This section deals with the various options for installations including adsorption dryers. The examples mentioned represent a limited selection of typical installations found in industry. These installation examples, serving as models, cover a large range of user problems. The step by step recording of problems arising with individual installations are at the centre of these observations, not the basic scheme. By-pass lines were intentionally not drawn into the schemes. The valves shown in the layouts can be manually, electrically or pneumatically actuated.
Each application has its own, often concealed, problem arising from a specific requirement. This must always be considered so, for this reason these installation examples should be regarded as guides as to how to identify the problem. “We have always done it this way” is the surest way to overlook problems at the planning stage.
The logical starting point for a new installation is the specification by the user of the compressed air requirement for quality, quantity and pressure. Quality classes given in ISO 8573-1 will assist in selecting suitable air quality. Each case is individually examined with regard to the quality class and the maximum residual values for solids, water and oil are prescribed. In order to achieve these values, the separator and dryers to be used need to be specified. The adsorption dryer must always be installed with a pre-filter and a downstream filter. The pre-filtration and preparation at the inlet to the dryer is necessary in order to separate condensed moisture, oil aerosols and solid particles from the gas flow. The downstream filter at the outlet of the dryer protects the equipment connected downstream from desiccant dust. Filters and dryers have very different construction, degree of separation and mode of operation. These differences were explained in the preceding chapters. Possible installation schemes for adsorption dryers with heatless regeneration are explained in the following sections. It is not possible to reduce installation examples for adsorption dryers with heat regeneration, as these dryer systems call for a fundamentally different form of consideration due to the heat which has to be applied and extracted in the course of regeneration.
