Dryers #2526227

The ICE DRYER design is the culmination of experience gained by Motivair, after more than 10 years installing & servicing thousands of cycling refrigeration dryers, allied to a 2-year intensive research & development program. The result is a truly innovative dryer design, which offers the very best features of both non-cycling and cycling dryers. Patents are pending in all major world markets.
The basis of the ice dryer is incredibly simple. During periods of maximum load, ICE Dryer operates as a standard, non-cycling dryer, with direct heat transfer between the compressed air & refrigerant. If the load is reduced, ICE DRYER automatically starts to build an ice-bank with spare refrigeration capacity. When the microprocessor control determines the ice-bank is sufficient to balance the load, the mechanical refrigeration system is switched off and the compressed air melts the ice-bank, while the air is cooled to the dew point temperature.
This innovative use of ice as the thermal storage medium is a natural progression from older, competitive cycling dryers, which use glycol or sand. The unique combination of ice storage, R-134a refrigerant and zero air-loss drains makes an unbeatable environmental statement.

All large manufacturing facilities have widely varying compressed air usage, depending on production schedules, shift operation, weekends, etc. While air compressors are cycled an/or unloaded to match reduced compressed air demand, many large refrigeration dryers are not able to accurately match their power consumption to a reduced compressed air load, resulting in a considerable waste of electrical energy.
The only way to effectively match dryer power consumption to a continuously varying compressed air load is to utilize multiple, cycling refrigeration compressors, and a separate thermal storage capacity, sufficient of prevent short cycling of the compressors or compressor stages, without a hot gas valve.
This is the real value of a Motivar large capacity cycling dryer - close dew point control, with the lowest operating cost of any packaged refrigeration dryer, plus redundant components to minimize the risk of factory downtime. Substantial energy savings can be calculated, for any installation, to justify the installation of a Motivair cycling dryer. Request an energy saving calculation sheet for Motivair.

Principle of Operation
Hot, saturated air from the aftercooler enters the copper tubes in the air/air exchanger, (economizer) where it is pre-cooled by the cold, dry leaving air, in the shell. (Hot, moist, incoming air is always in the tubes, to reduce shell corrosion).
The pre-cooled air then enters the exclusive Motivair helical copper tubes, in the air/glycol exchanger, where it is cooled to its final dew point, by chilled glycol, flowing in counter-currant through the shell.
The chilled air passes through the stainless steel moisture separator, which has an efficiency of 99.9%, regardless of airflow, or droplet size. Condensate is removed from the system, without any loss of air, via a pneumatically powered auto-drain. Finally, the cold, dry air is re-heated, in the shell side of the air/air exchanger, by the incoming hot air, for maximum volumetric efficiency, before exiting the dryer.
The glycol is chilled, by a cycling mechanical refrigeration system, and continuously pumped through the shell side of the air/glycol exchanger. The glycol flow-rate remains constant, regardless of compressed air load, or applied refrigeration capacity.
The refrigeration compressors unload, and/or cycle off & on sequentially, in direct proportion to the compressed air load, minimizing electrical power consumption. All dryer components are mounted on a heavy channel frame, pre-piped & wired, with a full refrigerant charge.

Application: Many industrial and process compressed air applications must be completely free of all suspended water vapor. A refrigeration dryer is suitable for most general applications, but for those requiring absolutely dry air, an adsorption dryer is the only solution.
Some of these applications are: outside air lines & instrumentation subject to freezing conditions, air conveying of hygroscopic materials, special manufacturing processes, chemical, pharmaceutical & laboratory equipment. For these applications, a Motivair MPS heatless adsorption dryer, also known as a pressure swing dryer, will provide a constant pressure dew point of -40?F, or even -100?F for special applications.

Standard Controls & Instrumentation

Power on/off switch.

Tower status LEDs.

Purge rate flow selector switch -allows manual selection of 4 different purge rates to make reduced load, or rapid test cycle for service inspection.

Failure to switch alarm.

Color-change dew point indicator.

Pressure gauges on both towers.