Can high performance air dryers be environmentally friendly?

As the most prolific contaminant in compressed air systems, it is vital to ensure that all viable water vapour is removed using air dryers before it can enter a pneumatic system. Indeed, if not removed, moisture will cause corrosion of the distribution system,blocked or frozen valves and machinery, as well as providing an ideal breeding ground for micro-organisms and bacteria.




While refrigeration dryers can be useful in some less critical applications they typically operate at a Pressure Dew Point (PDP) of +3oC PDP, so do not eliminate all of the water vapour, often leaving a fairly high concentration present.




By comparison, an adsorption dryer with a PDP of -40oC will produce air that is almost completely free of moisture, being around 60 times dryer than downstream air from a refrigeration system.




Many critical applications require a PDP well below those offered by refrigeration dryers. For instance, compressed air with a PDP better than -26oC will inhibit growth of micro-organisms, which is a crucial factor in industries such as food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, dental, electronics and cosmetics, plus any application where compressed air is used to provide breathable air. For ultracritical applications which require the driest possible air, a PDP of -70oC must be specified.




Only adsorption or desiccant dryers can provide these levels of dry compressed air. However, such air dryers can consume huge amounts of energy if they are not optimised correctly, with drying costs often being as high as 80% of total operational costs.




To address this issue Parker domnick hunter has developed the ingenious PNEUDRI desiccant air dryers that are fitted with a Dewpoint Dependent Switching (DDS) energy saving controls, which eliminate unnecessary desiccant regeneration cycles to provide considerable energy savings of up to 80%. These innovative dryers are extremely efficient with a standard pressure dewpoint of -40°C, with the option to go to -70°C.




The modular design of these high performance air dryers eliminates the need for complex valves and interconnecting piping and is typically 60% of the size and weight of conventional designs.




Furthermore, the PNEUDRI dryers can easily be multi-banked to meet evolving compressed air requirements, while individual banks can be isolated for maintenance work so as not to interrupt clean air supply.




PNEUDRI - The world's most advanced air drying systems
Guaranteed air quality:conforms to ISO 8573-1:2010 when used in conjunction with Parker's OIL-X EVOLUTION 80% energy savings No annual inspections required Modular, space saving aluminium design: just 60% of the size and weight of traditional twin tower dryers and can fit through standard doorways Simple installation and reduced costs