摘要 |
An improved method and apparatus are provided for adsorbing water vapor from a mixture thereof with a second gas to reduce the water vapor concentration in the mixture to below a permissible maximum concentration, in which the advance of the leading edge of the moisture front in a sorbent bed is detected by sampling the gas sufficiently far from the end of the bed to prevent the moisture front from leaving the bed, using a gas sampling probe, so that when the moisture front reaches this point, the adsorption cycle is discontinued, and the bed regenerated; a failed or inoperative sensor or sensor circuit being detected by intoducing to the sensor wet air from the dryer inlet; in the absence of a response sensing the air as wet, an alarm is given, and optionally, the dryer can automatically be placed in a fixed-time cycle operation.
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