Tips on How to Choose the Right Desiccants For Use

Desiccants are compounds or agents, such as Montmorillonite Clay or Silica Gel that are used in facilitating low-humidity environments by adsorbing moisture content from the air. They are typically used in transport, storage, or maintenance of materials and products, desiccants are used to keep everything from gym shoes to military munitions dry.

Tips on How to Choose the Right Desiccant For Use What do You Need to Know before Using the Desiccants? Where to Start? 1. Know the Product that You’re Going to Use the Desiccant for 2. Know the Environment 3. Know the Packaging Examples of Desiccants

What do You Need to Know before Using the Desiccants?

Desiccants are designed to prevent four sources of water contamination in a closed container or package, such as water vapor in the air inside the package, moisture contained in the materials inside the package, moisture in or on the walls of the package and moisture entry into the package due to permeation or leakage.

Each of these issues is best dealt with a different type or combination of desiccant. An effective desiccant will absorb the water vapor in the air, lowering the relative humidity to the point where water cannot condense (the dew point).

Where to Start?

1. Know the Product that You’re Going to Use the Desiccant for

You should know if the product is highly sensitive to humidity and moisture, or is it fairly tolerant. You need to know how dry the product needs to be.

This information will help establish acceptable humidity and moisture levels.

2. Know the Environment

You should monitor the temperatures and weather ranges to which the product’s storage container will be exposed. The weather has a great affect upon humidity levels inside the container.

This information will help predict fluctuations inside the container.

3. Know the Packaging

Packaging can be plastic bags, cardboard boxes, Tupperware, even large storage containers and many more. However, it is the characteristics of the container (the material’s permeability, seal type, corrosion resistance, container dimensions, etc.) that is important.

Examples of Desiccants

Some of the common example of desiccants include Molecular Sieves, Silica Gel, Calcium Oxide, Packaged Montmorillonite Clay, Calcium Sulfate, just to name a few. Each of these substances have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Users can choose the right desiccants based on the above-mentioned factors and requirements.

Agile Nobel, an industry leader in supplying chemical products, provides high grade desiccants all over the world. In addition to desiccants, the company also offers Humidity Indicators, Oxygen Absorbers, Oxygen indicators, Education Collaboration Services, Nano Silica and other products and services.