Use of compressed air, or “the fourth utility” as it’s called, is widespread in many industries. How you use it in your business is important, for a couple of key considerations: Monetary cost Compressed air… More
Cleaning Out Pipes, Extrusions and Blind Holes
Look at the picture below of a band saw cutting a piece of tubing. The amount of debris and coolant that is coating the pipe on the inside diameter and outer diameter is substantial. Cleaning off the outside of a pipe is fairly easy and straight forward. Cleaning the ID can be difficult. This is a single instance where one of the EXAIR Back Blow Air Nozzles can turn a cumbersome job into a quick and easy step in the process.
The tubing in the photo appears to be around a 3 or 4″ ID tubing which makes it ideal to be cleaned out internally by the model 1006SS – 1/4″ Back Blow Air Nozzle. This nozzle is ideal for passage ways ranging from a 7/8″ diameter up to a 4″ diameter.
While cleaning out the short section may be able to be obtained with a forward blowing Safety Air Gun, if this was being cut from a 20′ length of tube it would be difficult to remove the debris from the remnant section of tubing. The advantage being the debris from the saw cut no longer has to be blown out or left in the longer lengths of the tube. The Back Blow Air Nozzle can easily be inserted and remove debris back from the saw cutting end. Lee Evans demonstrates this in a video below.
If you would like to discuss any compressed air application, please feel free to contact an Application Engineer. We will gladly help you determine which EXAIR product may be right for your application.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
1 – Metal Cutting Bandsaw image – S.J. de Waard, Creative Commons License [CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)%5D – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metal_cutting_bandsaw_(02).JPG
EXAIR Eliminates Static – Public Enemy Number one in the Printing Industry
Static electricity is the enemy of the printing industry. Downtime and inefficiency caused by static means longer lead times and angry customers! EXAIR can remove static electricity in the many printing applications across wide and narrow webs. With our rugged line of EXAIR Super Ion Air Knives and Ionizing Bars, EXAIR can improve your efficiency and printing quality.
Digital printing dries out the printed substrate, creating high static charge that can cause printing defects, ink overspray, and even print head clogging and print head shorting issues. If a press is printing on non-porous substrates like plastic, metallics and highly coated glossy papers, a device called a corona treater is used to increase the surface energy of the substrate to ensure the ink droplets adhere and do not spread too much on the substrate. A byproduct of the corona treatment is static charge, which must be removed. This can be achieved by installing an EXAIR Ion Bar after the corona treatment device across the web.
Static is also created anywhere in the printing or finishing operations where sheets are moved over each other. Sheetfed presses, for example, create friction in the stacking of individual sheets on top of each other. This friction induced static creates misfeeds, print registration issues, multiple sheet pickups and equipment jams.
Folding operations cause static issues too. Like a sheetfed press, static is created by folded pieces being dragged across each other.
In both cases, installing an EXAIR Super Ion Air Knife or Ion Air Cannon that can direct a stream of ions between the stack and the top sheet can eliminate the static that causes misfeeds and jams.
The typical easy fix printers employ is what’s called a tinsel bar. Also called garland, it looks just like what you drape on a Christmas tree, except that it’s made of highly conductive copper that needs to be grounded to the printing press.The problem with tinsel bars is that although they are cheap initially, they don’t last long. They’re not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. The sharp strands work on induction and interact with the static field on the substrate creating a neutralizing cloud that surrounds the area, reducing both positive and negative ions. Printing operations are usually dusty environments and when the tinsel becomes dusty, oxidized, or matted and crumpled, they don’t work as effectively.
Static is also created in unwinding and rewinding operations, when rolls are slit to needed widths of various presses. The removal of the web from the roll creates static charge that attracts dust to the substrate surface and can cause major problems in downstream printing operations. Installing an EXAIR Ion Bar on top of the web can elimnate this static.
EXAIR Super Ion Air Knives don’t need to be placed close to the surface like a tinsel bar. Static dissipation of 5 KV can occur in less than a half second up to 20 feet away and can be adjusted from a blast to a breeze, depending on static level.
If you are a printer, finisher or labeler, EXAIR has a static elimination product that can improve your operations. For more help you can contact one of our EXAIR application engineers to talk you through a solution.
