Month: January 2014

Six Million Dollars Just Isn’t What It Used To Be…

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

…not that I’m turning down any recent offers, mind you, but I digress. You may recall that I opted out of my addiction…I mean, subscription…to cable television (almost two years ago) in favor of over-the-air broadcasting. As I wrote then, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there were a few dozen channels at my disposal. A couple of them are devoted to airing what they call “classic” TV shows.

One night, I was looking for something to watch, and stumbled across an episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” which was an honest-to-goodness STAPLE of my childhood TV viewing. And that’s saying something, because I watched a LOT of TV. As I eagerly watched this gem from the mid-1970’s, it became clear to me that, during its almost 40 years of storage, the recording media must have degraded with age, turning this once awesome show into a cheesy and predictable mishmash of physically improbable macho stunt heroics. It’s a shame they didn’t have a way of better preserving the film…curiously, though, the opening sequence wasn’t affected; it’s still cool as heck:

At EXAIR, you won’t find any stunt heroics…well, not outside our continuing series of Professor Penurious videos, anyway. You will, however, find that we’re very predictable. If you have questions about:

*Optimizing your compressed air system
*Efficient, quiet, and safe use of compressed air for blow off, cleaning, drying, cooling, etc.
*Atomized liquid spraying
*Static Elimination
*Air operated vacuum generators, up to 27”Hg
*Bulk material conveyance using compressed air
*Industrial vacuums
*Cold air as low as 50°F (46°C) for a variety of cooling applications

Then you can count on swift and accurate information from our Customer Service agents, and expert technical assistance from our Application Engineers. When you’re ready to order, you can expect same day shipment on just about anything in our catalog. Once you’ve got it, know that you can call us anytime with questions about installation, operation, “tips and tricks, “ etc. We want to make sure that you get the most out of our products.

As for the cheesiness….well, sometimes, it is what it is. ‘nuff said.

AE-all

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

The Boundary Layer and Static Elimination

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

Boundary layer

I recently spoke with one of my colleagues at our Finland distribution partner, Projecta Oy. He had an application for static elimination on a large paper producing machine. He has applied our Ion Bar to paper machines in the past to eliminate static. In this case though, the line speed was more than double that of his previous application at about 1450 meters per minute. He was not sure if he could apply EXAIR Static Eliminator to the affected machine or not, simply due to the line speed.

Actually, use of a Super Ion Air Knife, or rather a few of them (due to machine width) is right in line with what is recommended. When the application involves a high-speed, moving web there is the issue of a boundary layer of air that moves along adjacent to the web which can affect the static elimination result if not approached properly. The boundary layer can prevent static eliminating ions from reaching the surface of the statically charged web and must be overcome to be effective.

A Super Ion Air Knife, with it’s powerful laminar air flow, is the right choice on a web-based application like this one. Setting the unit up so that it blows parallel to the web but in the direction opposite the web travel creates a counter airflow which disrupts the boundary layer and allows the static eliminating ions to come into contact with the moving web to neutralize the charges present.

There is also a secondary benefit in that the Super Ion Air Knife, by being mounted in such a way, enables a much longer time in contact between the ions and the charged surface. This has the net effect of being able to reduce the static charge down to a much lower level before the web passes this area. Since slowing the web speed down is not an option in these cases, the only way you can effectively create dwell time within the ionized airflow is to extend the distance over which the web is treated and using the Super Ion Air Knives in this way allows the user to do that.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Vortex – Fast Becoming a Common Term

Published on by Leave a comment

Seems like the term vortex is being use for everything  from vortex engines and now to polar vortex. Throughout EXAIR’s existence, it  has had a product called a Vortex Tube and it is also associated with very cold air. It is truly a vortex and has been around since 1929.

A Vortex Tube is used to generate cold air using compressed  normally 80-100 PSIG. It is introduced tangentially into a spin chamber and spins at up to 1,000,000 RPM. This air stream revolves toward the opposite end where some escapes through a control valve (used to adjust the temperature and flow of  cold air). The remaining air, still spinning, is forced back through the center  of the outer vortex. The inner stream gives off kinetic energy in the form of heat (released out the control valve) to the outer vortex and exits the vortex tube as cold air.  See demo [click here]. The refrigerated air produced is used for spot cooling where conventional A/C is not practical or feasible to install.

Over the years, EXAIR has developed several products using the vortex.

If you have an application that requires cooling, feel welcomed to call us and ask to speak with one of our engineers.

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

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Change Your Vacuum System at a Moments Notice

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

In my video from two weeks ago, I showed the operation and adjustment of the adjustable vacuum generator.  The video was short and simple for the viewer, but during the brainstorming of the video, I thought of a variety of topics I would like to cover.  Today, I thought I would expound on some of the ideas and benefits of why you would adjust the vacuum level on a vacuum generator.

AdjustableE-VacFamily_jpg

As Russ mentioned in his blog this week, there are a variety of uses for vacuum generators.  The “textbook” application for vacuum generators is in conjunction with vacuum cups for pick and place applications.  For this application, you typically want to use a vacuum generator that is designed for the material that you are lifting.  For instance, a porous vacuum generator should be used when lifting  cardboard, fabric, paper, or foam (materials that let air flow through).  If you’re lifting metal, solid plastic, wax covered cardboard, or anything else that will stop the flow of air and have a smooth surface, a non-porous vacuum generator should be used.  You can use a porous generator on a non-porous surface, but you will be using more compressed air than you would use with a non-porous generator.

Now that we know when to use a non-porous generator and a porous generator what do you do if you production line or warehouse is changing the products it is moving.  Say that you want to be able to lift stainless steel products in the morning, but in the afternoon you are looking to lift the cardboard boxes containing the (now packaged) product.  The adjustable vacuum generator is much more efficient to adjust than changing all of the vacuum generators or having a different lifting rig for each application.

Alternatively, if you are using a vacuum generator to draw a vacuum on a vessel and that vacuum needs to be specifically controlled.  Say the material can’t withstand a vacuum above 10 inches of mercury or you need to reach a minimum vacuum level in .5 seconds to evacuate a vessel.  The Adjustable E-vac will allow you to use the minimum amount of compressed air to get the job done.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW