I was contacted by a company that was bottling beer; and they had an issue that they wished to solve. They were producing 35,000 bottles per hour in two different sizes; the 24 oz. (710… More
Rugged, Stainless Steel Liquid Nozzles Available to Ship From Stock: The FullStream Cone Nozzles
New to EXAIR’s line of Liquid Atomizing Nozzles are the FullStream Liquid Only Atomizing Nozzles. This family of nozzles does not require any source of compressed air to operate, just a supply of pressurized liquid.
They produce droplets by spinning the liquid and breaking its surface tension through a precise orifice or by impacting the liquid onto the surface of the nozzle. Compared to EXAIR’s Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles, these nozzles generate more liquid volume and produce a coarser spray pattern. This higher liquid volume is beneficial for industrial applications including cleaning, cooling, rinsing, dust suppression, and washing. Constructed of Type 303 stainless steel, these durable and rugged nozzles are ideal for industrial applications. They’re available in three sizes: ¼ NPT, 3/8 NPT, and ½ NPT these nozzles can achieve flowrates ranging from 0.5 GPM to 17.64 GPM.
This style of nozzle is a good fit for general-purpose applications in industry and will commonly be used to spray inexpensive liquids such as water, rinse aids, or detergents. They’re also effective for spraying a variety of chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides.
Adjustments to the nozzle’s liquid flow rate can be achieved by regulating the liquid pressure supplied to the nozzles. As we increase the liquid pressure, the flow through the nozzle will increase. As the pressure increases, not only do we increase the overall liquid flow rate but also the size of the spray pattern. If a tight tolerance in liquid flowrate is needed, the Air Atomizing Nozzles will provide more precise control over the application of fluids.
The FullStream Cone Nozzles produce a full cone spray pattern and are among the most common style of spray nozzle available on the market today. They produce a uniform distribution of liquid in a cone shaped round pattern. Their tangential flow is vaneless, creating open internal features that are resistant to clogging for liquids with suspended particles.
The nozzles are manufactured out of Type 303 stainless steel for durable and rugged applications up to a maximum temperature of 800°F. With absolutely no moving parts, these nozzles are Built to Last. All sizes are available in stock to ship today with an order in by 2:00 EDT.
Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD
Compressed Air Efficiency Results in Better Business!
Time and time again we write about how compressed air is considered the fourth utility in a manufacturing setting. Compressed air is a great resource to use, however it needs to be used responsibly!
How you use it in your business is important, for a couple of key considerations:
The Cost of Compressed Air
Compressed air isn’t free. Heck, it isn’t even cheap. According to a Tip Sheet on the U.S. Department of Energy’s website, some companies estimate the cost of generation at $0.18 – $0.30 per 1,000 cubic feet of air. A typical industrial air compressor will make 4-5 Standard Cubic Feet per Minute per horsepower. Let’s be generous and assume that our 100HP compressor puts out 500 SCFM and is fully loaded 85% of the time over two shifts per day, five days a week:
500 SCFM X $0.18/1,000 SCF X 60 min/hr X 16 hr/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year =
$22,464.00 estimated annual compressed air cost
So to minimize the compressed air use and the over all generation costs there are six easy steps to follow!
- Measure: the air consumption You must create a baseline to understand your demand requirements. How can you measure your improvements if you do not understand your total demand or baseline? Installing an EXAIR Flow Meter to your main air lines will help identify the amount of compressed air demand you have and help identify areas of concern.
- Find and fix leaks in the system: The repair of compressed air leaks is one of easiest ways to gain energy savings. In most cases all you need is a keen sense of hearing to locate a leak. Once a you have confirmed a leak then the make the necessary repairs. Harder to find leaks may require tools such as EXAIR’s Ultrasonic Leak Detector. This is a hand held high quality instrument that can be used to locate costly air leaks.
- Upgrade your blow off, cooling and drying operations: Updating your compressed air process tooling can save you energy and help you comply with OSHA noise and safety regulations. An example would be to replace old blow off or open pipe systems with EXAIR Safety Air Nozzles. Replacing open copper tubes or pipes can amount up to 80% air savings. You achieve lower sound levels and significant energy savings.
- Turn off the compressed air when it isn’t in use: It sounds obvious but how many times has an operator left for a break or lunch and doesn’t shut off the compressed air for his/her station? The minutes add up to a significant amount of time annually meaning there is opportunity for energy savings. The use of solenoid valves will help but EXAIR’s Electronic Flow Control (EFC) will dramatically reduce compressed air costs with the use of a photoelectric sensor and timing control.
- Use intermediate storage of compressed air near the point of use: The use of storage receivers can improve your overall system efficiency in a number of ways. For example, using a main air receiver at the compressor room can make load/unload compressor control more efficient. Localizing receiver tanks such as EXAIR’s 9500-60 sixty gallon receiver tank by the point of use for a high demand process will stabilize the demand fluctuations allowing a more fluid operation.
