Shop air dryer for booster idea

[broncobowsher]

I've had a thought. Probably missing some detail that keeps if from being used.
Shop air compressor (150-200 PSI) to drive a booster. Not using a breather air high pressure compressor.
Filters and dryers. Everyone knows there should be some.

So the neighbor is coming into town in there big converted semi motorhome. On air brakes. I'm looking at this. Compressor with a huge run time. A brake system that likes clean dry air. There is an air dryer on semi trucks. Appears to be pretty robust.

What about using an air dryer off a semi truck to filter the drive air for the booster? I am not a diesel mechanic, so I won't say I know enough about the system. Thus asking here.

 

[greeniguana]

The amount of air used by truck brakes is infinitesimmaly small compared to what a scuba booster uses. You dont really need to "filter" the air. You need to cool it so the water condenses.

 

[tbone1004]

I've had a thought. Probably missing some detail that keeps if from being used.
Shop air compressor (150-200 PSI) to drive a booster. Not using a breather air high pressure compressor.
Filters and dryers. Everyone knows there should be some.

So the neighbor is coming into town in there big converted semi motorhome. On air brakes. I'm looking at this. Compressor with a huge run time. A brake system that likes clean dry air. There is an air dryer on semi trucks. Appears to be pretty robust.

What about using an air dryer off a semi truck to filter the drive air for the booster? I am not a diesel mechanic, so I won't say I know enough about the system. Thus asking here.

Probably a bad idea. It's a desiccant filter which you can get for much cheaper on Amazon but the way the purge valves work you'll only be purging the filter when you stop the booster because you are unlikely to have any period of time during boosting when the compressor will be able to keep up with the booster. Since it is still just an adsorbent bed you are best off with the filters from Amazon that are an order of magnitude cheaper than a commercial truck air dryer *they are NOT cheap*. They do also leave a good bit of water inside of the system which is why you still have to blow down the air tanks manually.
Now, I say all of this to the effect that most all of these are pretty much useless in normal booster operation because you can't get the pressure up high enough and I have not found a reasonably priced PMV for low pressure compressors.

The above comment is right, you need to cool the air down, and if you're going to be doing this seriously then just grab a chilled dryer, it's the right way to do it. You can build an air to air intercooler with a fan as a cheaper option.

 

[broncobowsher]

OK, fair enough. That is why I asked the question. Learned a few new things.