Month: June 2009

Industrial Grade Food Saver

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When it comes to bread I like mine soft and moist. I learned from a bread vendor that the twist ties are color coded for the day that it was baked. 

Blue = Monday
Green = Tuesday
Red = Thursday
Yellow = Friday
White = Saturday

Guess they do not bake on Sunday and Wednesday.

So it was particularly interesting to me when a customer who bakes bread called and asked for a solution to extending the shelf life and freshness of their breads.

What  he wanted to do is to evacuate all the air out of the bread bag before they sealed it up. They needed to vacuum in a hurry but not with so much vacuum that it crushed the bread. This was a perfect application for the model 120020 air amplifier. It provided high air flow with low vacuum. Tweaking the air pressure put to the air amplifier, they were able to achieve just the right amount of vacuum.

On an industrial grade, the air amplifier performed on the same principle as your food saver at home.

Joe Panfalone, EXAIR Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

Line Vac Removes Punched Metal Slugs

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EXAIR’s Line Vac is capable of moving many different materials. We have moved plastic pellets, crumb rubber, activated carbon, sand, ground glass, grains and worms, just to name a few. Each different material and necessary volume dictates the type and size of Line Vac.

One of our customers is a custom machine builder with a focus on automated assembly machines. They designed an assembly system which included an assembly cell to punch holes in a 23 gage steel strip. The 15mm wide strip had a hole every one inch.

The punch process clearly created many slugs. They included a 1″ Stainless Steel Line Vac Kit into the design. The stainless steel Line Vac will resist abrasion from the metal slugs. It also presents a small footprint and minimal air consumption for a product capable of moving the slugs 10′ into a bulk hopper for later disposal.

And we know it is always important for an OEM to keep costs down. The Line Vac kit option was less expensive than other mechanical options. This OEM customer has utilized many of the sizes of Line Vac with other custom systems they have built. This has allowed them to move many different types of material.

EXAIR Line Vacs are manufactured up to 5″ in diameter. They are available in 4 materials (Aluminum, 303 SS, 316 SS, Hard Coated) and can also be made special order from PVDF or similar plastics.

If you need a simple, low cost solution for a material transfer application, consider an EXAIR Line Vac.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Flue Stack Booster

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I was approached by a customer in the waste management business. He was having a problem with downdraft when they first start up the incinerators. The stacks are cold so they do not updraft properly. He had previously tried inline boosters and fans, but they tend to corrode and fail. He wanted something reliable and maintenance free.

I suggested he rig an EXAIR High Temperature Air Amplifier onto a pipe elbow, insert the other end of the of the elbow through the flue stack and point it upwards. The high velocity air from the amplifier provided ample updraft until the stacks warmed up and natural draft was established. When the stacks would draft on their own, the compressed air was turned off.

Since the High Temperature Air Amplifier is good for temperatures up to 700F, it is not affected by the heat from the stack. Also, being mounted on the outside of the stack, it is not subjected to crud build up from the dirty flue gasses.

In the end my customer got what he was looking for, something reliable and maintenance free.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

‘Tis the Season

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The season for Cabinet Cooler applications. The hot summer months produce increased electrical cabinet failures, temperature alarms in cabinets, and components tripping out due to heat.

We have many customers call up and ask “how much for your largest Cabinet Cooler”, thinking they can cover all their bases with a quick fix. It is important, however, to properly size the Cabinet Cooler to closely match your BTU/hr requirements. A properly sized Cabinet Cooler along with a thermostat control is the most efficient choice.

EXAIR understands you are calling due to a problem which needs to be fixed quickly, and we can still get you a fast solution. To size a Cabinet Cooler properly we need an internal temperature of your cabinet compared to the external temperature, both under current conditions. This can be done simply by placing an HVAC thermometer into the cabinet and letting it regulate for 20 minutes or so.

We are looking for internal ambient temperature, so we warn against using an infrared thermometer which will provide surface temperature of the components. These temperatures are generally higher than ambient and could also produce an oversized Cabinet Cooler recommendation, reducing efficiency.

I mention the temperature because it is a critical part of sizing a cooler.  We also need dimensions and NEMA ratings. All of the information we will need is outlined in our Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide. Simply fill this out, submit it and you will get the fast answer you need. You gather the information; we will do the calculations and respond with a recommendation.

All Cabinet Coolers are in stock and can ship same day on purchase orders received before 3:00 PM eastern daylight savings time.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com