How Dry Compressed Air Gets Wet Again
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Did you ever wonder how you could still find moisture in your compressed air lines even though you have a dryer installed near the compressed?
This moisture often shows up when you first use some air at any point-of-use (pipes installed vertically) and is expelled along with the compressed air as it first begins to flow into your machine or process. How did your dry air get wet again?
The obvious answer could be that your dryer isn¡¯t working properly, but that¡¯s another story. The likely cause for this moisture intrusion is leaks in your airlines. This doesn¡¯t mean that you have interconnected the compressed air system to your water supply, although that has been done. It could also mean that the bypass piping installed around your dryer has been left open, or the ¡°block¡± valve in that pipe is leaking. Either condition would allow moisture to bypass the dryer and pass downstream with the compressed air. These conditions are all easily are easily remedied.
The last thing that you might suspect, is actually the most likely culprit! Small pinhole leaks that develop along your pipelines will allow moisture to enter the compressed air and deteriorate the dew point. These leak points can be caused by actual corrosion inside the pipe, or they can be found at nearly every fitting or connection along the pipeline. Once inside, this newly added moisture could then condense as the compressed air changes temperature (gets colder) traveling trough the pipelines. You probably wonder how moisture could enter through small leaks, since there should obviously be air passing (leaking) out through such openings. To understand how moisture can enter, you must understand why it would want to enter!
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