AMT Air Dryers for Rail Industry White Paper - English Version
AMT Compressed Air Rail Dryers
Improved Reliability for the Rail Industry
Breakthrough engineering for a better world
For over 45 years, we have delivered robust, reliable and bespoke solutions to the rail sector.
Our products continue to give millions of miles of reliable service across the world’s most challenging environments, from the cold of Northern China and Eastern Europe to Australian outback heat.
With a true understanding of the daily issues faced by rail operators and original equipment manufacturers, we design for the precise needs of the rail industry, at:
• Temperatures ranging from -40°C (-40°F) to +80°C (+176°F)
• Voltage tolerances of +/- 30%
• EN 61373 category 1 class A and B vibration resistance
• EN45545-2 Fire and Smoke
We talk extensively to maintenance professionals and work closely with rail engineers to ask the questions they ask. That means we can offer customised, practical solutions to the metro, intercity, high-speed, freight and permanent-way rail industries, covering:
• Air preparation equipment
• Brake sub-systems and components
• Coupling control systems
• Door and step control systems
• Pantograph control systems
• Water control systems
• Freight control and actuation
• Suspension control equipment
By listening and responding to your specific challenges, we help you make significant improvements and savings in terms of cost of ownership, energy efficiency, reduced maintenance and more.
We are a world leader in fluid and motion control. Building close, collaborative relationships with our customers, we gain a deep understanding of their exact engineering needs and then mobilise our resources and expertise to deliver distinctive products and solutions.
The rail industry’s need for clean and dry compressed air
In the rail industry, compressed air is used in some of the most sophisticated applications installed on rolling stock – from braking systems and pneumatically operated doors, to self-levelling air suspension, pantographs and the train’s horn.
However, the use of compressed air technology in the rail sector has always presented challenges to equipment manufacturers due to the harsh operating environment. In addition, moisture and other contaminants make operating pneumatic equipment reliably very challenging.
To overcome the extreme conditions, air dryer packages, complete with multi-stage pre-filtration, are utilised to clean and dry the compressed air before it reaches critical downstream applications, such as brakes and door systems, ensuring optimum performance, longevity and most importantly, reliability.
Until recently, there have been two main products available for this function – desiccant and membrane air dryers – but both have limitations which impact their operational effectiveness, reliability and lifecycle cost.
Shock and vibration, compressor stop starts, high temperatures and contamination are all common in rail applications and can lead to early failure for membrane solutions, while desiccant dryers can have a short lifecycle of between just six and 36 months. Such frequent upkeep or replacements mean additional costs, extra maintenance (it is usually a two-person job, sometimes requiring special lifting equipment) and costly downtime for a rail operator.
Adsorbent Media Tube (AMT)
How it works
The IMI Norgren AMT air dryer range has been developed through close technical collaboration with customers in the rail industry. It represents a step change in the efficiency and durability of compressed air applications, with its patented technology building on both traditional desiccant and membrane technologies.
The result is a more effective and reliable way of removing moisture from compressed air, ensuring trouble-free operation for rail operators between major overhaul schedules.
The result is a more effective and reliable way of removing moisture from compressed air, ensuring trouble-free operation for rail operators between major overhaul schedules.
Conventional dryer
Technology
Not to be confused with semi-permeable membranes, the IMI Norgren AMT Air Dryer range uses Adsorbent Media Tube consisting of uniform hollow tubes with a high level of adsorbent and a non-adsorbing durable polymeric binder.
The AMT is extruded into a water bath where a phase inversion takes place and the structure is formed, meaning they are totally resistant to bulk water. The structure of the AMT means it maximises the permeability and high surface area of the adsorbent crystals presenting the greatest number of active sites.
The open structure of the AMT provides low mass transfer resistance, enabling the flow of compressed air to permeate easily into the structure while offering very low pressure losses. Adsorption and desorption kinetics are faster than conventional materials leading to more efficient performance. The result is moist air gets to the drying agent and is absorbed quicker and, during the regeneration process (purge), the moisture is removed just as quickly leading to a reduced purge figure. This can also reduce the amount of purge air required to effectively regenerate the dryer columns on each cycle.
The adsorbent tubes are precisely packed into their housing, but as they are uniformly shaped, unlike traditional beads, they are unaffected by orientation or the vibration of the rolling stock. This also means there is a consistent air flow through the tubes, reducing pressure drop, and the unit’s performance does not degrade over time. As there is no clay component, there is also no dust, meaning that a post filter is no longer required, which is a huge advantage over previous desiccant air dryer solutions.
