What is a Desiccant Rotor and How Does it Improve Dehumidification Efficiency?

November 26, 2024

Quality  humidity control is essential for a wide variety of industries, from processing food and drink to manufacturing lithium batteries. In all applications, investing in the right machines will ensure you maximise dehumidification efficiency, and help you stay at the forefront of your industry.  

If you understand the differences between the different types of commercial dehumidifiers, and how they work, you’ll be able to choose the right system for your application. However, knowing which systems are best isn’t always easy.  

Today we’ll explain why dehumidification efficiency is so important, and why our desiccant rotors will provide the best humidity control for your business.   

The Importance of Dehumidification  

The UK has one of the highest RHs (relative humidity) in the world, ASRAE data collected throughout the world shows on average the UK is 80%RH. Sometimes a single percent is enough to ruin batches of products or bring your research project to a halt.  

Companies often install air conditioning systems and think that’s enough to keep humidity levels low. In reality, lowering the temperature can raise the RH, and that dry-feeling air may still be too humid for your application.  

Of course, controlling temperature is still important. High temperatures are needed for baking and drying, whereas low temperatures are needed when manufacturing electronics. But in all of these cases high humidity will at best make the final products inferior to your competitors’ and at worst could require entire batches to be thrown out.  

In any fast-paced industry, quality and consistency are the two most important factors to consider. And if you want to maximise on both, look no further than desiccant dehumidifiers.  

What is a Desiccant Dehumidifier?  

There are two main types of commercial dehumidifier, desiccant and condensing.  

A desiccant dehumidifier uses a desiccant rotor within the system, which traps moisture in our specially designed silica gel rotor. This rotor has revolutionised how much humidity can be reduced by a single machine, helping you to control and monitor exact humidity levels regardless of the outside conditions.  

Condensing dehumidifiers, on the other hand, use a refrigerated coil to condense droplets of moisture as they pass through. These systems will reduce humidity, but with far less success, and higher energy wastage. Anyone who works with fridges knows that those circuits aren’t cheap to run.  

They are more effective in warmer temperatures, so you may see better results during the summer, but condensing dehumidifiers will struggle to keep the RH low over the colder months. A desiccant rotor is effective at all times of the year, with much lower running costs than other commercial dehumidifiers. 

The Efficiency of Desiccant Dehumidifiers 

The desiccant rotor is heated via a secondary airstream to remove the moisture it gathers. This hot air is vented separately, so it never affects the internal temperature of your application. Residual heat carried by the rotor as it re-enters the primary process airstream is rotated back into the system, which helps if a raised temperature is needed within the room or building, or if the system is being used for drying.  

A small amount of energy is needed to power the rotor itself, and we’ve spent years optimising the heating process so that it takes as little energy as possible.  

We pride ourselves on the efficiency of our machines. With a major focus on refining our systems, we can say with a certainty that any humidity solution we provide will be as efficient as it can be.  

Why Choose DEHUM? 

One thing we’ll never offer our clients is an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution. There are a lot of these one-design-fits-all systems out there, even for desiccant dehumidifiers, but we can say with confidence that they’ll never be perfect for you.  

If you invest in a new commercial dehumidifier but are then told that you need to make unforeseen changes to your building before it can be installed, it can be a noticeable setback for your operation. Installing new machines can rarely be done without some downtime but keeping it to a minimum reduces the impact on your bottom line.  

Part of our service is an in-depth site analysis. After we’ve taken the time to learn more about your business and your growth targets, we examine the application, so we know exactly what is needed to maximise your output.  

Although our dehumidifiers all use a similar method for humidity control, each machine is unique. This is because we design bespoke humidity control systems that work around your needs. Most of our clients approached us because they had a humidity-related issue they weren’t able to solve, and we create a system specifically designed to fix it, as well as improving efficiency.  

Sometimes your main issue may be space – an issue often faced by foam drying companies. By giving you more room without sacrificing efficiency, you’ll see a massive increase in output overnight.  

Alongside our reasonable asking prices and dehumidifier installation costs, the savings you gain from quality humidity control will quickly outweigh what you invest. For some clients we’ve guaranteed a 12-month ROI, which is almost unheard of in our industry. But with decades of experience and engineering expertise, we’ve put our money where our mouth is time and time again. 

When you’re installing a machine that should last for over half a century, consider what the savings will be later on before you settle for an inferior product. With unmatched reliability and a professional maintenance team, we’ll ensure that your desiccant dehumidifiers never let you down.