Global Desiccant Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Desiccant Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Desiccant refers to a material or product with hygroscopicity. The desiccant absorbs moisture from the surroundings. By absorbing moisture, they can reduce humidity, thereby helping to prevent damage to goods from moisture. The working principle of the desiccant is to absorb water and trap it in the surface or capillary, without changing the characteristics of the water-this is called physical absorption. On the other hand, some desiccants absorb water and react with it to form another mixture-this is called chemical absorption. The physical absorption of water is reversible, while the chemical absorption is irreversible. Generally, desiccants such as silica gel and zeolite work through physical adsorption, while desiccants such as calcium chloride and magnesium sulfate work through chemical adsorption.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Desiccant market finds that the global Desiccant market reached a value of USD 1760.21 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 2428.21 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.51% during the forecast period.

There are more than 200 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, indicating that the epidemic has reached a serious stage. At present, governments of various countries have adopted increasingly stringent measures to curb the spread of the virus.

At this stage, the production and manufacturing industries are more severely affected by the epidemic. For example, the shutdown of suppliers, the shortage of raw materials or parts supply in the field will have an impact on the production and sales of the manufacturing industry; urban blockades have caused regional and international logistics terminals and delays, leading to costs. Films are out of stock or overstocked. The COVID-19 epidemic has caused a slowdown in desiccant manufacturing activities, which is mainly reflected in the shortage of raw materials, labor disruptions and traffic disruptions. At the same time, under the influence of the epidemic, the price of silica gel has risen because of the sharp increase in the prices of raw collagen materials and DMC. But at the same time, due to the lockdown of the epidemic, the freight company also provides some new special services: helping customers manage the goods in transit. For example, special container storage services are set up in some container ports. Under the continuous impact of the epidemic, customers can temporarily store goods in transit. These extended transportation times have brought new problems of potential moisture damage to the cargo, so the storage of the cargo drives the demand for desiccants.

Wide range of applications

The unique moisture absorption capacity of desiccant makes it suitable for various applications where the presence of water/moisture may cause damage to the product, such as electronics, food, medical equipment, pharmaceutical and clothing industries, addition, etc. In the packaging industry, especially in the food and pharmaceutical products and transportation industries, various types of desiccants are required to maintain product safety and performance. Increasing the use of desiccants is the main driving force for the growth of the desiccant market factor.

Concerns about the safety and environmental protection of desiccants

The desiccant needs to use specific packaging materials to ensure proper safety, and the overflow and leakage of the desiccant will not only slow down the production speed due to unnecessary cleaning but also cause damage to the product. Careless ingestion of desiccants can pose a choking hazard to pets and children. When handling desiccants, precautions must also be taken to avoid contact with the human body, because desiccants absorb moisture and may cause adverse effects. These uncertain risk factors have caused concerns about the safety and environmental performance of desiccants, and to a certain extent have restricted the development of the desiccant market.

Region Overview:

In 2021, the share of the Desiccant market in Asia Pacific stood at 40.1%.

Company Overview:

BASF is one of the major players operating in the Desiccant market, holding a share of 6.1% in 2021.

BASF

BASF's catalyst division is the world's leading supplier of environmental and process catalysts. The group provides outstanding expertise in the development of technologies that protect the air that people breathe, produce fuels that power the human world, and ensure the efficient production of various chemicals, plastics, and other products, including advanced battery materials.

Honeywell International

Honeywell International is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance materials and technologies (PMT), and safety and productivity solutions (SPS).

Segmentation Overview:

As for product types, the Silica Gel segment held the largest market share in 2021.

Silica Gel

The main component of silica gel is silica, which is a highly active adsorption material. Silica gel particles are composed of a network of interconnected micropores (capillary tubes), so they have a very large surface area. The mechanism of water adsorption includes surface adsorption in the porous network and capillary agglomeration. The chemical composition and physical structure of silica gel determine that it has many characteristics that other similar materials are difficult to replace: high adsorption performance, good thermal stability, stable chemical properties, and high mechanical strength. Silica gel desiccant is widely used in the drying and moisture-proofing of aviation parts, computer devices, electronic products, leather products, medicine, food and other industries.

