As their name implies, 500 cfm non-cycling refrigerated air dryer remove moisture from the compressed air stream mechanically by cooling it. Cool air can’t hold as much water vapor as warm air, so as the air cools excess water vapor condenses out as liquid water. This condensate must then be removed from the system.

500 cfm non-cycling refrigerated air dryer require lower capital investment then heated desiccant dryers and have relatively low operating and maintenance costs. This makes them an economical choice for a wide variety of industrial applications. However, they can’t meet the requirements for some moisture level requirements or site conditions.

In some situations, only a small amount of the overall compressed air stream is used for ultra-dry air—for example, 10% of the air is used for a facility instrument air application. In these situations, drying the entire compressed air stream to Class 1, 2 or 3 is not an efficient solution, as costs are driven up to dry most of the air far beyond what is needed.

A more economical solution in these cases is to use a refrigerated/desiccant hybrid system, placing desiccant dryers just before the points-of-use requiring lower dew point air. Capital, operating and maintenance costs are kept as low as possible while still drying the air for each part of the system to the pressure dew point needed.

While all compressed air dryers can be affected by high ambient temperature because it raises the inlet air temperature (see above), 500 cfm non-cycling refrigerated air dryer are also affected more directly. As the ambient air temperature increases, the 500 cfm non-cycling refrigerated air dryer dissipates heat less effectively, which makes the cooling process less efficient, leading to a reduced dryer capacity.

In a cooler environment, the dryer can dissipate heat more effectively, making the cooling process more efficient and increasing the dryer capacity.