March 31, 2009
The number of products we sell into the steel industry is large and the applications are diverse. However we do see some very common applications too. One of those is to use our Super Air Knife for a strip steel blow off.
One advantage of the Super Air Knife is that we can provide an unlimited width of continuous blow off for the widest of steel strips. The Super Air Knife produces an even air flow across the entire width, giving consistent results. A manifold of nozzles struggles to produce even and consistent air flow.
Another advantage is the space required for the Super Air Knife. The profile of a Super Air Knife is 1-3/4″ x 1.5″ . This is greatly smaller than any blower style knife or a manifold with nozzles. The Super Air Knife is also adjustable by using a simple pressure regulator on the inlet air supply. Adjusting the pressure will also affect the force and flow out of the knife.
Super Air Knives are available in aluminum, 303 stainless steel, and 316 stainless steel from out of STOCK in Cincinnati, OH. The stock lengths are up to 54″ long. This variety gives the customer more flexibility with the application. Whether we blow off the whole strip or only the edges, we have a length to fit.
I recently had a steel manufacturer with an edge blow off application. They were using 10 yellow plastic nozzles at 90 PSIG on each edge. The air consumption of these yellow nozzles was 290 SCFM at 90 PSIG. EXAIR provided an alternative Super Air Knife with a .003″ shim installed. This shim produces more force and flow than our stock .002″ shim. Even with the larger shim, and higher force and flow values, the EXAIR product saved more than 200 SCFM!
200 SCFM in an operation which is 24/7 and 365 days per year is equal to $26297.00, certainly worth the investment! And even for a 5 day a week, 250 working days per year, the new Super Air Knife solution can save $6000.00 per year! Not bad for a $325.00 investment.
Keep an eye out for these applications around your manufacturing facilities. EXAIR can help conserve compressed air and keep those operating costs down, so you can remain competitive.
Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com
Leave a Comment » | 
Uncategorized | 
Permalink
Posted by kaedwards
March 30, 2009
A customer who manufactures automotive aftermarket products was engaged in an activity-based accounting exercise to assign overhead costs to their various departments. In particular, one department uses considerably more compressed air than all the other departments and should bear most of the company’s compressed air costs. They needed to establish how much compressed air each department uses and allocate compressed air costs accordingly.
Using Model 9095 Digital Flow Meters, they were able to measure air consumption for the various departments. From that data they were able to calculate a burden rate for each department according to their use.
Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com
Leave a Comment » | 
Compressed Air Optimization | 
Permalink
Posted by japanfalone
March 27, 2009
The temperature in the US is at a rather mild level right now, but that will soon change. Along with the summer temperatures come failures of electric and electronic equipment due to overheating. So, now would be the perfect time to think about which panels gave you trouble in this way last year. It is also a perfect time to think about sizing up your cabinet for cooling to keep those nuisance failures from being a real headache for you again this year.
Imagine the down-time and lost productivity that you can avoid by doing a bit of reasonable pre-planning. EXAIR can help with that pre-planning by assisting you with your Cabinet Cooler sizing and determining which models would best suit your needs.
We are here to help with these and many other application issues. Please contact us with your Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide. You can locate our on-line form at the following link: http://www.exair.com/controls/CabCoolerForm.aspx
Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com
Leave a Comment » | 
Cabinet Cooler | 
Permalink
Posted by ndraker
March 25, 2009
I know I sure don’t. Imagine opening up a package of those familiar chewy, fruit-flavored ring-shaped candies and finding most of them smashed, or in partial pieces. It’s not the most appetizing sight. If the package itself appears intact, then the packaging system they came from is the most likely culprit.
A food conveyor manufacturer called me recently, looking to avoid this very problem in their own machines. They have sheet metal gates that will periodically come down and seal off sections of the conveyor for various reasons, such as when production exceeds the capacity of the packaging process, or when there is an unexpected shutdown of the packaging process.
If the area directly below the gate is not clear of the chewy candy, the pieces will either be smashed or cut by the gates. Because of the chewy nature of the candy, they will also tend to stick to the gate. So, when the conveyor is started up again, the stuck pieces will sometimes end up mixed in with the good pieces, and packaged right along with them, ending up on consumer shelves.
They needed a quick and effective way to clear off the conveyor area underneath the gates just before they were to come down. The conveyor was just under 9″ wide. So, our model 110009SS, 9″ Stainless Steel Super Air Knife, could be mounted across the width of the conveyor and create a curtain of air to sweep away any interfering candies and allow the gates to cleanly come down and meet the conveyor surface. This virtually eliminated any smashed or partial candy pieces ending up in the final product mix.
Emily Mortimer
Application Engineer
emilymortimer@exair.com
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by esmortimer
Subscribe to Our Blog
