Solid-desiccant dehydration process

Absorption. The use of a desiccant, a material with the ability to absorb water from a liquid, is a classical method for the chemical dehydration of a solvent and involves the addition of solid desiccant to a bulk volume of liquid followed by a secondary separation process, usually filtration. The selection of desiccant and solvent is crucial and depends upon the standard of dryness required and whether a reaction could occur between the solvent and the drying agent. A wide range of materials is available most of which are from Group 2 metals. Typical desiccants are the hydroxides of sodium and potassium, the hydride, oxide and sulphate of calcium, and the sulphates of sodium and magnesium. 

Many gas-dehydration problems can be solved by using either a solid desiccant or a liquid system. However, the principal areas of application of the dry-desiccant processes are... 

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