Why are compressed air dryers so important?

There are many contaminants that can threaten your compressed air system, but moisture is among the most prevalent. You may be thinking, but it’s just water, but water can have a devastating impact on your compressed air system, your production equipment, and your end product. The best way to prevent moisture from contaminating your compressed air is with a dryer.

Moisture in your compressed air is inevitable as ambient air always contains moisture. When air is compressed, it is pressed into a more compact space. As a result, the contaminants it contains, including moisture can be found in higher volume.

So why is moisture a problem?

Corrosion

It all starts with your compressed air system itself, where the moisture can cause your equipment to corrode if your air is untreated (or improperly treated). This can reduce reliability and durability of your compressed air equipment and shorten time between maintenance.

Corrosion is a problem that magnifies downstream, for an example, rust particles from corroded pipes get into your compressed air and can harm the equipment that uses this air. It can also make it all the way into your end products and compromise their quality.

Microorganisms

Moisture creates ideal conditions for microorganisms to grow, such as fungi, mold, and bacteria. These living organisms multiply in the hot and humid environments that are present in compressed air systems.

These microorganisms do not just pose a danger to your compressed air system itself, but an even greater threat to your end products. This is especially true when your end product is consumed by customers, such as food, beverage, or pharmaceuticals.

Types of dryers

Dyers are your most important line of defense against moisture in your compressed air. The right technology can effectively safeguard your system and end products, and therefore save you a lot of hassle and costs.

Refrigerated dryers

Refrigerant dryers are the most common type of dryer. They consist of an air-to-air heat exchanger and an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger. They remove moisture from your compressed air through condensation.

Desiccant dryers

A desiccant is a material that adsorbs moisture. One of the best-known desiccants is the silica gel contained in the small pouches included in the packaging of products to keep them dry. Also referred to as a hygroscopic material, desiccant is used in dryers to adsorb the moisture contained in the compressed air. The air flows over the material, gives off its moisture and is thereby dried.

Membrane dryers

These dryers are quiet, are easy to operate, have no moving parts, consume little power, and require minimal service. 

They use a process called “selective permeation” of the gas components the air contains. The dryer consists of a cylinder that houses thousands of tiny hollow polymer fibers with an inner coating. Using their selective permeability, these fibers remove water vapor.


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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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