Products

Desiccants Bags for Accumulator CCOT Systems

The Flow-Dry® line of packaged desiccants from Flow Dry Technology, Inc. is engineered to deliver the highest drying capacity for any given application without sacrificing cost effectiveness or system operating reliability.

Saddle Bags Flow-Dry® saddlebags are offered in four standard styles to meet end users' needs. For special applications, custom design services are also readily available. Currently, Flow Dry is tooled to produce Delphi-style 50, 80, 100, 120 and 240 gram models.

Snap-On Bags The Flow-Dry® snap-on bag is the leader in cost-effective, high-performance desiccant containment bag technology. It features a unique design that installs easily in less than 5 seconds without tag ties or wire straps. Despite rigorous vibration, the Flow-Dry snap-on bag maintains its position and integrity. It has a proven track record of superior field performance in sump, side out and bottom type J-tube filter accumulators.

Materials

Flow-Dry^® desiccant bags can be manufactured from a wide range of materials. Felt from 4 1/2 oz.- 11oz. and Cerex PBN for anti-thumping within a system are commonly used and universal to most applications.

Desiccants

Flow-Dry^® packaging equipment is designed in-house by Flow Dry Technology process engineers. Highly reliable and adaptive, Flow-Dry desiccant bag packaging equipment can provide a package with any available desiccant, silica gel or other specified drying material. Although XH-7 and XH-9 from UOP are the most commonly used desiccants for automotive applications, packages can also be provided to meet application specifications using a variety of desiccant manufacturers including UOP, Zeochem, Grace, or ATOFINA.

Tracer WafersTM

Tracer dyes are used to detect leaks in automotive a/c systems. The simplest method to install the dye into the system is to have Flow Dry install it into the desiccant bag. This eliminates a second part number and reduces the possibility of missed installation and contamination.

Testing

The proof is in the testing! Flow Dry engineers quality into every desiccant product and its extensive testing service verifies it. The result is higher product integrity, greater durability, superior performance ... and peace of mind.

Pressure Drop

Pressure drop testing is used to determine the amount of fluid flow restriction a receiver dryer or accumulator design creates. Less restrictive designs have the potential to create a higher performance a/c system. The desiccant package contained inside the receiver dryer or accumulator can create a restriction in the system and therefore increase the pressure drop of the system. Because pressure drop is a critical design requirement, Flow Dry utilizes pressure drop tests to aid in designing the highest performance desiccant packages on the market.

Vibration

Vibration testing is used to determine if a desiccant package is designed to withstand the punishment it will be subjected to in a vehicle. If the desiccant package is not designed properly, it could be damaged or cause damage to other components in the system. Flow Dry has the capability to test desiccant packages as installed in receiver dryers and accumulators to ensure long life without premature failure.

Permeability

The physical properties of the material used to fabricate desiccant bags are critical to ensure proper performance. The permeability of the bag material must be balanced to allow the desiccant exposure to the refrigerant, while at the same time containing any attrition of desiccant particles inside the bag. Because of their low cost and permeability properties, polyester felts have become the standard materials of construction for most a/c desiccant bags. The construction of the bag also affects permeability and filtration. Some desiccant bag fabricators form or stretch the bag material in the process of manufacturing; this distortion can weaken the material and reduce its filtration properties. Flow Dry fabricates its desiccant bags without stretching or deforming the bag material to ensure that the proper permeability rating is maintained. Extensive permeability testing is performed to verify that all bags have the proper permeability rating.

Loss on Ignition (LOI)

The industry standard test to measure the amount of water that has been adsorbed by the desiccant is the Loss on Ignition test. To perform this test, the desiccant must be heated for a specified period of time to bake out the water. The difference in the desiccant weight before and after heating is the amount of water the desiccant contained. LOI testing is performed on all incoming desiccant material; work-in-process and outgoing product to maintain the moisture content below specified levels.

Seam Strength

Along with vibration testing, seam strength testing is critical to ensure structural integrity of the desiccant package. An automated pull tester checks the strength of package welds. SPC data of the seam strengths is recorded and monitored to maintain proper process control.

Flow-Dry bags have less seam area (the area known to fail in perimeter seam welded bags) therefore, a more robust product. Accu-Weld^® seams ensure containment for the life of the accumulator.

Attrition Resistant Design for Automotive Applications

The Flow-Dry desiccant bag design and manufacturing process retains the highest material integrity and does NOT "stretch" or "deform" the felt material. The Flow-Dry process results in a bag with greater filtering capability and NO "pin-holes" in the material. These holes have led to desiccant and particulate escaping from competitiors' bags and causing damage to a/c systems.

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