EXAIR Blog
EXAIR’s patented Intellistat Ion Air Gun has been designed to eliminate static in sensitive processes like electronics testing or assembling, clean processes and laboratories. This video illustrates the ease of replacing its emitter point, which… More
I used to help my father-in-law around his farm and this city boy had his eyes opened when he realized it was more than shovels, tractors and livestock. Agriculture is vital for human existence and… More
Fluid mechanics is the field that studies the properties of fluids in various states. There are two main areas; fluid statics and fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics studies the forces on a fluid, either as a… More
With Valentine’s Day coming up in the U.S. many of us will be buying chocolates for our significant other. My wife (somehow) doesn’t particularly care for chocolate, so I buy some for her anyway knowing that it will sit around until I eat it. I think most of us would agree that chocolate is even more delicious when melted and drizzled all over the top of just about anything. But, melted chocolate isn’t always a good thing.
I recently worked with a company that manufactures chocolate products. They came out with a new line of small candies and were encountering an issue during packaging. In their process, the chocolates are formed, cooled, and packaged for resale. During the packaging process they were experiencing a problem that caused the chocolates to melt. The bags are heat-sealed along the sides and bottom. This heat was transferring from the bag to the chocolates and causing them to melt. Rather than having a finished package of individual candies, they were melting together to form one large lump. Not exactly what they are hoping to deliver to their consumers.
Fortunately, EXAIR offers a range of different products that are suitable for cooling. For this application, they utilized a Model 5330 High Power Dual Outlet Cold Gun. With the fan-type nozzle installed, they were able to cool both sides of the package immediately after sealing and just before filling the bags with chocolates.
EXAIR’s Cold Gun was a Product of the Year finalist in 2007. Using only a source of compressed air, the Cold Gun and High-Power Cold Gun produces a stream of clean, cold air 50° (28°C) below your compressed air supply temperature. The Cold Gun is very quiet at only 70dBA and has no moving parts to wear out. Just supply it with clean, dry compressed air and its maintenance free! It’s available as both a standard and High-Power option, providing 2x the cooling power. Each style is available with either a single or dual cold outlet flow.
The Cold Gun is pre-set to an 80% Cold Fraction. In other words, 80% of the compressed air supplied to it will exhaust from the cold end of the tube, 20% from the hot end. This prevents the Cold Gun from freezing up during use and optimizes the gun’s cooling capacity. The Cold Gun is an ideal alternative to messy and expensive coolant mist systems. It eliminates the cost of purchase and disposal of cutting fluids as well as worker related health problems from breathing airborne coolant or slipping on wet floors. Replacing a coolant-based system also eliminates the need for secondary cleaning operations after milling or drilling.
If you have an application that you believe would be better served by the use of an EXAIR Cold Gun, give us a call.
Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD
Static, everyone loathes it except for those kids that like to run around shocking their friends. This phenomenon affects not only everyday life with things like frizzy hair and that annoying zap you get when someone touches you but also industry. But what is static and how is it generated?
Static is generated on the atomic level from the exchange of valance electrons on each surface. The energy produced from the friction causes those valance electrons to enter an excited state; when in this excited state they begin to jump back and forth from atom to atom. When this happens, the atoms begin to accumulate either a positive charge if the atom lost electrons or a negative charge if the atom gained electrons.
As the charge accumulates on the surface where the friction occurs if a ground source (i.e., a piece of metal or a person) comes in close proximity to the charged surface an arc is generated between the two surfaces transferring the build-up of electrons and returning the charged surfaces to a neutral state.
But how can these surfaces become charged in the first place?
The most common and well-known way is via friction. Friction generation is when two surfaces rub against each other causing the static to build up on the surfaces. The energy from the two objects being pushed together and rubbing up against each other causes the electrons within the atoms to enter an excited state. When these electrons are in this excited state the valence electrons will jump from atom to another atom; this causes one atom to become positively charged (lost the electron) and the other to become negatively charged (gained the electron). The harder the two surfaces are pushed together and the faster they are rubbed together the more static will be generated.
A second type of static generation is contact static build up, which is when a charge that is built up when two surfaces impact each other and then separate. Much like friction static generation, contact static build up generates the charge on the surfaces from the kinetic energy of the impact. The material of the two objects in question will determine how many electrons are transferred from surface to surface based on the properties of the atoms in the material (Electronegativity, Ionization Energy, and Electron Affinity).
The third type of static generation is detachment static build up. Detachment static build up once again relies on the kinetic energy and the properties of the atoms in the material. When the two surfaces are pulled apart the electrons that are transferring from one molecule to another get stuck with the molecules of one surface, which leaves both surfaces charged. This is seen a lot with plastic protective covers like the ones that come on a new window pane.
No matter how the static is generated EXAIR’s line of Static Eliminators including EXAIR’s New Intellistat that can neutralize a 1000V charge in under one second. Don’t let static cause issues for your production facility, contact EXAIR for a solution.
If you have any questions about compressed air systems or want more information on any of EXAIR’s products, give us a call, we have a team of Application Engineers ready to answer your questions and recommend a solution for your applications.
Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Introducing the Intellistat® Ion Air Gun!
Are you looking for fast and efficient static elimination in a convenient, compact product? Look no further than EXAIR Corporation’s brand-new Intellistat Ion Air Gun designed for use in laboratories, electronics manufacturing and testing, clean environments and sensitive processes:
If you have any questions about the Intellistat Ion Air Gun, our other Static Eliminator solutions, or any of our engineered compressed air products, give me a call.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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When it comes to blowing off extrusions, cables, pipe, tubing, hose, or wire, the EXAIR Super Air Wipe is an ideal product that often stands alone in this field. From time to time I will receive a call asking about a block style blowoff for wire or cabling, maybe even small extrusion, and the Super Air Wipe is always there to provide a true 360° blowoff compared to what the customer is used to.
See, the block style blowoffs are similar to the SAW in they both offer a clamshell design that will open and close into place around the product to prevent the user from having to “thread the needle”. Also, they both operate off compressed air. The means by which they deliver the air is where the stark contrast in performance begins.
First, let us take a look at how these block style blowoffs deliver the air to the product being blown off. Generally, inside of these, there are a couple holes on each half of the block that are drilled at an angle to deliver the air onto the surface of the product. These block style products have to be kept fairly close in diameter to the product so that the air contacts the surfaces and they are for the most part offered in smaller sizes only.
Now, how does the Super Air Wipe deliver the air to the product being blown off? The air enters (1) into an internal chamber that fills (2) and then dispurses through a continuous gap (3) on each half of the wipe that is set by a shim. The shim can be interchanged with different thicknesses to give a course adjustment to the volumetric flow of air. The air then follows the Coanda profile (4) of the Super Air Wipe to maximize entrained air (5) and exits at a 60° included angle (6) to impact the surface of the part at a full 360°.
Stock Super Air Wipe Product OfferingBlock Style air wipes also have a tendency to operate very loudly, often exceeding 90 dBA and more. This will affects personnel directly and can also affect their communication when attending to a processing line. Super Air Wipes operate at 82 dBA with 5″ and smaller diameters. Up to 89 dBA for diameterss from 6″-11″.
The Super Air Wipe is available in eleven sizes from stock in aluminum (up to 11″ dia.) while the stainless steel configurations are available in five sizes from stock (up to 4″ dia.). If aluminum or stainless steel don’t fit the requirements of an application, custom sizes and materials are always available with short lead times.
If you notice that the block style air blowoff is leaving streaks or maybe the physical space requirements of the block are too much to fit into your production line, please contact an Application Engineer and let us help you determine which Super Air Wipe is going to be right for your needs.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
