The 5 types · side-by-side
Distributor-facing reading. Each row gives best-for, key trade-off, capacity, price band, and how many of SPC's tier slots carry an option at that product type.
Product type
Best for
Key trade-off
Typical capacity
Price band
Brands SPC carries
Refrigerated The default · dew point ~38°F
Most plants, most jobs.Standard plant air, assembly, packaging, paint shops with downstream filtration, anything inside a heated building with reliable electrical.
Floor at +38°FCannot go below freezing dew point. If the air sees outdoor pipe runs in winter, or an end-use needs instrument-grade dryness, this type alone is not enough.
5 – 3,000+ CFM
non-cycling · cycling · digital
non-cycling · cycling · digital
$ – $$
5 / 5 · deep
Desiccant · Regenerative Twin tower · dew point ‑40°F to ‑100°F
Instrument-grade dry air.Outdoor or freezer-line distribution, paint booths with electrostatic guns, laser optics, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, transit-applied compressed air on rolling stock.
Purge loss + footprintHeatless designs consume ~15% of dried-air capacity as purge to regenerate the off-line tower. Twin-tower footprint is double a refrigerated of the same flow. Desiccant media is a consumable on a 3–5 year cycle.
20 – 3,000+ CFM
heatless · heated · heated-blower purge
heatless · heated · heated-blower purge
$$ – $$$
4 / 5 · solid
Deliquescent Single tower · dew point ~20–25°F below inlet
Portable, remote, no power.Pipeline operators, well-pad service, construction sites, contractors with diesel-driven portables. Anywhere the dryer has to follow the air, not the air follow the dryer.
Salt is a consumableDesiccant tablets dissolve as they work — refill is on a regular service interval. The dissolved brine drains as a corrosive byproduct that has to be handled. Dew-point performance is the shallowest of the five types.
Portable to ~600 CFM
no electrical required
no electrical required
$
1 / 5 · Van Air only
Membrane Point-of-use · dew point to ‑40°F
Small, dry, no power.Instrument enclosures, analytical loops, single-machine air-prep drops, hazardous-area instrumentation, dental / lab benches. Acts like a filter cartridge — bolts into a line and runs.
Tiny · expensive per-CFMCapacity tops out around 100 SCFM. Sweep-air loss is continuous (no regeneration). $/CFM is the highest of the five types, but the total dollars on a small line are small.
< 100 CFM typical
in-line cartridge form
in-line cartridge form
$$
1 / 5 · Beko only
Explosion-Proof Desiccant Class I Div 2 / ATEX · same dew points as desiccant
Hazardous-location duty.Oil & gas refining, petrochemical, offshore, paint mixing rooms, anywhere a Class I Div 2 / Zone 2 (or stricter) area classification applies to the dryer's footprint.
Premium per certificationCertified motors / heaters / controls add a meaningful premium over standard desiccant. Brand bench is narrow because few makers certify the full assembly — Van Air is SPC's lead here for that reason.
20 – 3,000+ CFM
heatless EP · heated EP
heatless EP · heated EP
$$$
1 / 5 · Van Air only
Reading the brand bench column — the bar shows how many of SPC's tier slots (Industry Leader · Emerging · Economical · adjacent) carry an option at that product type. A deep bench means a price-driven and a spec-driven option both close cleanly; a narrow bench means the available brands map closely to the technical requirements and the comparison stops being a tier choice.