Choosing a dryer in a compressed air system plays an important role. Please read the whole article to learn every detail about dryers.

 What Is a Dryer?

In the environment where an air compressor runs or in the atmosphere under normal conditions, there are invisible water molecules. These water molecules are called moisture. When the compressor takes in air, moisture enters the system as well. A certain amount of moisture is found in all compressors. Moisture is also found inside the air line where the air is carried. The moisture in the air line is condensed into water. Accumulation of too much water will cause performance drops and inefficient functioning of the compressor. An inefficient compressor will constantly require maintenance. In short, leaving the inside of the compressor humid will cause you financial problems such as loss of production and maintenance costs.

You can use an air dryer to prevent this adverse event. An air dryer or a compressor with dryer is a product that dries out the humid air inside the compressed air system. Air dryers do not eliminate 100% of the moisture. Because the compressor needs a small amount of this moisture inside the compressor. The dryer absorbs majority of the moisture inside the compressor and sends the remaining to the system as it is required by the compressor. When the compressed air is hot or the compressor head cannot be chilled enough, the moisture is transferred to the system. This is seen after condensation and the compressed air dryer is used at this point.

 What Is Compressor with Dryer?

A compressor with dryer is a regular compressor equipped with a dryer. You can complete your tasks without any problems thanks to the dryer found on the compressors with dryers. The dryer is installed on the air tank. To protect the dryer against the heat disseminated by the compressor, there are heat resistant metal profiles between the tank and the dryer and around the dryer. These profiles protect the dryer against the heat generated by the compressor and ensure that it is used problem-free.

 How Does an Air Dryer Work?

Majority of appliances that work with a pneumatic logic cannot tolerate hot compressed air. There are coolers and moisture separators in the operating logic and between the elements of a compressor. These coolers chill the hot compressed air coming from the outside. Again, the heat exchangers between the components of the compressor ensure that the moisture in the air is condensed and separated from the air. The moisture separated by heat exchangers is collected into a condensation tank, and automatically or manually discharged from this tank.

The most common air dyer is the one with refrigerant. An air dryer with refrigerant cools down the compressed air to condense the moisture, ensuring that the air becomes moisture-free.

There is a degree for the refrigerant used in the operating principle of an air dryer. The lowest degree here is 1. Because a gas that drops below 1 degree will freeze. Once frozen, the moisture cannot be separated from the air. In short, there would be no point in using an air dryer in such a case. The highest degree, on the other hand, for an air dryer is 16. Because if you try to separate the moisture by overheating the air, it will become gas again and get mixed into the air. The air must be between 1 and 16 degrees.

 What Are the Benefits of an Air Dryer?

There are numerous advantages of a compressor air dryer. Let’s mention them.

• Air dryers protect the important parts of your compressors against water, oil, dust among others.
• Plus, compressors are not the only things that air dyers are good for. Using air dryer on a compressor protects your products that must not contact liquids. It also protects your products against adverse items such as water, oil and dust.
• You can perform painting and cleaning tasks with your compressor because the air dryer holds the water or oil in the compressor. To give an example, let us assume that you run an auto painting shop. There is a vehicle you need to paint, in this case, you will need a compressor for the paint gun to spray paint. Imagine that you activate the compressor but together with the paint, there is also oil, water and dust coming out. All your work will go to waste. For this reason, choosing the right air dryer is very important.
• We have already stated that air dryers prevent water, dust and oil from reaching the important parts of your compressor. Water causes rusting on these parts and destroy their structure. Similarly, dust will cause extreme wearing on the machine. You will not experience this problem on a compressor you use with an air dryer.
• Air dryers will reduce the maintenance cost for your compressors. Because they eliminate the moisture, which causes failures on the compressors.

 What Should You Consider When Choosing an Air Dryer?

Full efficiency is closely related to dryer selection. Let’s take a look at the points you should consider when choosing an air dryer. You can get better efficiency if you pay attention to these points when choosing.

• The most important factor you need to consider when choosing an air dryer is the air flow rate. You can provide significant energy savings if you select an air dryer that has values closer to the air suction rate of your compressor.
• You need to review the dryer models in detail. It is critical that you make a choice by considering the task you will complete with the compressor, as well as the ambient temperature and frequency of use.
• It is also very important to well-assess the services offered by the company where you are purchasing a compressor dryer. You should opt for companies that will help you with the service, maintenance and installation of your air dryer.
• You need to determine the location of your air dryer before purchasing it. Placing an air dryer in a hot environment will not be the right thing to do. We have mentioned the operating logic of air dryers. The hot air condenses the moisture into liquid and ensures that it is taken away from the compressor. To do this, it needs adequate temperature. If you place the dryer in a very hot environment, it will be too hot to condense the air.
• We have already told that it condenses the moisture and oil inside the hot air and collects them in a condensation tank. There are two types of dryers that ensures that the liquid waiting in this condensation tank is discharged. One ensures that it is manually discharged using a plug. The other one uses a hose to automatically discharge it. If you are going to place the dryer at a distant point in the working environment and not be able to regularly discharge the wastewater collected inside the dryer, you should go for the automatic model. If the wastewater collected inside is not discharged, it will proceed to the compressor.

 How Many Types of Air Dryers Are There?

Air dryers are categorized into two groups depending on their operating principle. One is refrigerant type dryers and the other one is chemical dryers.

We have already stated that the most common type is the refrigerant type dryer. Here, water and oil are condensed and separated by the cold air emitted by the cooler.

In the chemical dryer model, chemical drying is performed thanks to aluminum oxide and a molecular sieve. Chemical dryers collect the moisture inside the air on the surface and separates them from the compressed air. These chemicals are extremely cold by nature.