Air drier design

[FANTM58]

I’m getting ready to start planning my air compressor piping.
In another post im looking into using straight pipe PEX
but the use of an air drier seems useful. I understand the basic
Design concept, I think. Loops with drains at the bottom.
Any other design elements I need to incorporate .
I’m also gonna try and make it a art piece or cool design if possible.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I’m getting ready to start planning my air compressor piping.
In another post im looking into using straight pipe PEX
but the use of an air drier seems useful. I understand the basic
Design concept, I think. Loops with drains at the bottom.
Any other design elements I need to incorporate .
I’m also gonna try and make it a art piece or cool design if possible.

Loops are an internet thing. The loops, lines, heat exchangers, etc. just dump heat. The sumps and filters get rid of water.

Normal commercial install the compressor somewhere kinda distant and out of the way. Then the pipe runs along the wall, enters as high as practical, and drops to a convenient height to service the filters. Then, back as high as possible to distribute around the premises. All pipe slopes to a sump.

Industrial compressors use a heat exchanger immediately after compression. (It looks like a transmission cooler, an extrusion, or AC condenser) Then, it is treated, hits the trunk, leads to a dry tank, feeds the loop for distribution to all stations. All lines drain to sumps.

For home garages, anything more convenient than a 3/8 hose is a step up. If you want to get water out, install a particulate filter then a coalescing filter after the air hits room temp. Both filters remove dirt and water.

https://www.miltonindustries.com/frl-s/filters/filter-3-4-npt-metal-10-oz-bowl.html
https://www.miltonindustries.com/frl-s/filters/3-8-coalescing-filter-metal-b.html

 

[Doozer75]

Make a refrigerated dryer.
Use a refrigerator.
Put a 5 gallon or more container inside.
Run a coil of copper around inside the container,
entering the top, and sealed passing through the
container at the bottom. Run the air through the
coil. Fill the container with water. The fridge will
take the heat out of the water. The water will take
the heat out of the air in the coil. Having the water
doing the heat removal from the air acts like a heat
sink that is always at the ready. The fridge recovers
the heat back from the water and dumps the heat
outside the fridge at whatever rate it can, but the
water will always be able to recover heat from the air
coil faster than the fridge alone can. This is because
the fridge is always maintaining the chilled water,
even before there is demand for the cooling the
compressed air. And when the air is flowing and
the water is absorbing heat, the fridge is running
then also. Having a water heat sink is way better
than those straight up refrigerated dryers. And as an
added bonus, you can store some beer in there.

--Doozer

 

[sberry]

Run a pipe to a filter about like Leland posted, then to a hose reel. Leave a T between them in case you want to book on another whip or continue on to another reel.
You could also read every scheme ever conceived on the internet with every fitting ever invented too.

 

[peter2772000]

I think it all depends on how many CFM you're running. My compressor is a 9-11 CFM

In my case, I used half of an A/C A-coil. Installed it in front of the compressor pump. The flywheel has a built-in fan, and believe it or not, the airflow thru the 1/2 A-coil is sufficient. When sandblasting, I first tried using a water separator but the separator couldn't keep up. I installed the afore-mentioned coil and no more issues. Relatively simple to install

 

[engineer2]

An after cooler is not an air dryer. True it condenses out moisture as you cool air to room temperature, but the air coming out will still be at 100% humidity unless you live in the desert.

Having a water heat sink is way better than those straight up refrigerated dryers.

Not true. In a refrigerated dryer you have a liquid refrigerant "heat sink" that absorbs a lot of heat as it boils. It's always circulating and being replenished. You can cool the air to 35F. An air-to-air heat exchanger uses incoming air to warm the outgoing air back up so your fingers won't freeze.

True, you can do something similar with an old fridge, but it wouldn't be efficient plus you don't have an air-to-air heat exchanger. 5 gallons of water won't give you much capacity and I doubt the system could keep up with sandblasting.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Google Tsunami water trap.

Capt. Chrysler