- Control the air pressure at the point of use to minimize air consumption: The use of pressure regulators will resolve this issue. Using regulators you can control the amount of air being processed at each point of use. EXAIR offers different sized pressure regulators depending upon your air line and process requirements. Regulating the compressed air to the minimum amount required and will reduce your overall demand resulting in annual savings and a payback schedule.
Health & Safety
Injuries and illnesses can be big expenses for business as well. Inefficient use of compressed air can be downright unsafe. Open ended blow offs present serious hazards, if dead-ended…the pressurized (energized) flow can break the skin and cause a deadly air embolism. Even some air nozzles that can’t be dead ended (see examples of cross-drilled nozzles on right) cause a different safety hazard, hearing loss due to noise exposure. This is another case where EXAIR can help. Not only are our Intelligent Compressed Air Products fully OSHA compliant in regard to dead end pressure, their efficient design also makes them much quieter than other devices.
Efficient use of compressed air can make a big difference in the workplace – not only to your financial bottom line, but to everyone’s safety, health, and livelihood. If you’d like to find out more about how EXAIR can help, give me a call.
Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS
Clean Room Certification – ISO 14644
The number of clean room certifications are vast and vary tremendously. ISO 14644 is the most used standard when looking at electronics and pharma manufacturing controlled environments. With this popularity, it has also undergone revisions within the past five years.
No matter the standard, each is divided into classes. The classes are rated from 1 to 9. The class identifies the maximum limit for particulate size and quantity per cubic meter of air. The chart below showcases the size and the quantity breakdown.
ISO 9 as you can see is the loosest standard. This standard is equivalent to air quality within a city environment. These environments can fit a multitude of manufacturing and are some of the easiest to achieve and abide by. The opposite end of the spectrum, ISO 1 is the strictest and hardest to maintain. There are three main factors when designing for a clean room. These are surfaces, airflow, and employee access.
When selecting surfaces that will be within the environment it is best to choose a surface that will hold up to the level of use as well as not be damaged by the cleaners or solvents being used to ensure the surface is clean. This should carry over into part fixturing and even machine materials of construction as well. This is not always easy and should be a design element to the process and environment.
Airflow within the room is what helps maintain the concentration levels of particulates. Generally, a clean room is positively pressurized to where the pressure within the room is higher than that outside of the room. This results in a positive air exchange, generally this is provided by the HVAC system. Having a system that does not recirculate the air from inside of the room and a substantial filtration system is key. Another type of airflow that can be found within these environments is a blowoff operation for the part or process. When installing a blowoff within a clean room environment it should be confirmed that the materials of construction are compatible with the environment and cleaning processes and that the airflow will not be introducing particulate into the environment which can result in contamination.
Lastly, employee access should be limited to those employees who are trained and necessary to be within the environment. Sometimes if an employee wears the wrong type of deodorant it can effect an entire environment. Even the wrong type of clothing or soap can alter the state of an environment, let alone using a blowoff incorrectly or bringing the incorrect cleaner inside the cleanroom. Access to these areas should be limited and individuals should be well trained to meet the demands of the clean room.
If you would like to discuss your production environment or blowoff application within a clean room, please contact us.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
Product Spotlight: Soft Grip Super Air Scraper
Have you ever dipped your hand into a warm bath of paraffin wax? You can feel your hand relaxing. When you pull it out and begin to peel the wax away you can already tell how soft and refreshed your hand feels. And then someone gives you a hand massage while you sit there in complete bliss, your hand completely relaxed and rejuvenated. Well, this is not at all how the Soft Grip Super Air Scraper makes your hands feel. But the Soft Grip handle is very comfortable and does feel better than any other option on the market.
The Soft Grip handle is ideal for continuous use without causing fatigue. The design keeps your hand in a comfortable position and the large trigger allows an easy pull with one finger or all of them. This is built to endure the toughest industrial environments, and it even comes with a convenient hangar hook for easy storage.
Once we get past the comfortable handle, we move down to the purpose. The Air Scraper portion will assist in removing some of the toughest debris found in industrial facilities. The patented design uses the scraping blade along with powerful compressed air flow. This is perfect for any of those sticky substances like caulk, sealants, gaskets, adhesives, tape, paint stickers, labels, grease, lubricants, and so much more. This will help you keep your machining tables, and assembly stations clean and functional.
The scraper is made of corrosion resistant steel and is attached to a 2″ Super Air Nozzle. It is very formidable to provide the strength necessary for the toughest scenarios. This comes with a 3/4″ extension for those close up needs, but we offer extensions for this from 6″ to 72″ long so that you can reach table tops, walls, inside machines, and floors.
Please reach out to us at anytime with questions about the Soft Grip Super Air Scraper, or any of our other amazing products.
Thank you for stopping by,
Brian Wages
Application Engineer