If the tubes become saturated, there is no by-product or chemical reaction. The tubes are simply dried during the purge process cycle, returned to their original state and reused as normal, meaning no maintenance is required in the event of total saturation.
No matter the train type or air quality / dryness requirement, AMT technology can be customised to consistently achieve the highest levels of air quality with the minimal amount of purge air consumption whatever the ambient conditions, ensuring longterm clean, dry air for all downstream pneumatic components.
As a result, the IMI Norgren AMT air dryer range is a far more effective, robust and reliable way of removing moisture and contaminants from compressed air in rail applications.
AMT dryer
Benefits of the AMT air dryer
A ‘fit and forget’ solution, the IMI Norgren AMT Air Dryer range has a life span of up to 10 years or 33,000 operating hours in most applications, which changes the status of the air dryer from a regularly serviced item to an item that only requires servicing during a vehicles major refurbishment schedule. It has a considerably lower cost of ownership than air drying predecessors (desiccant and membrane) and most importantly, it dries the air more efficiently to ensure a reliable flow of clean air to the downstream applications which keeps the railway network moving.
Fit & forget for up to 10 years
Features and benefits:
• Compact lightweight design makes it ideal for horizontal or vertical installation
• Low operational cost in service
• Fit and forget solution that can operate for up to 10 years before a replacement is needed*
• Fire and smoke compliant to European and US standards
• Vibration tested to BS EN 61373:2010
• Operates within a temperature range of -40ºC to +80ºC
Significant weight reduction
Patented AMT technology
The IMI Norgren AMT Air Dryer range offers a complete air filtration and drying solution designed for the harsh environments of the global rail industry. The full air preparation system consists of:
• 40 micron and 5 micron filters for bulk water and solid particulate removal
• Coalescing filter for oil / water aerosol removal and submicron particulate removal
• Single or Twin column AMT dryer in various diameter and length combinations
* Dryer columns only
Metro Trains Melbourne on the right track with AMT dryer solution
Compressed air is vital when it comes to ensuring that essential applications on railway networks keep moving. Braking systems, pneumatically operated doors, self-levelling suspension, pantographs and even the train’s horn, are all reliant on clean compressed air to operate effectively and reliably.
To address their issues, we collaborated with Metro Trains Melbourne, a network in Melbourne, Australia, that serves over 240 million passengers annually. We developed an innovative compressed air dryer solution that will enhance the operational efficiency and ongoing reliability of Metro Train’s Comeng fleet of 68 six-carriage rolling stock.
Metro Trains Melbourne embarked on a six-month trial using six of the IMI Norgren AMT dryers in order to test the relative humidity levels. While the initial trial went well, with recorded relative humidity levels reduced from 70% to approximately 10-20%, we were keen to develop a new solution which could also address the challenge of pressure drop during the compressor off-cycle purge.
Our new AMT integrated twin dryer, resolved the problem of the pressure drop, as one side of the twin chambers is purging at any given time during the compressor on-cycle. This meant the air purging wasn’t occurring during the compressor off-cycle, and that acceptable pressure levels could be maintained whilst the compressor was not running.
In addition, the integration of control valves within the dryer assembly, meant there is no requirement for separate installation of key components which, has helped to significantly reduce installation time.
Despite an original twin AMT dryer installation completion date of late 2020 across the entire fleet, the efficiencies and simplicity afforded by the integrated design has meant that the full fleet will have the new solution well ahead of the original completion date.
The new AMT integrated twin dryer enhances the operational efficiency
Connectivity –the evolution of Smart AMT
The IMI Norgren AMT Air Dryer technology has been a significant move forward for compressed air dryer solutions supporting the rail industry in achieving levels of reliability never seen before for rail applications.
We continue to create innovative technology for rail applications which goes beyond expectations and gives rail operators real advantage.
As Industry 4.0 drives a highly connected industrial landscape offering a datarich world where seamless technology platforms increase productivity, flexibility and performance, we are further optimising the AMT air dryer range.
The next phase in the range’s development is the evolution of the IMI Norgren AMT Smart Dryer, now featuring condition monitoring.
Through the use of connected sensors, the AMT Smart Dryer can provide rail operators with insight to quickly identify any dryer system performance reductions or alert maintenance teams to maintenance requirements, or a potential issue which can be inspected and fixed if required via the next scheduled maintenance deployment.
In addition, performance can be optimised thanks to the ability to read the dew point of the dryer and adjust the AMT performance (if required) to maintain a constant output.
Together with instant visibility of essential data into the trains monitoring systems or displays, the AMT Smart Dryer takes the system’s potential to the next level; further reducing downtime, lowering lifecycle costs and maximising operational efficiencies for the rail industry.
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