Dann Woellert
Application Engineer
dannwoellert@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_dw
Flat Super Air Nozzles: Overview
EXAIR manufactures a variety of nozzles that are OSHA safe, high quality, and very efficient. They are engineered to entrain the “free” ambient air into the air stream to create a powerful force while reducing compressed air usage. Thus, saving you money. With a multitude of blow-off applications like clearing small holes to quickly cleaning gantry CNC tables, EXAIR has the nozzles for you. In this blog, I will discuss the features and benefits of the EXAIR Flat Super Air Nozzles.
The EXAIR Flat Super Air Nozzles are manufactured to blow a wide forceful stream of air. Their patented design creates a high velocity, laminar air stream with minimal air consumption and low noise. They come in two widths; 1” (25mm) and 2” (51mm). EXAIR offers a standard Flat Super Air Nozzle and a High Force Flat Super Air Nozzle in two different materials, zinc-aluminum alloy and 316 stainless steel. And with a metal construction, breakage is not a concern and performance are not sacrificed even in the harshest of environments. The unique patented shims inside the EXAIR Flat Super Air Nozzles will give you three improvements to the design and function. First, they come in different thickness to create a wide range of forces. In conjunction with a regulator, you can “dial” in the correct amount of force from a breeze to a blast without overusing your air compressor. The patented design also allows an even flow across the entire width of the air nozzle. Lastly, they help to entrain the free ambient air; so that less compressed air is required. The high efficiency design will save you money. The EXAIR Flat Super Air Nozzles are effective in uniform blowing with safety and efficiency in mind.
To expand more on force adjustments with the Flat Super Air Nozzles, EXAIR has an easy way to change the shim to better suit your application. You can increase or decrease the force of the nozzle by just removing two screws and changing the thickness of the shim inside. EXAIR offers a variety pack called a Shim Set to give you a wide range of forces with the nozzles. For the standard Flat Super Air Nozzle, they come stock with a 0.015” (0.38mm) shim for both the 1” and 2” sizes. The corresponding Shim Sets will include a 0.005” (0.13mm), 0.010” (0.25mm), and 0.020” (0.51mm) shim. The High Force Flat Super Air Nozzles will come standard with a 0.025” (0.64mm) shim; and the Shim Set will include a 0.020” (0.51mm) and 0.030” (0.76mm) thick shim. This is a unique feature as most competitive flat nozzles do not allow you to do this. The chart below corresponds the appropriate Shim Set to the Flat Super Air Nozzle.
What can make the Flat Super Air Nozzles even better? Flexibility. The Stay Set Hoses can add this for positioning the Flat Super Air Nozzles. They are designed to manually move the Flat Super Air Nozzle to accurately target the air stream. They allow the maneuverability to locate the nozzle at different heights or angles; and once positioned, the Stay Set Hose will hold the nozzle in place. They come in different lengths from 6” (152mm) to 36” (914mm). We carry two different styles of connections to adapt to any of the Flat Super Air Nozzles. You can select the different lengths of Stay Set Hoses to the Flat Super Air Nozzle by the model number make-up sheet below.
EXAIR also can offer a Magnetic Base to your Stay Set Hoses and Flat Super Air Nozzles. The Magnetic Base has a powerful magnet on the bottom to securely attach the blow-off nozzles vertically or horizontally. This feature is great if you need to move the nozzles to different locations in your application. EXAIR manufactures a one-outlet and a two-outlet design. Each outlet has a ¼ turn valve to manually turn on or off the nozzle. To add this product to the Flat Super Air Nozzle and the Stay Set Hose, you can use the model number make-up sheet below.
With the EXAIR Flat Super Air Nozzles, you can take advantage of the durability, safety, and efficiency for your blow-off devices. In addition, you can build a system that will best suit your requirements by adding different lengths of Stay Set Hoses and/or Magnetic Bases. With these combinations grouped in one model number and in stock for quick shipments, it makes it simple to purchase from EXAIR. And just to let you know, if you are within the U.S. or Canada, they come with a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try them out. If you need any help with our Flat Super Air Nozzles or how to build an optimum blow-off system, you can speak to an Application Engineer at EXAIR. We will be happy to assist you.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb
Pressure Regulators – Minimize Compressed Air Usage by “Dialing” in Your Air Pressure
In any application necessitating the use of compressed air, pressure should be controlled to minimize the air consumption at the point of use. Pressure regulators are available to control the air pressure within the system and throttle the appropriate supply of air to any pneumatic device. As the last of the six steps to optimizing your compressed air system, controlling air at the point of use can often be overlooked.
