Dry January?

This year, I set a goal to start with "Dry January." And wow, what an eye-opener that turned out to be. I’ve never encountered so many challenges with compressed air dryers until I decided to focus on these crucial components of your compressed air system.

In several of our monitoring projects, which we carried out with renown subject-matter experts, I learned that dryers often experience events throughout the day that go unnoticed unless there’s constant monitoring. A lot of these issues aren’t due to poor dryer design but rather stem from flawed system layouts or changes in demand over time. For example, a dryer designed for a nominal flow of X can struggle when subjected to 1.5X or even 2X its maximum capacity. This results in elevated dew points and skyrocketing pressure losses.

Another common issue is excessive purge flow when there’s little to no consumption. In such cases, a smaller dryer or shutting down the system entirely during weekends might be the better option. Speaking of system shutdowns, pay close attention during startup. Excessive flow during pressurization can lead to dew point spikes—or worse, desiccant blowouts in twin-tower desiccant dryers without sonic nozzles to prevent such incidents.

Now, while we’re a sensor manufacturer—not dryer specialists— permanent monitoring, common sense, and the "5 Whys" method can go a long way in distinguishing between good and bad performance. Here’s how to get started:

• Measure the output flow, temperature, and pressure of your dryer.
• Measure the dew point, ideally at each dryer’s output.
• Check the pressure upstream of filters, either after the wet receiver tank or at the main header exit.
• During your routine checks, inspect the drains for clogs or malfunctions. Don’t forget to push their test buttons—they’re there for a reason!

What you might find:

• Excessive pressure drop across the dryer and pre/post filters
• High inlet temperatures that push refrigeration dryers to their limits
• Dew point fluctuations caused by variable airflow demand
• Condensate carryover due to malfunctioning drains in compressors or wet tanks causing flooding which will lead to total dryer overload

By taking these steps, you can identify and address inefficiencies that might otherwise go unnoticed.