Air Filters, Dryers & Drains: Where to place them?

In a shop or facility, the distance and placement of the compressor, dryers, filters and drains are absolutely important to the performance of the air system. Pneumatic applications perform best with a consistent supply of dry, clean air.

To achieve this feat, one must plumb their air system in accordance with the basic best practices of compressed air.

Where to Place Compressed Air Filtration

The further away from the air compressor, the more effective your filtration will work. Compressed air filters should sit as close to the equipment as possible to catch the liquid that has condensed in the piping.

This condensation occurs due to the cooling of the air after it leaves the compressor; for every 20°F the air cools, 50% of the water vapor falls out as a liquid. It is also important that you place filters before any compressed air dryer to clean the air and remove oils that may hinder the operation and performance of your dryer.

Properly “stacking” your compressed air filtration assures you are properly cleaning the air for your application; water separators for bulk water and contaminants, oil coalescing filters for oil aerosols and fine particulates, and activated carbon filters for the removal of oil vapors.

Where to Place Compressed Air Dryers

For all compressed air systems, using some form of drying technology near the compressor is a essential component in an effectively designed air system.

For applications that require even dryer air, the ideal position would be right before the point-of-use. This allows the compressed air to drop as much temperature as possible so the water vapor can be converted to liquid moisture and captured by the air filters, allowing for the dryer to remove any lingering humidity.

While you may have some applications that require ultra-dry air, you may not want to apply that same technology to every application; cost factors are part of that equation.

Where to Place Automatic Drains

There are three locations automatic drains are required to be present in order for an efficient, well-running system. The first is on the compressed air receiver tank.

This allows for the draining of liquid that will condense in the tank and cause corrosion to the internal reservoir as well as take up valuable storage space for your compressed air volume. The next location is anywhere there is a drip leg throughout the air piping.

Placing an automatic drain on those drip legs removes collected moisture thereby preventing it from being recaptured by the air stream. Catching and draining the liquid in the air pipes will ease the work of the air filters downstream.

Lastly, there should always be an automatic drain on all filters and dryers. Automatic drains are recommended over manual drains in the event the operator forgets to drain the systems; not to mention, not manually draining them often enough could prevent moisture carryover.

This post first appeared on the Tsunami blog at: https://www.gosuburban.com/tsunami/blog/2021/04/20/air-filters-dryers-drains-where-to-place-them