Is dried air needed in pneumatic transport?

All air contains an amount of moisture that depends on site pressure and temperature conditions. Many pneumatic conveying systems require dry air and as such the designer must ensure that appropriate measures are taken to remove excess moisture. There are two stages of air drying in a compressed air system:

• Aftercooling
• To dry

After cooling, the air ensures that the air temperature falls below the dew point and the condensate is collected in a siphon. Aftercoolers can be divided into two main types:

• Direct contact
• Surface

Surface coolers make up the bulk of the available systems. Compressed air drying is the next processing stage after the aftercooler. The use of a dryer is to further reduce moisture content and selection is based solely on the final quality of the air required for the process.