Zeolite

Zeolite is a synthetic desiccant product with strong adsorption to water molecules. It is a crystalline aluminosilicate compound with regular and uniform pores in its crystal structure. Its pore size can be controlled by different processing techniques. In addition to absorbing water vapor, it can also adsorb other gases. In the case of high temperatures above 230 degrees Celsius, it can still hold water molecules well. Zeolite is widely used as a desiccant in refrigerant gas sealing devices, heavy-duty oil-filled transformers, double-glazed devices, vehicle air brakes, and air conditioning systems.

Activated Alumina

Activated alumina desiccant is spherical activated alumina made by a special process. Its properties are non-toxic, odorless, non-powdering, insoluble in water, white spherical in appearance, and strong in absorbing water. Under certain operating conditions and regeneration conditions, its drying depth is as high as the dew point temperature -70 degrees Celsius. It is an efficient desiccant for the deep drying of trace water. Activated alumina desiccant is mainly used for drying liquids and gases. It is widely used in gas and liquid phase drying in the petrochemical industry, drying in the textile industry, oxygen production industry and automatic instrument wind, pressure swing adsorption in the air separation industry, etc. Due to the high net heat of the monomolecular adsorption layer, it is very suitable for non-thermal regeneration devices.

Activated Charcoal

Activated carbon desiccant is based on the unique adsorption principle of activated carbon, using high-quality coconut shells, fruit shells, and wood chips as raw materials. After high-temperature activation and special pore size adjustment processes, it has an incomparable specific surface area and a rich medium and micropore structure. Can effectively remove the peculiar smell, odor, and moisture in various packaging products. It has an obvious effect on moisture-proof and deodorization during packaging, storage, transportation, and other processes.

Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride desiccant is a kind of high-efficiency adsorption material, the main components are calcium chloride and gelatin starch. Chemically reacts water molecules with calcium chloride to absorb moisture from the surrounding environment and transform it into a gel to achieve an adsorption effect, thus eliminating any possibility of leakage. The common silica gel desiccant can only absorb 10%-27% of its own weight, while the calcium chloride desiccant can reach 300%. The moisture absorption rate is 8-15 times that of ordinary desiccants. Calcium chloride desiccant can fuse water vapor and calcium chloride into a gel, which is not easy to evaporate.

Calcium Sulphate

Calcium sulfate is produced by the controlled dehydration of gypsum and is used as a general-purpose desiccant mainly used in laboratories. It is chemically stable, non-disintegrating, non-toxic, non-corrosive, and will not release its adsorbed water when exposed to higher environmental temperatures. The low cost of calcium sulfate must be weighed against its equally low adsorption capacity: it can only absorb up to 10% of its weight in water vapor.

Clay

Clay is a low-cost, high-efficiency low-temperature desiccant. The main chemical components of clay include silica and alumina, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, and iron oxide. The moisture absorption capacity of different grades of clay desiccant may be different. Therefore, it is necessary to verify their moisture adsorption isotherms during the selection process of desiccants. Clay works well at ambient temperature, but at temperatures> 50 degrees Celsius, it may lose moisture instead of absorbing it. Like silica gel, clay can be dried at temperatures above 110 degrees Celsius.

Application Overview:

By application, the Food segment occupied the biggest share from 2017 to 2022.

Key Companies in the global Desiccant market covered in Chapter 3:

Stream Peak International
Porocel
Multisorb
Weihai Pearl Silica Gel
Shanghai Wisepac (Wisesorbent)
Honeywell International
Clariant
Absortech
Delta Adsorbents
BASF
Grace
Makall
Minerals Technologies

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Desiccant market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Silica Gel
Zeolite
Activated Alumina
Activated Charcoal
Calcium Chloride
Calcium Sulphate
Clay

Others

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Desiccant market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Electronics
Food
Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical
Packaging
Air & Gas Drying
Clothing

Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)