Month: December 2013

3D Printing with Chocolate

Published on by Dave Woerner

Everyone seems to be talking about 3D printing lately. Last week, I received an email from a customer who had a new idea for 3D printing.

Chocolate!

Well I was intrigued. The customer wanted to modify current 3D Printing technology to work chocolate. There was obviously several hurdles. For instance, using a vat of molten chocolate as opposed to typical material, cleaning, and replacement parts to make a food safe low-cost printer. Her biggest problem was how to cool the chocolate after the application of each successive layer upon dispensing, so the chocolate didn’t pool into an amorphous blob.

She came to me asking about the Adjustable Spot Cooler. This product caught her attention because of the ease of installation with the magnetic base, the adjustable temperature control and instant cold air response. The magnetic base could be incorporated into her design fairly easily. The adjustable temperature control would allow her to decrease the temperature and decrease the cold flow at the same time. If she found that the force of the compressed air was damaging the printing process, reducing the cold flow would allow her to use a colder temperature to harden the layer that had just been used.  Finely the compressed air could be rapidly controlled with a solenoid to only run when the cold air is needed, which would limit compressed air cost.

Because of the high freezing point of chocolate and overall size constraints, I recommended that she first try a model 3204 Vortex Tube. A small Vortex Tube, which could use as little as 4 SCFM of compressed air and provide up to 3.2 SFCM of cold air at fifty degrees below the compressed air temperature, would be more than capable of forming a shell on the surface area of each extrusion. It is reasonable to assume that this air temperature would be around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, which could create a delicious chocolate shell for the next layer of chocolate be deposited.  She was able to buy the magnetic base, model 9029, separately to aid in her installation.Chocolate tools

Hopefully, you read this after lunch, because I made myself hungry looking for chocolate pictures, but I found what I would print for Christmas.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
davewoerner@exair.com
@EXAIR_DW

 

EXAIR’s Electronic Flow Control Saves Air & Money

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This past weekend I cleaned out some storage tubs that have been in my basement since I moved in.  Within these tubs and boxes were all of my notes from college, along with all of my text books.  Being any form of an engineering major means you keep all notes and books from college (I think).   Among them was the manual for my graphing calculator.  Even though I don’t graph anything on my calculator from college anymore, it still sits on my desk here and I use it to tell me how much money I am saving customers when they install our products.  Along with calculating which Cabinet Cooler System they need.

The truth is, I don’t even need the calculator on my desk when I am looking at how much money an EXAIR Electronic Flow Control can save a customer.  That’s because there is a free easy to use calculator right on our website.  This calculator is going to allow you to put in how much air you are using, the percent of time the unit is on, how much you paid for the EFC and the compressed air, then it gives you how much air and money you save.  The EFC Calculator will even tell you how many days it will take to recoup the price of the EFC.

opt_sakAPPillustr

Let’s look at an example of a 60″ Super Ion Air Knife that was installed to clean off bumper covers before a paint line.  Not only did the customer save money by using the Super Ion Air Knife rather than the drilled pipes, they saved additional air and money by turning the compressed air off when a bumper wasn’t present.   The following figures show the amount of money and air saved by implementing the EFC.

EFCp4

The Super Ion Air Knife was operated at 40 psig inlet pressure, this utilizes 102 SCFM of compressed air.

The process ran for 24 hours a day which equates to 1,440 minutes. There is a six second gap between each bumper, this means that you can reduce the on time by 37.5% just by turning the air off between bumpers.

The average cost to produce 1,000 SCF of compressed air is $0.25.  The calculator shows the results below which include the pay back time for the EFC purchase. (CLICK it for a larger image)

EFC Calc

As you can see, it will take a mere 84 days to reach a return on the investment of the EFC.  The chart below (CLICK to enlarge) shows the math and cost savings when you also account for the amount of air saved by using the Super Ion Air Knife.

efc_block

So if you have an intermittent compressed air application, by all means give us a call.   We’ll help you figure out how much you’ll save by installing the EFC.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Static Dust Removal Revisited

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

At EXAIR, we provide multiple solutions to multiple applications.  At the moment, domestic and international users of our products are showing need for static elimination as the air temperatures lower and humidity decreases.  I shared one such application last week, and after making slight revision to the positioning of the Super Ion Air Knife, we came to the solution below.

De Duster Revised

Here is the original setup.  Notice the difference in mounting position of the Super Ion Air Knife, and the change in direction of product flow.

Cap De-duster

Fortunately, while the snow and cold dry air has put us on the radar of manufacturers experiencing static related issues, it has unfortunately kept me out of my garage, still leaving so many lingering questions for my A4 motor project.  Will it live?  Will it like the snow?  Only one way to find out!  Block out the family!  Tell the baby to feed itself!  I’ve got questions and they need answers!  Hahaha, just kidding.  But I’ll get to the A4, it’ll run and will love the snow because it’s AWD, and I might even make a video of a snow drift for Jalopnik.

Until then I remain at the disposal of any end user in need of EXAIR products along with the other Application Engineers here at EXAIR.  If you need help with your application, give us a call.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

30 Years and Going Strong

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brylcrene

I’ve been derelict in getting my hair cut and one of my co-workers made comment that I needed to use some Brylcreem. I chimed in with the  Brylcreem jingle from back in the 50’s. Two of the younger co-workers had no idea of what we were talking about since this product was popular 30 years before being born (watch video). Yes those were simpler times and the graphics were not as elaborate as they are today. Never the less, if they are remembered 30 years later, their message had to have been effective.

While some commercials stick in our minds, others rise to the pinnacle of fame such as the sound track for the famous Alka-Seltzer” No Matter What Shape  your stomach is in” commercial. It actually made the top ten music list.

IMG_3469

EXAIR is completing its 30th year anniversary and I am coming up on my 20th year anniversary.We have our own print ads which stuck in people’s minds and one or two that may be famous, perhaps infamous (and never made the cut). That is part of the beauty of EXAIR, a company that allows us to let loose now and then so we can produce a spoof ad or two which may include a boss speed skating against Apolo Ohno or a good-humored co-worker playing Jack Black’s role in Nacho Libre (internal office consumption only – sorry). Looking back over my tenure with EXAIR, I’ve experienced the growth of the company into the premier supplier of Intelligent Compressed Air Products®. During that time we have expanded the product line which was originally covered in only 48 pages of a  hand-made spiral bound catalog to our current 168 page full color catalog.

To compliment the catalog, we have an internet presence www.EXAIR.com where drawings and technical is downloaded. We are also on twitter and Facebook. Not to mention this 65-year-old blogger.

We sincerely welcome the opportunity to serve you with your compressed air product applications.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair