Compressed air drying unit
AssigneeIngersoll-Rand Industrial U.S., Inc.
InventorsHenry Y. Mark, Scott A. Johnson, Stefano Vezil
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air drying unit for compressed air systems is provided. The air drying unit has a precooler/reheater, a main cooler and a moisture separator. Incoming air is cooled to cause moisture within the compressed air to condense, which is then separated to dry the compressed air. The precooler/reheater, main cooler and moisture separator are designed as an integral unit that does not require pipes to connect the components together. Instead, compressed air flows through the sealed unit through passages therein between the precooler/reheater, main cooler and moisture separator.
Claims20
An air drying unit for compressed air, comprising:
- an air inlet and an air outlet;
- a precooler/reheater connected to the air inlet and the air outlet, the precooler/reheater being a first heat exchanger between incoming compressed air from the air inlet and outgoing compressed air to the air outlet, wherein the incoming compressed air is cooled by the outgoing compressed air and the outgoing compressed air is warmed by the incoming compressed air;
- a main cooler connected to the precooler/reheater such that the incoming compressed air enters the main cooler after exiting the precooler/reheater, the main cooler being a second heat exchanger between the incoming compressed air and a coolant, wherein the coolant cools the incoming compressed air and causes moisture to condense from the incoming compressed air;
- a moisture separator connected to the main cooler, the moisture separator separating the moisture from the incoming compressed air, the incoming compressed air thereby being dried and defining the outgoing compressed air, the outgoing compressed air entering the precooler/reheater from the main cooler and the moisture separator;
- wherein the precooler/reheater, the main cooler and the moisture separator define a unit that is integral such that the incoming compressed air and the outgoing compressed air flow through and between the precooler/reheater, the main cooler and the moisture separator through internal passages within the unit and the unit being sealed such that the incoming compressed air and the outgoing compressed air is contained therein between the air inlet and the air outlet.
The air drying unit according to claim 10, wherein the first pipe and the second pipe are each welded to the precooler/reheater.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.