

How to remove moisture?

The recommended sequence of installation for any type of dryer is shown below

Moisture Separators help remove the bulk water from the compressed air. It is mandatory to have a proper automatic drain along with the moisture separator, as they are mostly used after the cooler. The optimal removal of condensate will ensure that no bulk water carries over to the downstream equipment. It is recommended to use a level-sensing zero-loss drain and a moisture separator to get this done with minimum loss of air.

The Wet Receiver(before the dryer) acts as a heat exchanger, cooling off the air and thus condensing bulk moisture before it reaches the dryer. The water can be drained from the bottom of the tank with a motorized timer drain. By removing some moisture in advance, the air receiver tank reduces the load on the air dryer. This is true for any dryer type, be it a Refrigerated air dryer or a desiccant dryer.

For your air quality requirement of class 4,5,6, you can choose the refrigerated dryer.

Refrigerated Dryers are further divided into two types

• Non-cycling refrigerated dryer
• Energy-saving (Cycling) refrigerated dryer

Non-cycling Refrigerated Dryer

Non-cycling refrigerated air dryers have refrigerated compressors that start as soon as you turn the dryer on ― and don’t stop until you turn the dryer off, except in some exceptional conditions. They are less expensive than cycling dryers and are a good choice for applications where they will constantly run at full capacity.

However, they can experience problems during periods of low compressed air usage; there is a possibility of freezing which leads to ice formation. To avoid this, non-cycling refrigerated dryers are equipped with hot gas bypass valve, which sends the heat that the refrigerated compressor would normally discharge to the atmosphere back to the cold side of the system to keep it from freezing, thereby keeping the system stable and operating continuously.

Cycling Dryer – Saves Energy

The energy-saving cycling dryer comes into the picture when there is no load or partial load. Unlike the non-cycling refrigerated dryer, the cycling dryer will go to ECO mode and switches off, thereby saving a lot of energy.

The energy-saving dryer can aid in reducing power consumption in situations such as

• During Winters/Night conditions, when the temperature of the cooling medium (air or water) is usually lower than in rated condition, resulting in a variation of the inlet/ambient air temperature to the dryer and reducing the load on the dryer
• When used with a VFD compressor & operating at lower flow, the dryer would regulate its capacity based on the flow load
• During compressor unloads, the dryer would also go to ECO mode and save energy

Non-cycling refrigerated dryer vs cycling refrigerated dryer

The advantage of ELGi’s Airmate Refrigerated Premium dryer (Energy Saving Cycling Refrigerated Dryer) is that it saves energy by using the energy saving circuit; this circuit stores the energy required for cooling during the regular operation and uses it in ECO Mode for drying the air in partial load operations to maintain the desired dew point. While in ECO mode, the dryer, compressor, and fan motors are switched off to achieve energy savings.

The below graph represents the savings in winter at various loads for ES cycling refrigerated dryer w.r.t non-cycling refrigerated dryer. Representation of 60°F delta temperature between summer and winter/night conditions

Save up to 60% in energy with AR Premium refrigerated dryers*

* Based on the dryer selected and its operating conditions

Conditions for the above illustration -

Dryer selected: AR 2990P for flow rate 1600 cfm at an ambient temperature of 104°F, an inlet temperature of 122°F, and 100 PSIG operating pressure.

Winter/Night conditions are ambient temperature of 68°F, inlet temperature of 86°F; 30% of the overall yearly operating hours.

6000 operating hours per year with 25% time at 100% load, 40% time at 75% load, 25% time at 50% load & 10% time at 25% load.