You have heard the expression before.  Now we get to actually get to apply a Super Air Knife into a bread slicing machine! The customer is a bakery that produces various types of bread on a large scale production basis. The  action of slicing bread produces quite a mess with bread crumbs flying all over the machine and the immediate area around the machine. Turns out bread crumbs are like little ball bearings when you walk on them which makes walking around the machine area quite dangerous. The crumbs also tend to fly up into the machine operator’s face as well which is not a desirable condition to have from a worker safety standpoint.

The customer was looking for a way to contain the bread crumbs during the cutting process and so decided to use our Model 110024SS 24″ Stainless Steel Super Air Knife to deflect and blow the crumbs down into the machine where they can be contained by the sheet metal protection within and then cleaned up later at the end of a shift or when time permits.

It is a simple application but one that makes all the difference in the world to the operators working around the bread slicer.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

I got a call from an industrial supply company last week who had a customer looking for two solutions for one application.  They machine parts out of PEEK plastic.  The bit was getting too hot, creating warping and other heat-related damage.  And, not all the machining shavings were being fully removed from the parts.  Both of these problems were leading to an excess amount of rejected material.

I was able to recommend one product from our Spot Cooling line that would solve both problems.  I suggested they offer a Model 5315 Cold Gun with Dual Point Hose Kit.  One of the arms can be directed right at the bit to provide cooling.  The other can be directed at the point of cut, to ensure proper removal of the chips and shavings created. 

A quick, easy solution to handle two problems at one time and eliminate the rejected material issues.

Emily Mortimer
Application Engineer
emilymortimer@exair.com

Typically we use this blog space to illustrate an application in your normal problem/solution format. Our aim is to help you learn more about what our products can do and how they provide the results.

But today, using a little different approach, I am asking you to let us know what we are doing which could be done better or what we do not do and you think we should. I am aware that feedback from our customers and potential customers is an invaluable asset we may not always pursue in more and creative ways. The EXAIR blog presents itself as a new and more creative way to get some feedback.

So – Please provide us some feedback. Whether it is about our catalog, our website, a specific product, product information, customer service, etc… We would like to know what you think. We are all in this together and it would be difficult for us to go on making all of our decisions without some help from you.

Don’t be shy, leave your comments at this blog or tweet me @exair_ke.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

To lubricate well drill bits, a special liquid lubricant is circulated down and back out the hole. Along with it comes ground up rock which has to be separated before the liquid coolant is recirculated back to the drill head. This is done by passing it through a screen separator.

The issue is that the particulate is wet, which means that some of the coolant goes out the waste stream. The coolant is expensive. If any and all of it can be recovered, it presents a considerable cost savings.

Bill Billeaud, an inventor, came up with a way to blow the wet grindings with a Model 110006 6″ Super Air Knife, against a separation screen to blow the coolant off and recover more of the coolant.

Here is a video of the concept http://vimeo.com/7649488 

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

My young son made me aware of a fine adjustment he made for himself on Saturday morning. As he strolled through the kitchen I quickly noticed the shortness of his pants, not to mention they had holes in the knees and tattered hems. I first mentioned how much he has grown and how much taller he is since the last time he wore those pants, and then went on to state how clearly short they were.

     He offered me a simple answer “It’s OK Dad, I put on long socks”. An in arguable and true testament to our ability to make fine adjustments.

EXAIR largely shows all of the performance numbers for our products at 80 PSIG. It is in part because we know it is a common available pressure from our customer base. It also saves some space when printing material or setting up web pages etc…

Some customers assume that this is the only working pressure of the products, which is not the case. All of our blow off products and static eliminators perform very well and provide solutions from 10 PSIG up to a maximum of 250 PSIG of inlet pressure. And any of the pressures in between can be produced with a simple pressure regulator.

In fact, we include a pressure regulator in any of the blow off or static eliminator product kits. A pressure regulator is an important part of keeping your compressed air applications as efficient as possible. A rule of thumb states every 2 PSIG of decreased pressure saves 1% compressed air energy cost.

Regulating the pressure not only allows you to operate your application at as low a pressure as possible but also allows you to adjust the results of the blow off application. A common application for a Super Air Wipe has been to produce the proper amount of finish coating on round stock like tool handles or coated metal tubes. This cannot be adjusted with a blower product or without a pressure regulator. A Super Air Knife is also commonly used to produce specific thickness of a coating on webs or other flat stock, a pressure regulator is the key to success.

Just think of it as putting on long socks.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation

My customer processes and packages eggs. Eggs are transported via a spool conveyor. As the conveyor progresses, the spools rotate, turning the eggs so they can be exposed to the wash nozzles. The eggs are then dried with a blower, which for the most part got the eggs dry but not the spools. The wet spools then would re-wet the eggs.

 Using a model 110024 Super Air Knife they were able to direct a thin stream of air between the rows of eggs directly onto the spools. This dried the spools and eliminated carry over back onto the eggs.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

Customer manufactures seemless metal tubing in various sizes. After sizing, tube is washed, rinsed, dried and labeled with ink jet printing system.  Problem was the tubing was not being dried well enough by original blowing system which was a simple copper tube aimed at only one part of the tube circumference.

Customer moved to use Model 2402 2″ Super Air Wipe to blow the entire tube off prior to printing. Tube was completely dry and print job came out nicely. Customer was completely happy as they were able to get a much dryer product using less air than they did previously.

This is a very straight forward application where using compressed air more efficiently and effectively, using EXAIR product, produces superb results in final product quality.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

A company in the rail recycling industry contacted us last week looking for a solution to implement in a cleaning process for railroad spikes.  They collect the spikes, then need to wash and dry them before they are shot blasted to smooth out the finish.  Air drying while the spikes traveled along a wire mesh conveyor was not doing the trick. 

The conveyor was approx 2ft wide, so a 24″ Super Air Knife would work well.  And since the conveyor was wire mesh, a knife could be installed both above and below the belt, to allow the airflow to better hit all sides of the spikes for more effective drying.

Installation of 2pc of Model 110024, 24″ Aluminum Super Air Knives was a quick, easy, and inexpensive solution for this application.

Emily Mortimer
Application Engineer
emilymortimer@exair.com

Here is another energy incentive database website similar to one we previously blogged about from the U.S. Dept. of Energy. We recognize everyone needs a hand every now and then to find information. It seems to me that as time goes on, more information is available in more places, except it is also jammed in between more useless junk and it can sometimes be hard to find.

Since much of our product line focuses upon saving compressed air, we like to help folks find some of this information. Many of these programs do offer incentive or rebates for optimizing a compressed air system.

It is easy to assume we all know where to get and find the information and resources we need. But then again I find myself needing to find additional resources on a regular basis. So in the spirit of helping each other along, here is a great resource on incentives and policies for energy efficiency across the United States.

You will find this new database from DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency) easy to navigate with good descriptions of the programs, making it simpler to choose which program may apply in your situation.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com