FREQENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions about Desiccants

1. What size desiccant do I need?
The size depends on factors like the air space, material, moisture barrier, desiccant type, shelf life, sealing conditions, and seal type.

2. What types of desiccants are there?
Common types: clay, silica gel, container dry, and molecular sieve. magnesium chloride, calcium chloride.

3. What is a clay desiccant?
Made from montmorillonite clay, effective below 120℉ (50℃), and is cost-effective. Appearance: small grey pellets.

4. What is Silica Gel?
Silicon dioxide, purified and processed into granules or beads. Effective up to 220℉ (150℃). Used in food and pharmaceuticals (FDA-approved).

5. What is indicating Silica gel?
Silica gel with cobalt chloride. Changes color from blue to pink as it absorbs moisture. Shouldn’t be used with consumables due to the heavy metal content.

6. What is Molecular Sieve?
Synthetic desiccant with controlled pore sizes. Effective at high temperatures and can lower relative humidity to 10%.

7.  What is Magnesium Chloride desiccant?
Magnesium chloride is highly hygroscopic with non-toxic formulated, meaning it readily absorbs water from the air. MgCl2 can absorb up to 3 times its weight in water, forming a salt brine, MgCl2 desiccants turn into dry lumps without a liquid stage after fully saturated.

8. What is Oxygen Absorber?
Protects packaged goods from spoilage and oxidation. Produced in packets using food-grade ingredients.

9. What is saturation and equilibrium capacity?
Points where desiccant cannot adsorb more moisture. Saturation is when it’s full, equilibrium capacity is when it can no longer lower humidity.

10. Why do you say adsorption? Don’t you mean absorption?
Adsorption is the physical holding of one substance by another, while absorption is the chemical integration of one substance into another.