Desiccant air dryer are more efficient than refrigerated dryer in removing water vapor thus preventing corrosion on pipes, inhibit growth of micro-organisms within the compressed air system. It provides pressure dewpoint down to -4°F (-20°C ), -40°F (-40°C) or -94°F (-70°C) and beyond.

The unique Parker modular air dryer are made from extruded aluminum material that undergoes alochrome treatment to prevent corrosion. It is exempted from test and vessel certification which is typically required for twin tower dryers. It can be installed as central air purification in critical application or point of use, with varying flow capacity of up to 10,000 cfm. To select an efficient and cost effective dryer system the actual compressed air flow rate, maximum inlet temperature, minimum working pressure and required pressure dewpoint and availability of excess air supply must be determined.

It removes water vapor in compressed air by passing it to a chamber filled with adsorbent material such as silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieve or also known as desiccant. A snow stormed filled, two layered desiccant bed, is used on each chamber to strip off the moisture from the compressed air. A water resistant bottom layer desiccant protects the high performing top layer to best achieve the required dryness. Once the desiccant bed is saturated, it must be regenerated to ensure a continuous supply of clean and dry air.

There are two different regeneration methods available:

Heatless Regenerative also known as Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) regenerates the wet desiccant with a portion of the already dried processed air which is also known as purge air.

Heat Regenerative also known as Thermal Swing Adsorption (TSA) regenerates the wet desiccant using internal heaters operating upto 200 °C way below the flashpoint of oil, very safe to use for oil lubricated compressor. Unlike heatless it only needs small amount of dried processed for cooling purposes.