Methanol Drying

Mole sieves can adsorb about 10% of their weight in water. If you want to remove 10 kg of water you will need 100 kg of sieve. There are loads of variables from space velocity to temperature to how much percentage water you start with and what the percentage of water you want on the outlet.

These affect the 10% nominal value from 5% to 15%. If you are going commercial size, the manufacturer will give you exact performance. If this is just a small deal, under estimate at about 7%.

Do you have a science supply company locally? Ask for a catalog. They're usually free. Fisher Scientific; VWR; Cole Parmer; Ace Glass are a few. Depending on your hourly or daily through-put, order a straight-thru glass condenser tube or such, plug one end with cotton or glass wool, fill with molecular sieve (4A or 5A probably), then plug the top with the glass wool, etc and run your wet methanol thru that tube. For larger amounts, you can use plastic (polypropylene or UHMW PE) or aluminum tubing and fill as above. Be sure you understand working with methanol. It is toxic and can cause blindness. You can also use Drierite (Calcium Sulfate) with or without the moisture indicator.

You should not use anything larger than 3A sieves in pellet form. Water and Methanol diffuse into 4A at nearly the same rate. For a good reference look at, J. Org. Chem. Vol 48 No 14 1983 p2421