Pressure regulators utilize a control knob that is turned to either increase/decrease tension on a spring. The spring puts a load on the diaphragm which separates internal air pressure from the ambient pressure. Typically made of a flexible rubber material, these diaphragms react very quickly to changes in the air supply. By either increasing or decreasing the flow of air based on the load on the diaphragm, downstream pressure remains fairly constant.
While one advantage of a pressure regulator is certainly maintaining consistent pressure to your compressed air devices, using them to minimize your pressure can result in dramatic savings to your costs of compressed air.
As pressure and flow are directly related, lowering the pressure supplied results in less compressed air usage. EXAIR recommends operating your Intelligent Compressed Air Products at the minimum pressure necessary to achieve a successful application. If you notice a desirable result at a pressure of 60 PSIG, or even less, there’s no need to run full line pressure. In-line point of use pressure regulators are the simplest and most reliable way to allow you to dial down the pressure to any compressed air operated product.
When selecting a pressure regulator for your application, it’s critical that it is appropriately sized to supply adequate volume to the point of use devices downstream. Doing so, minimizes the risk of experiencing “droop”. Droop is a decrease in outlet pressure from the specified setting due to an increase in flow rate. Droop occurs when the demand at the point of use exceeds the volume of air that the regulator can supply. By ensuring the pressure regulator is rated to deliver sufficient volume of air, you’ll reduce the chances of experiencing droop. EXAIR offers pressure regulators in kits along with many of our products, we’ve done the hard part for you and made sure they’re properly sized!
If you’re looking for ways to help lessen the demand on your compressor, EXAIR’s team of Application Engineers will be happy to help. Reach out to us via phone, chat, or e-mail and see for yourself just how easy it can be to start saving compressed air!
Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD
About Heat of Compression Dryers
Drying compressed air is similar to removing the humidity in the air when using an air conditioning system.
From a functional standpoint, what does this really mean? What will take place in the compressed air system if the air is not dried and the moisture is allowed to remain?
The answer is in the simple fact that moisture is damaging. Rust, increased wear of moving parts, discoloration, process failure due to clogging, frozen control lines in cold weather, false readings from instruments and controls – ALL of these can happen due to moisture in the compressed air. It stands to reason, then, that if we want long-term operation of our compressed air products, having dry air is a must.
A heat of compression type dryer is a regenerative desiccant dryer which uses the heat generated by the compression of the ambient air to regenerate the moisture removing capability of the desiccant used to dry the compressed air.
When using one of these dryers, the air is pulled directly from the outlet of the compressor with no cooling or treatment to the air and is fed through a desiccant bed in “Tank 1” where it regenerates the moisture removing capabilities of the desiccant inside the tank. The compressed air is then fed through a regeneration cooler, a separator, and finally another desiccant bed, this time in “Tank 2”, where the moisture is removed. The output of “Tank 2” is supplied to the facilities as clean, dry compressed air. After enough time, “tank 1” and “tank 2” switch, allowing the hot output of the compressor to regenerate the desiccant in “tank 2” while utilizing the moisture removing capabilities of the desiccant in “tank 1”.
If you have questions about your compressed air system and how the end use devices are operating, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer. We’ll be happy to discuss your system and ways to optimize your current setup.
Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
Send me an email
Find us on the Web
Like us on FacebookTwitter: @EXAIR_JS
Heated Desiccant Dryer by Compressor1. Creative Commons License
Conveyance Testing? We Can Do That!
Over the past month I have spoken with many customers who all had a similar concern. Will the Line Vac actually convey my product? Generally, the Application Engineer team can pool our experience together and get a pretty good feeling on if the product will be able to be conveyed the needed vertical and horizontal distance. We can even give some estimates on what rate of transfer for the product.
In some cases though, the customer prefers to have some hard evidence to showcase to their leadership that the product will work and fill the need they have. In those cases, as long as the product does not present a disposal hazard or respiratory hazard then we can probably take a small sample and do some testing then provide images, and possibly even some video.
We may not be able to set up the exact product path that your system will require, we can generally convey a simple vertical with some horizontal. The list below gives just a few examples of the products we have tested:
- paper scrap
- medicine tablets
- ground rubber
- dry ice
- seasoning/spices
- die cut scraps
- steel shot
- tumbling media
- candy bars (These were delicious, please send more!)
