Month: April 2014

Full Flow Air Knife Increases Airflow By 3000%

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

Condensor Housing

Inside of the housing of the photo above is an EXAIR Full Flow Air Knife. The housing serves as a shield to a condenser on a specially built machine for one of the Big Three U.S. auto manufacturers. The purpose of the air knife within the housing is to supplement heat removal by passing large volumes of ambient air over the condenser, thereby helping to return the gaseous fluid to a liquid state.

When compressed air was supplied to the air knife in this photo, there was very little airflow. Knowing that there was something amiss, and that an Application Engineer could offer potential solutions, the OEM called in to EXAIR.

Immediately upon seeing the photo, the root cause of the problem was evident. There was no ambient air available for the air knife to entrain. It looks like an attempt was made to open the housing *in the bent edges at the top of the housing), but it was not enough.

Removing the housing from the machine revealed the following internal installation.

Condensor Housing Internal

With such a setup, there was no entrainment of ambient air, and the total airflow was only a fraction of what it should be. Removing the current shield and fabricating an alternate design which allows ambient airflow solved the problem in this application. Compressed air use remained low, and total airflow was increased by 3000%.

EXAIR products keep compressed air use low and performance to a maximum. For help with your application, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

Not Just Another Day At The Ballpark

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Sunday was a fabulous day to be at the ballpark. My family scored some great seats, right behind the Reds’ dugout. I got my first (ever) foul ball at a Major League game. Notice I didn’t say “caught” – it bounced off the guy’s hand in front of us, over my oldest son’s outstretched glove, off the empty seat behind him (why those seats were empty, I have no idea), and rolled under my seat.

We also saw our first instant replay review of a play by the umpires. It took every pixel of high definition that the camera had to allow the officials to decisively rule the runner safe at first…it literally came down to how fast the first baseman closed his glove on the ball as he caught it.

Notice the Braille at the bottom. I'm sure this has NOTHING to do with the debate about Instant Replay.
Notice the Braille at the bottom. I’m sure this has NOTHING to do with the debate about Instant Replay.

The most memorable part of the game, for me, was watching the outcome of two critical decisions by the respective team managers: In the eighth inning, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Josh Lueke was directed to intentionally walk Reds’ slugger Jay Bruce to load the bases. Bruce had doubled in the fifth, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad call. That is, until Reds’ manager Bryan Price quickly called on Chris Heisey to pinch-hit, following Bruce. Heisey fouled off the first pitch, and then parked the second one just over the right field fence. I’ve been at the ballpark for some dramatic home runs, but that was the first time I’d witnessed a grand slam up close and personal.

To be honest, I thought for a second about skipping the game. We got the tickets at the last minute, and I already had burdens on my schedule for Sunday afternoon. In the end, I’m glad I put that other stuff off, because, years from now, I wouldn’t remember that day I mulched the flower bed, cleared the brush from the wood pile, and filed my taxes (two days early, I might add), but that was a one-of-a-kind day at the old ball game.

My mind still goes back to the intentional walk, and subsequent pinch-hitter decision that led to the grand slam…never underestimate the benefits of being able to draw from the skills of a talented team. We do that every day, here in the Application Engineering group at EXAIR. We don’t miss a chance to learn, or teach, when one of us is presented with a challenging application. If you have a need for a compressed air solution, and you ask one of us for help, know that you’re getting the experience and knowledge of the whole team. Try us.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
Web: www.exair.com
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: www.facebook.com/exair

Award Winning Compressed Air Nozzle Saves Hundreds of Dollars Annually

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

awards2013_1126_400wide

 

EXAIR’s 1 Inch Flat Super Air Nozzle won the Gold Award for Compressed Air from Plant Engineering in 2014. We won the award for the immense savings that our customers reap by using this nozzle to replace open blow offs. While saving compressed air, we also reduce noise level and comply with an OSHA regulation 192.242(b).  Do not leave that blow off open. It is costing you everyday in dollars; it may cost you more in OSHA fines later, and it will cost your employees hearing later.

A 1/4″ copper tube can use 33 SCFM at 80 PSIG of inlet pressure. This homemade blow off will use 1,980 standard cubic feet per hour. Typical industrial compressed air cost $0.25 per 1,000 standard cubic feet.  That 1/4 copper tube is costing you $0.50 every hour to run. Each year, one 1/4″ copper tube costs $2,970*.

The 1 inch Flat Super Air Nozzle, model 1126, uses 10.5 SCFM or 22.5 SCFM less than 1/4″ Copper tube.  Saving your company 22.5 SCFM, is the same as saving $0.34 every hour or $2,025 every year.*  Saving 22.5 SCFM also, means that your compressor system doesn’t have to work as hard.  A 5 HP compressor will put out 20 SCFM, so replacing one 1/4″ Copper Tube with a model 1126 will save you from upgrading compressor system as your company expands.

Regardless of the $2,025 you just saved by replacing the homemade blow offs with engineered nozzle, it is also an industry best practice because it can lower the noise exposure for personnel and prevent any harm from dead end pressure.  OSHA standard 29 CFR – 1910.95(a) requires that if an employee is exposed to greater than 100 dBA for 2 hours, he or she needs to wear hearing protection.  A 1/4″ copper tube will easily exceed 100 dBA.  The model 1126 will lower the noise level to 77 decibel, 13 dBA lower than the OSHA requirements for an 8 hour day.

Finally, the 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzle cannot be dead ended, which protects your employees from serious injury. In the event, that a compressed air orifice is blocked with no means of escape, air may enter the bloodstream from an open cut or wound in the skin. Compressed air must be kept below 30 PSIG to eliminate this danger when using an open pipe, tube or many commercial air nozzles. With EXAIR nozzles, pressure to the nozzle  can remain at line pressure and produce the maximum velocity and force for a successful application.

*Assuming 24 hours a day and 250 working days

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

Adapting To The Situation At Hand

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Earlier this week I received a call from a customer who had an issue in his facility with the hand held blow guns the operators were using.   The units he had were simply too loud and he was trying to get below the 85 dBA threshold for hearing protection.  Not to mention they were using a large volume of compressed air.

I discussed the application with the customer only to discover they are blowing dry aluminum chips off a table and need a three foot extension so the operators can easily reach all extents.   The nozzles they had on their existing blow guns were essentially a cross drilled “safety nozzle”.  The customer was using the same model air gun throughout his facility at a total of 33 machining centers.   Each unit had a gun with a 3′ extension and a cross drilled nozzle like tip.

After discussing the amount of chips and what they were using I recommended he utilize a newer style adapter we have that would appear to work on his existing gun with the existing extension.  This means, rather than having to replace the entire air gun, extension pipe, and nozzle, he was able to purchase a simple adapter along with our model 1100 Super Air Nozzle and retrofit his entire facility.  This cut the budget needed by more than half of other solutions he was looking into from other companies.   Picture of the nozzle and adapter are below.

IMG_3934

 

This was just another adapter for EXAIR but it was the right adapter for the customers existing product.  So if you have an existing blow off and you don’t want to replace the entire blow off device but you want to try and upgrade your system, contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF