Energy Efficient Compressed Air Dryers

What are compressed air dryers for?

Air is a colourless, odourless, tasteless mixture of many gases, primarily nitrogen and oxygen. It is naturally contaminated with solid particles, such as dust, sand, soot and salt crystals. This contamination varies with differing environments and altitudes.

Water vapour is another natural ingredient that can be found in variable amounts in the air. The amount of water vapour and contamination of the air plays a vital role in the compression process and in the quality of the air delivered by the compressor.

The damaging and corrosive properties of water are well known. Untreated air at atmospheric pressure contains large amounts of water and other contaminants such as oil droplets and dirt particles.

When the air is compressed the concentration of moisture and other contaminants increases. If allowed to remain in the system, this corrosive mixture has a detrimental effect on pneumatic equipment, causing unnecessary production downtime, product spoilage and reduced equipment life. 

Compressed air dryers are used to remove moisture from the compression process, protecting equipment and products from harm and ensuring clean, dry air quality.

Why use a compressed air dryer?

Safe operation

Untreated air can cause corrosion and damage to your pipework and the internal structure of your air compressor. This can eventually lead to a system breakdown, costing you time and money. Compressed air dryer will help to keep your system running damage-free and your operation safe and reliable with long term results.

High-quality end-product

Whatever your application, you need to be sure that your end-product is of high quality. Air that contains water vapour can cause product spoilage which can be very costly to businesses. Compressed air dryer ensures that air is pure and dry before it reaches the point of use.

Peace of mind

Modern production systems and processes demand high quality compressed air, which is defined in the 6 classes outlined in international standard ISO 8573- 1:2010. These are only achievable with filtration, water separation and drying. Trust powerful compressed air dryers to offer complete reassurance and total peace of mind for your business.

Different drying technologies

Refrigerant dryers

Refrigerant dryers are the most common type of drier technology used by many industries. As the name suggests, heat exchangers are used to cool compressed air which will condense the bulk amount of water vapour within the air. Once the compressed air is cooled and water is removed, the air is reheated to around room temperature to ensure no more vapour forms within the pipe system.

CompAir refrigerant dryers are characterised by their energy efficiency, which helps to reduce running costs thanks to their patented heat exchanger technology. The CD series of refrigerant dryers offer a host of benefits to the user including: 

• High quality heat exchangers with low pressure losses 
• Energy saving mode – shuts dryer off during low loads 
• Full feature, multi-function innovative control panel 
• Anti freeze mode – shuts dryer off to avoid icing 
• Low operating costs 
• Compact design 
• Alarm display with history of alarms 
• Effective condensate separation 
• Easy to install, operate and maintain 
• Simplified access to unit for easy maintenance 

The CD-series refrigerant dryers deliver a comprehensive, cost-effective solution to multiple applications across a wide range of sectors including automotive, manufacturing, petrochemical, oil and gas, dry cleaning and light processing to name a few. They offer a fantastic return on investment and are available in a wide range of airflows. Read our brochure on the downloads tab for more information.

For many oil-free applications the heat-of-compression drying process is the most energy efficient way. CompAir offers a range of highly efficient HOC dryers offering lowest operating costs and extremely low-noise operation.

• Low pressure drop
• Low operating costs
• Low noise levels
• Pressure dew point down to -40°C

Sub Zero Dryer

The Sub Zero Dryer is a high efficiency alternative to traditional desiccant type dryers 
for ISO Class 3 (-20 degC PDP) applications. It is an innovative new type of dryer that 
provides lower Total Cost of Ownership than ever thought possible, compatible with all 
types of compressors, no purge loses, and provides consistent PDP performance regardless 
of changes to air demand or ambient conditions.

Why choose a sub zero refrigeration dryer?

The revolutionary CMT dryer is the only regenerative refrigerant dryer available in the compressed air market today. It combines the sub zero pressure dew point (PDP) of a typical regenerative desiccant dryer, with the low operating and energy costs of a refrigerant dryer, to provide an extremely low total cost of ownership (TCO). Sub zero air dryers take clean, dry air to new levels of cost-efficiency across a broad spectrum of operating conditions.

Optimised for Class 3 air quality

Many applications require very dry, high-quality air with sub zero dew points. CompAir’s desiccant dryers are the best option for the most stringent requirements – ISO Class 1-2 with a pressure dew point (PDP) as low as -70°C (-94°F). However, ISO Class 3 air, with a PDP of -20°C (-4°F), is sufficient for a large portion of the market. For applications that only require Class 3 air, we've expanded our family of high-quality air dryers with our CMT dryers. They combine the ease of maintenance and operation of a refrigerated dryer with the sub zero pressure dew points typically associated with a desiccant dryer.