- nutraceuticals
- plastic caps
- plastic parts
- packing peanuts
- coffee beans
- adhesive backing paper
- cat food additive
- bolts
- springs
- Doo Hickeys (okay, maybe my daughters made me watch Little Mermaid recently.)
- sand
- nuts/seeds
The list could go on and on. The point is, if you are questionable on how well a Line Vac would work with your product, don’t let that deter you from reaching out to us and speaking with an Application Engineer. We’ve done lots of product testing, and we will all share our experiences with you. Also, we have conveyed a Cincinnati-Style Chili 3-way. You can see that in the archives under Will It Launch.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
Super Air Knives Save 63% Electrical Cost for a Food Manufacturer Drying Trays
A food manufacturing company was looking for a more efficient way to dry polypropylene trays that were filled with food product. With their current operation, they would send already packed and sealed food trays through a washing system that used sterilized water. The trays would then have to be dried prior to bulk packaging. The operators would place the trays side by side on a 24” wide open-mesh stainless steel metal conveyor with two or three trays at a time (depending on the tray dimensions). They contacted EXAIR because they wanted to replace their “old and inefficient system” with something better.
In my discussions, they gave some additional details of the operation and the problems that they were seeing. The dimensions of the trays ranged from 150 to 200mm long by 100 to 150mm wide by 35 to 50mm in height. They were cleaning at a rate of 30 trays per minute through the washing and drying system. The washer was designed to recycle the water to improve “green” operations. But the trays were carrying much of the water outside the machine. Thus, they would have to stop and refill the wash system with fresh water.
After the washing cycle, the drying section began. It consisted of two parts; a sponge roller and a heated chamber that would blow hot air. First the trays would run under the sponge roller to absorb the water from the top of the trays. A feature that they did not like was the continuous adjustment to the sponge roller for the different tray heights. They had to make sure that they had good contact without stopping the movement.
Also, with bulk of the water being on top of the trays, the sponge surface would get saturated. They would have to stop the process to change with a dry foam pad or replace due to wear. After the sponge roller, it would move into a heated chamber to remove the remaining portion of the water from the trays. They used a 11 KW heating system to blow hot air. This part of their system required a lot of electricity to run. They wondered if EXAIR could help streamline their process and reduce energy costs.
They sent a photo of their system, reference above. As described, the trays were moving intermittently through the wash cycle and then into the drying operation. When gaps are present in a process, the Electronic Flow Control, or EFC, becomes a great product for energy efficiency. It is designed to use a photoelectric sensor to detect a part and initiate a timing sequence. Using a solenoid valve, it will turn on the compressed air only when needed. With the drying operation, I suggested that they could remove the sponge roller and heated chamber, and replace them with two Super Air Knives. In conjunction with the EFC, we can decrease energy usage, reduce downtime, and increase savings. Profit margins can be critical in the food industry, and EXAIR has many ways to help.
To expand a bit more about revitalizing the “old and inefficient system” with EXAIR products, I made some suggestions. I recommended two Stainless Steel Super Air Knife Kits, model 110224SS, to be placed near the end of the conveyor. One Super Air Knife would be positioned above the tray to blow across the top; and one would be positioned below the tray under the mesh conveyor to blow across the bottom.
At a slight blowing angle in a counter-flow direction, the air streams would remove the water from the top and bottom of the tray at the same time. This would create a non-contact “wiping” solution. Now they do not have to worry about parts wearing out due to contact. Another unique feature of the Super Air Knife is the strength of the laminar air stream. It is consistent from 3” (76mm) to 12” (305mm) away from the target. Thus, they can easily set the height of the Super Air Knives to dry all the different trays without adjusting it.
And as an added benefit, the water that was being blown off the trays by the Super Air Knives remained within the washing system. The sterilized water was not being wasted and could be recycled. With the Electronic Flow Control, I recommended the model 9056. It is a user-friendly device with eight different timing sequences. They were able to position the photoelectric sensor near the outlet of the washing system. As soon as the trays were detected, the Super Air Knives would turn on to blow two or three trays at the same time. With the EXAIR products installed, the system went from using 11 KW down to 4 KW, a 63% savings.
EXAIR has helped many customers like this one above. When it comes to energy savings, EXAIR leads the way. With two Super Air Knives and an EFC, we were able to modernized their system; save on water, improve productivity, reduce the overall footprint, and save on their energy usage. If you have a similar application, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR. We will be happy to update your system.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb
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