For applications that require dry air, but do not call for a critical dew point, a refrigerated air dryer would be a great option, as it is cost effective and comes in a non-cycling and cycling option dependent on your budget and needs.
Non-Cycling Dryers:
A refrigerated non-cycling dryer is a great start point for anyone looking to improve their compressed air quality while operating on a budget. The term “non-cycling” means that this type of a dryer operates the refrigeration compressor constantly and utilizes hot gas bypass valve to redirect the refrigerant even at less than full load condition. In a refrigerated air dryer, the temperature of compressed air is lowered to 3° Celsius (37° Fahrenheit), which allows for water to drop out from its vapor state, resulting in dry air beneficial for most applications. Non cycling dryers are very simple and reliable machines and come with minimum options in order to simplify the design and operations.
This type of a refrigerated dryer is very affordable as it comes with lowest initial cost of investment, yet provides dry and clean compressed air. The non-cycling dryers are simple to install and easy to operate, making them a market standard in performance, quality and ability to deliver desired outcomes. This type of a dryer is ideally paired with any rotary screw air compressor, while a high temperature version is preferred and recommended for use with any piston air compressors. As the name suggest, “non-cycling” means that the dryer will run constantly, regardless of the compressed air load coming into the dryer. This means that the energy consumption at full load or no load is nearly the same, therefore making the unit not as energy efficient as other options on the market. If energy savings is not a priority and your facility requires a simple compressed air dryer that provides minimal dew point swings, the non-cycling dryer makes it an attractive option.
Cycling Dryers:
Unlike the non-cycling refrigerated, the cycling uses additional equipment such as thermal mass or frequency controllers, which would allow the dryer to turn on and off based on the compressed air demand coming into the dryer, ultimately making it much more energy efficient. The cycling dryer design comes with a totally customer oriented design, offering performance as well as reliability. The initial cost of the cycling dryer is marginally higher than that of a non-cycling option, but it does provide the lowest, long term solution and lowest life-cycle cost. Cycling dryers are very reliable and offer the convenience of easy installation, small footprint and low noise level. As previously mentioned, cycling dryers offer maximum energy savings and low pressure drops. Due to its advantages, the slightly higher cost of a cycling dryer can be very beneficial to any compressed air system, especially when considering the overall life-cycle cost of the equipment. If your application experiences fluctuating air demand a cycling dryer is most benefecial to you.
Post time: Jun-20-2022