AGM Container Controls' Product News

Silica Gel Desiccant Canisters

In the pharmaceutical industry, as well as other medical industries, it is important to ensure that your product is not damaged by moisture. Silica gel canisters provide the protection your products need - silica gel is a high purity desiccant known for its drying efficiency & water vapor capacity.

Silica gel canisters
•    Are ideal for automatic high-speed insertion
•    Comply with FDA CFR 21 for direct contact with food & drugs
•    Can be easily differentiated from pharmaceutical tablets or capsules
•    Can be used with most size bottles
•    Are widely used in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, diagnostics & medical fields
•    Also available, Aroma-Can scented canisters

Contact AGM’s Desiccant Specialists for more information.

Protect Your Cargo from Moisture Damage

Container Dri II Plus is a specially designed desiccant aimed at protecting cargo by absorbing moisture vapor from the air. It is a versatile configuration composed of a blanket of twelve 125-gram compartments of Container Dri II.

The product is made with an outer protective envelope & powerful strapping system, allowing it to be quickly & securely hung & suspended in sea containers, rail cars, or river barges. Available in a large configuration containing the equivalent of twelve 125-gram bags complete with strapping system & locking hook for hanging.

Because of its large configuration, only 5 to 6 bags are recommended to protect a rail car or 40-foot container. The amount varies depending on transport route, environmental conditions & susceptibility of the cargo.

Pre-Conditioned Sorb-It Silica Gel Desiccant

Pre-conditioned silica gel desiccant can be used as a passive method of maintaining a specific humidity level inside a sealed container.

For example, a museum might place a sensitive piece of artwork into a sealed case with desiccant that has been pre-conditioned at a specific relative humidity in order to maintain that humidity level for the artwork. Small amounts of moisture that leak into the case will be adsorbed by the desiccant, while small amounts of moisture that leak out of the case will be replaced by moisture released from the desiccant, all the while maintaining a nearly constant relative humidity level.

Pre-conditioned silica gel is available in bags or bulk. Contact AGM to discuss your requirements.

Silica Gel, Activated Alumina, & Molecular Sieve Bulk Desiccant

AGM supplies three types of bulk desiccant: silica gel, activated alumina, & molecular sieve. Here is some information on each type of bulk desiccant to help determine which best meets your needs.

Silica Gel

• Most commonly used bulk desiccant, ideal for air dryers; large selection of sizes
• Moisture indicating (blue & orange) & non-indicating (white); mixes also available (white/blue); orange silica gel is acceptable for use in the European Union
• Standard packaging in 25 kg containers
• Commercial grades or MIL-D-3716 certified grades; beaded, powdered, or granular forms
• High purity desiccant known for its drying efficiency & water vapor capacity; odorless, non-toxic, & non-corrosive with stable chemical & thermal characteristics
• Packaged silica gel (sorb-it) also available in bags, packets, & canisters

Activated Alumina

• Primarily used for air drying & low temperature applications; large selection of sizes
• Especially suited for compressed air drying systems
• Standard packaging in 25 kg sacks
• Extremely effective for drying gasses
• Highly efficient adsorbent with large porosity & contact surface
• Very stable physically & chemically, even in high temperature & corrosive environments

Molecular Sieve

• 4A (most common grade), 3A, 5A & 13X (10A); various bead mesh sizes, pellets
• Standard packaging in 140 kg & 150 kg steel drums
• Known for high activity & uniformity of pore size
• Efficient desiccant at low dew points & in higher temperature ranges
• Moisture indicating (blue) grade available
• Packaged molecular sieve (tri-sorb) also available in bags & packets

AGM has the technical expertise to help you select the right desiccant – call 1-800-995-5590 to discuss any specific applications or questions that you may have.

Do You Need To Recharge Your Indicating Silica Gel?

As a general rule, saturated desiccant will require a minimum of 4 - 6 hours at a temperature of between 221 to 266 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the entire desiccant bed for the reactivation process to be effective & reduce the adsorbed moisture to less than 2% by weight.

The 1005 desiccant reactivator unit can process up to 55 lbs. of saturated silica gel during one cycle. When fully loaded with saturated silica gel, it drives off more than 4,500 cm³ of water vapor during a processing time of 6 hours.

Forced air circulation ensures that the evaporating moisture is transported from the desiccant. The temperature monitoring & control instruments ensure maximum reactivation efficiency.

You can set the input reactivation temperature & monitor the constant readout of the input heat energy. The output temperature monitor indicates the progress of the reactivation process. Effective reactivation is complete when the output temperature nears the input temperature.