Filters play a significant role in compressed air usage. Depending on the application and environment, purity standards specify the level of contaminants like oil aerosols, vapors, and particulates that need to be filtered out. Contamination enters compressed air from various sources, leading to dust particulates, product damage, or unsafe air within the compressed air line network.

There are standards that define purity requirements for various compressed air applications. Hence it is important to invest in compressed air filtration equipment to remove contaminants and let the process run satisfactorily with minimal downtime. Compressed Air Filters fall into three categories i.e., particulate air filters, activated carbon air filters, and coalescing air filters.

Let’s discuss each type of Compressed Air Filter and its benefits.

1. Particulate Air Filters

A particulate air filter is designed to remove dust and solid particles from compressed air. It uses a filter media which allows air to flow through but traps solid particles like dust, rust, pollen, etc depending on the size of the particulate matter. It is also installed after an adsorption dryer to trap the desiccant particles which might get carried downstream. Air Filters also filter out internal particulates like rust and corrosion to increase the performance and service life of the air compressor.

Benefits:

• Remove solid contaminants from the air
• Use mechanisms like direct interception, diffusion, and inertial impaction
• Prevent carry forward of harmful contaminants in compressed air

2. Activated Carbon Air Filters

Activated carbon air filters, employ the principle of adsorption to retain oil vapors from compressed air. The advantage of activated carbon is that it has a very large open pore area. This can hold and retain a large amount of oil vapors and odors if present in compressed air. 

The main purpose is to remove gaseous lubricants that flow through a coalescing filter. The adsorption process uses activated carbon granules, carbon cloth, or even paper to remove contaminated particles. This kind of filter is used for food processing and producing pure, breathable air.

Benefits:

• Removes chemical fumes, odours, and vapours from compressed air
• Very large open pore area
• Easy to maintain

3. Coalescing Air Filters

Coalescing air filters work on the principle of coalescence. This means joining small droplets of liquids to form a bulk liquid. Once the bulk liquid is formed, it gets settled down due to gravity. The bulk liquid can easily be drained off to ensure liquid-free compressed air.

Benefits:

• High efficiency coalescing action
• Separates out oil, water, liquids from air stream
• Ensures high purity compressed air

In Summary

As seen above, selecting a proper Compressed Air Filter is important to achieve the purity levels that your process demands. Do follow these three steps for this purpose:

• Know your application and degree of purity required
• Select an optimum filter to meet the needs but do not over design since this will increase the budget without much Return on Investment.
• Choose low pressure drop and long life filter elements  to reduce operating and maintenance costs.

Contact us today for detailed analysis in selecting a suitable solution for your Compressed Air Filtration needs.