Air Dryer Before Or After Tank

Dual tower desiccant air dryers are typically used.

Air dryer before or after tank.

The compressor outlet feeds directly into the tank. 2 dry receivers. Placing a wet receiver right at the discharge of the compressor before the air dryer gives a nice place for the air to cool allows a quiet zone of low velocity for water and contaminants to drop out and is the best place for the compressor control. What is the proper location of receiver or the compressor air tank before or after the air dryer.

Installing a dryer before the compressed air receiver can seldom be recommended. The storage of condensation and moisture in air receiver tanks leads to the formation of rust and scale on the inside of the tank which can become loose and get carried down stream in the outgoing air. Dry storage is when the compressed air is stored in the receiver tank post air drying which protects the compressed air from gathering any additional moisture. Dry storage tanks are located after the air dryers to store compressed air that has already been dried and filtered.

Air flows through the tank in this configuration entering through the bottom port from the compressor and exiting out the top to the dryer. Should the air compressor water separator drain fail the condensate will simply collect in the. This results in a high pressure dew point or a higher amount of water content in the air which can damage the system or end use. However an arrangement of this type makes good sense when sudden peaks of requirement are anticipated and the quality of the compressed air must not deteriorate.

Ken from houston posed this question on this website. Wet air storage before a dryer dry air storage after a dryer air compressors 10 horsepower and smaller are usually mounted directly to receiver tanks. It is not. Compressed air goes to a dry receiver after it has already been through a dryer.

He says our engineer has had our compressed air system reworked so that the air from the compressor goes to the air dryer first then to the receiver then to the plant. If the demand exceeds the compressor and dryer capacity rating the dryer can become overloaded. Wet storage tanks are located before the air drying system.