aSORB Activated Alumina is the house desiccant grade in Interra Global's activated alumina family: smooth, high-crush-strength activated alumina beads, an aluminum oxide desiccant with low dust content, supplied in four sphere sizes. The bead is highly porous, and its internal surface preferentially adsorbs highly polar molecules, water first among them, which is what makes it a desiccant for air, gas, and liquid streams. As air dryer desiccant it typically reaches dew points of -40°F, and as low as -100°F with suitable dryer design and operating conditions. It tolerates liquid water and repeated regeneration better than silica gel, so it typically takes the wet and hard-cycling duty in heat-regenerated and heatless dryers. It is the grade Interra Global typically recommends when a drying specification is written to performance rather than to a manufacturer's product name; where a specification calls for BASF F200 by name, Interra Global supplies BASF F200, and for HCl removal the family's chloride adsorbent is aSORB DCL.
Chemical Formula: Al₂O₃ · nH₂O
TYPICAL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
- Al₂O₃, 94.4 wt%
- SiO₂, 0.02 wt%
- Fe₂O₃, 0.02 wt%
- Na₂O, 0.30 wt%
- Loss on ignition (250 to 1100°C), 6.50 wt%
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
aSORB Activated Alumina is typically used for:
- Compressed air drying in heat-regenerated and heatless dryers
- Natural gas drying
- Gas and process-stream drying in thermally regenerated and pressure swing beds
- Acid removal from transformer oils and lubricating oils
SIZES AND PACKAGING
- aSORB Activated Alumina, 1/16 inch (1.5 to 2.0 mm) beads, product code AA116B
- aSORB Activated Alumina, 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) beads, product code AA18B
- aSORB Activated Alumina, 3/16 inch (4.7 mm) beads, product code AA316B
- aSORB Activated Alumina, 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) beads, product code AA14B
aSORB Activated Alumina ships in 50 lb (22.68 kg) bags and in super sacks. Bags are kept dry and resealed after opening, since the bead takes up water from the air as readily as from a process stream, and stock is rotated so the oldest material is used first. Interra Global supplies it by the bag and in super sack and container-load quantities and quotes other packaging on request. When a dryer is being re-bedded with fresh desiccant beads or a new bed is being sized, Interra Global's technical staff can match the sphere size to the bed and the fluid phase: smaller spheres typically favor liquid and mass-transfer-limited service, and larger spheres favor lower pressure drop.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the bulk density of aSORB Activated Alumina?
Interra Global lists a bulk density of 47 lb/ft³ for aSORB Activated Alumina in each of the four sphere sizes.