Chemical Catalysts and Adsorbents
Adsorbent Solutions
Sorbead® Air for Air Drying

Sorbead® Air for Air Drying

Compressed Air Drying with Sorbead® Air

BASF Sorbead® Air adsorbents are alumino silicate gels in the form of hard, spherical beads. They are essential in removing water from compressed air so that the efficiency of chemical processes is not compromised. Sorbead® Air is the most energy saving and environmentally friendly adsorbent available for the air compression industry.

Sorbead® Air: The Ideal Adsorbent for Air Drying

Sorbead® Air is known to cut energy and maintenance costs significantly due to many of its properties. It is the best adsorbent to use for the dehydration of air because of its:

  • Large surface area, which leads to a larger adsorption capacity
    • 5% in energy due to high dynamic capacity
  • Low desorption temperature, which decreases the amount of energy used in regeneration
    • 15% in energy due to low desorption temperatures
  • Long lifetime due to its abrasion resistance and mechanical and thermal stability
    • 25% to 40% on refills due to long life span
  • Ability to achieve low pressure dew points

Sorbead® Air can be used in the most energy efficient, environmentally friendly systems.

External heat regenerated (purgeless)

Low-energy external heat-regenerated adsorption dryer which is desorbed and cooled with sucked in ambient air (blower air). An external electric heater, steam or other heat transfer medium is used for heating. This modern purgeless or zero purge system requires no compressed air and depending on the required pressure dew point.

Purgeless

  • Desorption in countercurrent to adsorption
  • Co-current cooling to adsorption
  • No dry compressed air required for cooling,

Pressure dew points: -15 to -60°C

Zero purge

  • Desorption in countercurrent to adsorption
  • Co-current cooling to adsorption in suction operation
  • No dry compressed air required for cooling,

Pressure dew points: -25 to -60°C

Co-Current

  • Desorption in Cocurrent to adsorption
  • Co-current cooling to adsorption
  • No dry compressed air required for cooling,

Pressure dew points: -25 to -40°C

V-Regeneration

  • Suction Desorption (Vacuum) in Co-current to adsorption
  • Co-current cooling to adsorption
  • No dry compressed air required for cooling,

Pressure dew points: -25 to -60°C

Closed Loop

  • Desorption in countercurrent to adsorption
  • Countercurrent cooling to adsorption in a closed loop with an reheration cooler
  • No dry compressed air required for cooling,

Pressure dew points: -25 to -60°C

Recommended products:

Sorbead Air RSorbead Air WS

Heat of Compression (HOC)

The Heat-of-Compression dryer is a heat regenerated adsorption dryer which uses the hot compressed air of a compressor (oil free) for desorption in full flow. The closed system is regenerated under pressure and the hot compressed air coming from the compressor is used for desorption.

These systems are among the lowest energy compressed air dryers and show how economically and efficiently dry compressed air can be produced.

In addition to the variant shown above, there are also systems that regenerate in partial flow or systems that use an integrated compressed air aftercooler, so that the compressor is designed as a hot-air version without an aftercooler.

  • Desorption in countercurrent to adsorption
  • Co-current cooling to adsorption (in full or split stream)
  • integrated regeneration combi cooler for cooling the desorption and cooling flow rates
  • achievable pressure dew points as a function of compressor temperature (hot air)
  • can be used with oil-free piston, screw and turbo compressors
  • Possible in case of too low final compressor temperatures or lower dew points in a additional heating process

Pressure dew points: -15 to -40°C

Recommended products:

Sorbead Air WS

Heatless

Cold regenerated dryers (heatless) work without heat but with additional compressed air. These pressure swing adsorption dryers require a partial flow of depressurized dry compressed air (15-20%) throughout the cycle for regeneration. The changeover takes place after only a few minutes with low water adsorption of the desiccant of less than 1 wt-%. The high consumption of dry compressed air depending on the operating pressure results in relatively high energy costs during operation.

Pressure dew points: -25 to -40 °C

Recommended products:

F-2004A Molecular Sieve

External heat regenerated (standard)

This system is the basic version of External heat regenerated adsorption dryers and probably the most widely used heat regenerated dryer process. These standard systems are desorbed with External heated blower air and then cooled by a short blower run and a partial flow of dry compressed air.

The consumption of dry compressed air (8-12 %) during the cooling phase and the high desorption temperatures, as well as a sometimes quite high differential pressure in the adsorber bed, its reducing the efficiency of this system enormously.

