The Dehydration R&D Center opened by SPX Flow in Ocala, Fla., allows customers to test products to international standards and validate product performance. Center personnel can help customers validate compressed-air dryers, filtration media, condensate drain valves and desiccant material. SPX Flow’s brands include Hankison, Deltech, Pneumatic Products, Delair and Jemaco.

SPX Flow constructed an environmentally controlled laboratory to test refrigerated, desiccant and membrane dryers to the ISO 8573-1 air purity standard. The test laboratory creates variable ambient conditions and measures product performance. Full instrumentation and PC-based data-acquisition equipment records pressure dewpoint, pressure drop and power consumption.

The laboratory can simulate a range of flow and site conditions. To enable dryer testing under varying load profiles, rotary-screw compressors generate airflow to 3000 scfm (5097 nm³). To simulate standard- and extreme-site conditions, ambient and inlet air temperatures are controlled in the range of 35 to 130°F (2 to 54°C). Air-saturation levels are a critical design condition in air-dryer capacity rating, says SPX. A moisture saturator is used to precisely control air saturation levels up to 100 percent.

The Ocala laboratory also is furnished with three ambient controlled test booths to validate compressed air filter performance to the ISO 12500-1-2-3 series of standards. ISO 12500 provides internationally recognized test parameters for manufacturers to test and rate compressed air filters. It is a multi-part standard with Part -1 defining the testing of coalescing filters for oil aerosol removal performance, Part -2 quantifying vapor removal capacity of adsorption filters, and Part -3 outlining requirements to test particulate filters for solid contaminant removal.