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How to find the better desiccant dryer

An adsorption or desiccant dryer uses desiccant material to adsorb and remove the humidity from compressed air. It will come as no surprise then that the type and quality of the desiccant material are of the utmost importance. Adsorption dryers can only be effective and (energy) efficient if they contain quality desiccant. Pneumatech carefully selects the desiccant for its adsorption dryers from a  wide range of premium European and North American suppliers. We base this selection on the following criteria: crushing strength, water resistance, anti-aging effect, and a revolutionary new technology. Here’s why each of those 4 criteria is so important.

1. Crushing strength

Desiccant is subject to a continuous, cyclical load. Due to this load, low-quality desiccant will easily break up. This will cause the desiccant to quickly lose its water retention capabilities. In addition, it will create small dust particles that can block valves and/or clog the downstream dust filter and silencer. This dust can also create a health and environmental hazard during servicing. All of this means that quality desiccant offers a high crushing strength. The graph below shows how much higher the different desiccants that Pneumatech uses perform on crushing strength.

2. Water resistance

Subpar desiccant degrades when it comes into contact with liquid water. All Pneumatech adsorption dryers are equipped with water-resistant desiccant material in the bottom of the vessel. This improves the dryers’ performance and lengthens the lifetime of the desiccant. 

3. Anti-aging effect

All desiccants age, but some significantly faster than others. They degrade after a couple of months because of pressure, temperature or air humidity variations. This leads to performance problems and higher maintenance costs.

Pneumatech adsorption dryers come with desiccant material that is selected for its durability. In addition, they are overfilled to cope with this aging affect or with temporary overloads.

4. A revolutionary new technology

What if you could enjoy all the benefits of adsorption drying without the drawbacks of dealing with traditional desiccant material? That is no longer a hypothetical question. Pneumatech has introduced a new type of structured desiccant that revolutionizes adsorption dryer efficiency, performance and reliability.  Traditional desiccant beads create a turbulent and unevenly distributed air flow. The straight tubes of our solid desiccant ensure a much more efficient air flow to give you significant energy savings. Solid desiccant also offers a 40% longer lifetime, eliminates the harmful desiccant dust and makes maintenance much faster and easier. 

The right desiccant dryer

As you can see, desiccant quality matters – a lot. The right desiccant dryer with quality desiccant will reduce your energy and maintenance costs. It also improves your dryer’s performance and lifetime, and minimizes health and environmental hazards. All of which are important considerations.

If you need help deciphering which desiccant is best for your operation, the Pneumatech experts are always ready to help. As the leader in air treatment and gas generation, we can answer all your questions about air quality and dryers. And we can help you select the Pneumatech desiccant dryer that will best meet your needs.

About desiccant dryers

A desiccant or adsorption dryer uses hygroscopic material or desiccant to remove moisture from compressed air and improve its quality. It consists of two towers. While one tower is drying air, the other is removing the moisture from already saturated desiccant. This so-called regeneration process prepares the desiccant for a new drying cycle.

An adsorption dryer is the preferred solution for applications that require very dry air (PDP of -40°C/-40°F or -70°C/-94°F), as it can reach pressure dew points as low as -70°C/-94°F. That makes desiccant dryers ideal for very cold climates, as they can help avoid ice formation in pipes and applications. They are also widely used in applications such as mold prevention, medical applications, textiles, and food factories.

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Refrigerated Air Dryers

Ash Air has a range of quality cycling and non-cycling Pneumatech refrigerated dryers for your air compressors.Our non-cycling Pneumatech refrigerated dryers offer a reliable and economic solution for removing moisture from your compressed air system. These refrigerated dryers for air compressors are easy to install, offer energy savings, prevent pressure losses, are equipped with rotary compressors and R410A refrigerant, and have improved connectivity features.

The Ash Air collection of very dependable cycling Pneumatech refrigerated dryers offer easy-to-use controllers, are easy to install with low maintenance needs, and are energy efficient with zero-loss drains.

We also supply a range of superior performance refrigerated dryers for air compressors with variable speed technology that matches energy consumption to the actual compressed air demand, have stable pressure dew points, and are available with both air-cooled and water-cooled condensers.

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Desiccant Air Dryers

Our innovative desiccant dryers give customers efficient protection against the presence of any humidity in the air, which often is the source of pipe corrosion and decreased efficiency of equipment and tools.

The Ash Air range of advanced technology 360-1080 m3/hr and 1188-10800 m3/hr adsorption air dryers are for customers who have a focus on energy efficiency and low operating costs, while maintaining the highest standards in air purity. Our Pneumatech blower purge air dryers use heated blower purge air to remove moisture from the desiccant material, which means no purge loss during regeneration.

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Breathing Air Dryers

Here at Ash Air, we offer BA 15-310 HE Breathing Air Purifiers. The Pneumatech solution for Industrial Breathing Air applications, build to exceed standards. The Breathing Air Dryer range assures safe working environment in a wide range of applications. Built to exceed standards, Breathing Air Dryers provide certified breathing air, even in situations with polluted intake air to ensure personnel safety at all times.

The Pneumatech solution for Industrial Breathing Air applications, build to exceed standards. The Breathing Air Dryer range assures safe working environment in a wide range of applications. Built to exceed standards, Breathing Air Dryers provide certified breathing air, even in situations with polluted intake air to ensure personnel safety at all times.

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Who we are and how Ash Air can help your business!

Ash Air has been around in New Zealand since 1979, and we’ve grown into a nationwide company with international support and a reputation for quality and reliability.We look after all things compressed air for your business!

  • Reciprocating, Screw, air compressors
  • Vacuum pumps
  • Nitrogen
  • An extensive line of air treatment components

Ash Air's range of Chicago Pneumatic, Alup, Pneumatech, and Quincy compressors are used extensively around the world in industries ranging from oil and gas to food, automotive and farming, and we bring you these world class compressors here in the land of the long white cloud.Our technicians are compressed air equipment experts and are dedicated to addressing customer needs. Supported by a 13 locations nationwide, Ash Air offers one of the widest selections of compressed air equipment and parts available today in New Zealand.

Reliability and Efficiency

With Ash Air compressors, you can count on reliability and high performance for even the most demanding applications. We focus our efforts on the following:

  • Increasing uptime
  • Reducing unexpected repairs
  • Reducing energy consumption
  • Improving the cleanliness of compressed air


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