Drying/Water removal

The drying and removal of water from gas streams is a crucial step in many industrial processes, such as gas treatment, the chemical industry, and the protection of sensitive equipment and pipelines against corrosion, icing, and operational disruptions. The objective is to specifically lower the gas dew point, prevent condensation, ice and hydrate formation, and at the same time improve product quality and process reliability.

In practice, water removal is mainly achieved through adsorption: water vapor is selectively bound to porous solid materials and subsequently desorbed by temperature or pressure changes, allowing the adsorbent material to be regenerated. Silica gel and zeolites have proven particularly effective for this purpose and are widely used in adsorption dryers for air and gas drying applications.

Silica gel is characterized by its high specific surface area, excellent moisture absorption capacity, and robust, cost-efficient regeneration behavior, making it ideal for general moisture removal in air and inert gases. Zeolites (molecular sieves) additionally offer a very high affinity for water molecules and enable extremely low residual moisture levels and dew points in the ppm range, for example in the drying of natural gas, synthesis gas, or specialty gases.

C&CS offers high-quality silica gel and zeolite products for drying and water removal in gas streams. The materials are available in various particle sizes and can be flexibly integrated into existing gas purification systems. They are ideal for applications in gas treatment, air drying, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as numerous other process and protective gas applications.