Refrigerated Air Dryer Sizing
Use our dryer sizing tool below to find a refrigerated or desiccant compressed air dryer to fit your compressed air system.
Refrigerated air dryer sizing. Refrigerated air dryer selector get the right air quality at the right size. Understand the pressure limitations to your air dryer. The refrigerated air dryer cools the incoming compressed air first in an air to air heat exchanger where the outgoing cool dry air pre cools the hot incoming air and condenses some moisture out. If circulating good quality moisture free air in your compressed air system is important it is no less important getting the right sized equipment to do the job.
When sizing a dryer it s important to understand how temperature and pressure affect water content in the air. Refrigerated air dryers are the most popular choice in removing condensate water from a compressed air system. By inputting 5 parameters from your application. To protect your piping tools and equipment it s best to use a compressed air dryer to dry the air.
If you want your air dried to proper specifications under all conditions then some research is required that may require you to adjust to a larger size. As the ambient air temperature increases the refrigerated dryer dissipates heat less effectively which makes the cooling process less efficient leading to a reduced dryer capacity. As a rule of thumb every 20 f rise in inlet air temperature may double the water load on a dryer. As the ambient air temperature increases the refrigerated dryer dissipates heat less effectively which makes the cooling process less efficient leading to a.
Air dryers are not the only solution the air dryer suppresses the dew point which removes the bulk of the moisture in the. Standard refrigerated desiccant air dryers require an inlet temperature of 100 degrees f or less also take your inlet air pressure into consideration when sizing. Compressed air always contains water coming from the air that is sucked in by the compressor. Then the incoming air enters an air to refrigerant heat exchanger where the air is cooled to 38ยบ f by the liquid refrigerant.
Removing water from a compressed air system is crucial in the majority of applications as water can cause instrument tool damage product spoilage pipe corrosion and higher maintenance costs. The water vapor content of air varies directly with temperature if temperature increases the air s ability to hold water increases. Although it seems obvious sizing a compressed air dryer is not as simple as merely matching the size of the air compressor. While all compressed air dryers can be affected by high ambient temperature because it raises the inlet air temperature see above refrigerated dryers are also affected more directly.