Desiccant air dryers are capable of reducing moisture from the compressed air to a dew point lower than 0 degrees Fahrenheit. To maintain such a low dew point, your operational cost may rise; therefore, you need to select the right dryer that will meet your job requirements as well as keep a check on your operational cost.

To buy a desiccant air dryer, you must know the following three things:

1. The dew point required
2. The type of desiccant dryer
3. The type of material used in the desiccant dryer

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Analyze your requirements to choose the correct desiccant dryer

Before selecting the right desiccant dryer, you need to analyze the dew point required and the various types of desiccant dryers available in the market.

I recommend: MVS Engineering provides a good introduction to dew points and air-drying technology. Moreover, the website also provides information on two types of desiccant air dryers: heatless desiccant air dryers and heat re-activated desiccant air dryers. To calculate the dew point required for your job, you can use the dew point calculator provided by IMA. Hydraulics and Pneumatics provides some very useful information on desiccant air dryers, which will help you in considering important points such as size, cost and the amount of services required for different types of dryers before selecting one.

Research different types of material used in the desiccant dryers to select an appropriate one

Desiccant dryers may differ in efficiency and operating costs based on the desiccant used. The desiccant is mainly made of silica gel, alumino-silicate gel, activated alumina and molecular sieve. You can compare these materials based on the costs, moisture absorption rate, stability, reactivation temperature and pickup rate.

I recommend: Cashflo Limited provides a comparison of the various desiccant materials used in desiccant dryers. Fluid Energy Industrial is another good source, which provides some more information on the different types of materials used in the desiccant dryers.

Find desiccant dryer suppliers

Once you have selected the type of desiccant dryers based on your requirement analysis, you are ready to find the appropriate sources from where to buy desiccant dryers.

I recommend: You can buy desiccant dryers online from Grainger. You can also search for desiccant dryers as well as desiccant material at eCompressedair. Pneumatic Products and General Air Products are some other desiccant dryer manufacturers, which have a good range of desiccant dryers with various desiccants. You can buy desiccant dryers from these manufacturers by contacting one of their distributors. You can also buy used desiccant dryers from Aaron Equipment Company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Do not forget to include energy and maintenance costs in your cost analysis for desiccant dryers.
• •  Select desiccant dryer suppliers that have strong after-sales service and a spare parts (e.g. desiccant) distribution network.