  • dry compressed air is required for cooling (purge)
  • short drying times with low reserves (stand-by phase)

Pressure dew points: -25 to -40°C

Recommended products:

Sorbead Air RSorbead Air WS

Product Portfolio

BASF offers a full portfolio of products to support the compressed air industry including Activated Alumina and Molecular Sieves.

Sorbead® Air
BASF Sorbead® Air line is a high-performance alumino-silicate gel adsorbents for dehydration of air, technical gases and liquids. The patented BASF Sorbead® Air products feature high surface area, enhanced robustness, low pressure dew points accessible, low desorption temperature.

 
Activated Alumina
BASF F-200 is a smooth sphere of activated alumina produced by BASF’s unique manufacturing process. F-200 is an excellent desiccant for drying a wide variety of liquids and gases. Although all molecules are adsorbed to some extent on F-200 activated alumina, those molecules having the highest polarity are preferentially absorbed.
 
Molecular Sieve
Molecular Sieve adsorbents are crystalline aluminosilicates with frameworks that contain monovalent or multivalent cations from the alkali or alkaline earth group, as well as water in its as-synthesized form. This crystal water can be removed without damaging the crystalline structure to create the conditions for a reversible process such as water adsorption/desorption.

Sorbead® Air Partnership Program

Sorbead® Air Inside Program has been designed to develop more significant relationships with Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) companies who recognize unique value of market-leading Sorbead® Air adsorbents for compressed air dryers. This mutually beneficial partnership ensures that OEM receives all necessary technical and commercial support while using Sorbead® Air products in existing or new lines of compressed air dryers. Sorbead® Air Inside Program features:

  • Unique commercial benefits and long-term commercial partnership
  • Access to Sorbead® Air Technical Design Guidelines
  • Technical service support by BASF experts

  • Technical trainings on Sorbead Air ® properties, functions and capabilities
  • Access to Spent sample analysis program
  • Access to BASF cross-marketing program
For more details about Sorbead® Air Inside Program, please contact us.

Our Sorbead® Air Inside partners:

BEKO TECHNOLOGIES
Click here to learn more

Dryer Manufacturer using Sorbead® Air:

Filtrations-Separations-Technik (FST)
Click here to learn more

Customer Suceess Stories

Industrial Fibers manufacturer issues with process air dew point

A manufacturer of industrial fibers experienced issues with reaching pressure dew point of -10 °C in process air during cold seasons. The process air was used to drive pneumatic equipment and the conveyor lines in a plant which ideally required pressure dewpoint of -25 °C. Some of the conveyor lines run through open areas outside where temperatures of below -20 °C were frequently seen.

Customer had two compressed air stations with dryers loaded with activated alumina desiccant. BASF performed technical evaluation and recommended to change the desiccant type from activated alumina to Sorbead® Air R/WS to improve performance under those conditions. After dryers were refilled with Sorbead® Air pressure dew point of -60 °C was steadily reached in process air. Furthermore, the operator of the plant emphasized that the regeneration conditions were not changed when switching from activated alumina to Sorbead® Air which implied that desorption was still carried out at the same bed inlet temperature and the lowest dew points have still been reached. According to the operator, operating the dryers with the aluminum oxide filling would undoubtedly have led to a breakdown due to icing of the conveyor lines.

Refinery using low-pressure steam for regeneration of adsorbent

A refinery in Southern Germany had excess of low-pressure steam (4 barg) that could be utilized as the heat energy source. When reviewing the most suited adsorbent for their externally-heated dryer system, the choice was made to use high energy-efficiency Sorbead® Air adsorbent. Since Sorbead® Air adsorbent installment, target pressure dew point of -30°C has been consistently reached. It was also shown that in continuous operation mode dew points below -40°C are achievable.

If a standard adsorbent had been used, the use of low-pressure steam for adsorbent regeneration would not be possible. Due to the higher desorption temperature of, for example, activated alumina, an electric heater or expensive high-pressure steam (10 bar) would have been required. The operator of the compressed air dryer says: "By using Sorbead® Air adsorbent and our low-pressure steam we saved about 38,000 EUR in energy cost per year".

Two partners, one individual solution

Individual compressed air treatment, adapted to difficult local conditions. Effective engineering and good cooperation between all parties involved made it possible.

Click here for the case study

Product Data Sheets

Publications

Brochure (German)

Adsorbent Solutions Compressed Air Drying

PDF (1.27 MB)
Article (English)

Time to change - Compressed Air Drying

PDF (1.63 MB)
Article

Adsorbents for heat-regenerated compressed air dryers

PDF (6.21 MB)
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