Month: December 2008

Workers at a plastic pipe fitting molder have to lift 25 kg. bags of plastic pellets to a height of 1.8 meters in order to dump into a mixer. Only certain workers are selected to do the job due to being stronger and able to handle the job better. However, after 15 bags, these workers still have to take a rest so they do not injure themselves.  Once the mixer has finished tumbling the plastic, the pellets have to be dumped into a box and then fed into the machine hoppers. Another point of lifting and dumping. The customer wants to get away from having to rely on the physical strength of their workers to perform this job. The risk of injury is too much for them to keep operating in this manner.

 

 

The customer was able to use model 6082 1-1/4″ aluminum Line Vac to aid workers in transporting the plastic pellets into the mixers and into machine hoppers. Using the Line Vac as a transport aid has enabled other workers to perform the task who previously avoided it.

Check out this video of the final solution in action

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

While I was eating my breakfast cereal this morning, I was reminded of an application that I did with a major cereal producer that I thought I would share with you.

When the cereal flakes come out of the roaster they are hot and humid just like a cake when it first comes out of the oven. The thing is that they do not have time to set it on a cooling rack and wait, like a home baker would. So what they put in place were a series of pipes with drilled holes powered with compressed air. This would fluff the cereal up, both cooling and drying it out.

In an effort to reduce utility costs, the engineer that I worked with was given the assignment to reduce the facility’s consumption of compressed air. I introduced him to our engineered air knives that use less compressed air while providing an amplified volume of air.

Replacing the drilled pipes with the EXAIR Super Air Knives, they were able to reduce their compressed air consumption enough to shut down a 75 horsepower air compressor. In his return on investment (R.O.I) report, he calculated that the air knives paid for themselves in two weeks and conservatively saved $17,000 a year on electricity costs. Needless to say he came out a breakfast cereal champion in the eyes of his boss.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com  

What? How in the world can that be you ask? I’ll explain. As we all see the economy slow, we invariably see some of our work load shrink. The time left over from a lesser work load can be the most valuable time we spend in our day, if we use it properly. Though you may be tempted to take a load off and rest, succumbing to this temptation could create plenty of time at home to rest (the kind of time a boss gives to a non-productive worker). We all need to look at the things we set aside for another day because we did not have time for them. In the industrial production segment this time can be spent improving your compressed air system. Whether it is looking for leaks, capping off open air lines with engineered nozzles, replacing home-made air curtains with engineered air knives,  regulating air pressure or retrofitting blow off applications with on/off controls to provide air only when necessary – all of these steps will immediately lower your operating costs and provide larger profit margins on product from now until things turn around. We have products to implement all of the above tasks and can help you quantify the potential savings. We will be standing idly by, waiting to hear from you – just don’t tell the boss.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com