Month: April 2013

You Make A Better Door Than A Window

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

As a life-long smart aleck, this phrase has always been one of my favorite ways to gently request that someone move to one side or the other so that I can see what they’re looking at. As I’ve mellowed with age, it’s largely replaced the more demanding “Yo, down in front!!” which I’ve learned to save for only the most urgent of situations. These usually occur at sporting events, where, unfortunately, it’s some of the more tame language you’ll hear at stadiums and ballparks these days.

In industry, there are certainly proper places for doors: Nothing beats a solid-core, well-sealed door to keep welding smoke out of the office space at a manufacturing company. On a smaller scale, sand blast cabinet manufacturers realize that their cabinets’ doors are so important, they put switches on them to prevent you from starting one up with the door open.

But what if it’s not practical – or possible – to put a solid boundary between a contained area and the general environment? EXAIR Super Air Knives are successfully used in “air barrier” applications in industries as diverse as metal processing, pharmaceuticals, high detail printing, and commercial laundry equipment.

Air Knives aren’t the only EXAIR product with documented success in this area: In addition to cleaning the rod, this Super Air Wipe, installed flush with the wall of the enclosure, also keeps the oil & mist contained inside the processing machinery:

AirWipe

Our Line Vac even got a piece of the action with a commercial maker of baked goods: A part of their process involves mixing sugar into a vat of melted butter. The heat and steam tended to melt the sugar, though, before it made it all the way down the chute into the vat. This not only wasted a good deal of the sugar, but made for a real hassle in cleaning the chute. They installed a Model 6066 3” Stainless Steel Line Vac in the chute, which not only kept the sugar moving fast enough to prevent it from melting, but it also kept the heat & steam from “migrating” up the chute.

If you have an air barrier application you’d like to discuss – or any compressed air application, for that matter – we’d like to hear from you!

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

EXAIR Atomizing Nozzle Replaces High Pressure Pump Sprayer in Application

Published on by Neal Raker1 Comment

Our customer in the automation/tool making industry has a need to spray a mold release type agent onto some specialized tooling they have developed and are testing. Originally, the customer had planned to use some sort of pressurized sprayer similar to those used in a garden. After some initial tests to prove the concept, the customer found that the moving mechanical parts of the sprayer became fouled by the release agent. And cleaning the internal parts was not easy to do.

atomizer

In their search for a more permanent solution, the customer came across EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles. After going through some application type questions to narrow the focus down to one model, we determined that the customer would be best served by model AF1010SS (Internal Mix, Flat Fan Pattern Atomizing Nozzle). The customer had a couple of questions about the nozzle in order to gain some acceptance of the recommendation.

  1. Is it possible to disassemble the nozzle and clean it completely?  The answer is yes, the Atomizing Nozzles can be completely disassembled to allow for cleaning, maintenance or replacement of worn parts.
  2. Are the nozzles solvent resistant? The answer is also yes; the Atomizing Nozzles are made of AISI303 type stainless steel and can be cleaned with any normal solvent based cleaner.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that we went through some application type questions. Here is a list of general questions that we normally ask a customer about their application in order to determine which in our selection would be best suited.

  1. What is the volume of liquid flow needed for the application?
  2. What is the viscosity of the liquid being applied?
  3. What are the required spray pattern, size and shape required?
  4. Is the liquid under pressure (by pump or pressure pot)?  If so, what is the liquid pressure?

If you have an application where you have a liquid that needs to be applied in atomized form to a target, or perhaps a humidification application, please give EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles your consideration.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

We Love Our Pets

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untitled
My 110 Pound Buddy

We all love our pets and I for one, am guilty. It is amazing the money we pet owners will spend on our pets. According to the Denver Post, Americans are projected to spend $50.84 billion on pets this year. That is more than Americans spent on  child care ($47 billion).  A neighbor of mine just spent $6,000 for double knee surgery on his 8-year-old German Shepard. Which presents an interesting question; would I do that for my best friend? What would you do? It is the emotional ties to our pets that drives this market.

The pet market is not the only market driven by emotion. Harley Davidson, Apple computer, automakers, farm implements, and others have die-hard followers.  The rational for brand loyalty more than not is just emotional. My dad worked for GM and his brother Chrysler. A couple of beers and they would come to fisticuffs over which had the better car.

EXAIR takes a pragmatic approach to producing and implementing compressed air products. We do not put on a gold-colored finish that only serves as eye candy.  We strive to engineer our products to perform. Performance specifications are actual measured values. We do not play the shell game of presenting consumption values at reduced pressures to get the number we want. All our data is at a consistent 80 PSIG benchmark. It is that commitment that has earned us 26 product awards.

I am an application engineer and would be happy to assist you with your application. Feel free to contact me. I genuinely appreciate the opportunity!

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer

Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Keeping The Lights Clean

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I recently spoke with a customer who was having an issue inside of their inspection process.  Their inspection  uses CCTV cameras to view the parts as the parts pass in front of sixteen fluorescent light fixtures.   This inspection process is also taking place immediately after a shot blasting booth.  Because of all the blasting the area is quite dusty and the dust is attracted to the protective bulb covers on the lights.   When the dust collects on the lights then it casts a shadow which gives false images to the cameras.  This results in the parts being rejected then the line being shut down to clean the light covers by hand.  The line was not able to operate for even a single eight hour shift without being shut down for cleaning.

SIAKflow

The solution was to use a 36″ Super Ion Air Knife System at each light fixture to blow off the cover and eliminate the static on the covers.  This has now been installed and operating on a full scale basis for 4 days without a single need to shut down the line for cleaning.  The only the customer is upset with is that he didn’t find EXAIR sooner.

If you have a static problem year round or any application that is causing you continuous downtime, contact us.

BrianFarno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF