Compare COMPRESSED AIR DRYERS. The refrigerated compressed air dryers and desiccant compressed air dryers remove moisture, oil and heat from the compressed air. Refrigerated compressed air dryers are often preceded by desiccant compressed air dryers to increase the pressure and air volume of the system.

After coolers come standard with many compressed air systems and are often a requirement preceding a compressed air dryer. This applies to the desiccant air dryers.

Desiccant air dryers require heat to regenerate the desiccant beads. The heat of the compressed air dryer can be generated externally (Heated), or can be collected from the heat generated by the desiccant beads themselves (Heatless) The resulting compressed air has a dew point of minus 35 F. Refrigerated air dryers are simple and less expensive to purchase, but more expensive to operate. The refrigerated compressed air dryer can handle large volumes of compressed air, but dries the air only to a dew point of 32 to 40 degrees F. To get a lower dew point, the compressed air will have to be moved through a desiccant dryer.

Oil and water separators. The water that is removed from compressed air dryers carries oil with it. The oil and water have to be separated before reusing or disposing. The allowed remaining oil content in the water depends on local and state specifications.