Month: December 2014

An Advantage of Vortex Tube Based Cabinet Cooler Systems

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Today, I begin publishing the first in a series of blog posts about some common misconceptions of vortex based cooling. The primary focus will be cooling electrical panels, but we may touch on a few other application for vortex tubes as well.

A Cabinet Cooler System is a low cost, reliable way to cool and purge electronic control panels or small enclosures. The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System incorporates a vortex tube to produce cold air from compressed air without any moving parts.

VT
How a Vortex Tube Works

 

I want to take on the most difficult myth first. I was attending a compressed air conference recently where Cabinet Cooler Systems were listed as a waste of compressed air. Saying Cabinet Cooler Systems waste compressed air is like saying automobiles waste gas. A ’74 Dodge Monaco station wagon was best served to haul 8 kids to Florida and use three times the gasoline of (4) 2014 Honda Civics, but the automobile was driven everyday on that 15 mile work commute.  Comparatively, a 5,600 BTU/HR Dual Cabinet Cooler System without a thermostat, cooling an enclosure the size of a shoebox, is a waste of compressed air. Using a properly sized, thermostat controlled Cabinet Cooler system upon an enclosure will protect your company from thousands of dollars in equipment damage and hours of downtime caused by heat damaged electronics – this is not a waste of compressed air. I understand what the presenter wanted to say, and like anything else, if the product is not sized right or installed improperly it will not operate as efficiently as it could. Cabinet Cooler systems do not waste compressed air, they utilize compressed air.

nema12thrmocntrsys
The components of a NEMA 12 Cabinet Cooler System w/ thermostat control.

 

One of the places where Cabinet Cooler Systems shine are dirty, dusty environments where maintenance to air conditioners costs thousands of dollars in replacement parts and man hours every year.  Take one look at the troubleshooting guide for these units and you will find a litany of items that need to be replaced: evaporator coils, motors, wheels, compressor, or capacitor. In many cases, this replacement needs to be done by an outside contractor, which only adds to the cost.

Vortex based cooling improves on air conditioning in dusty or dirty environments in two ways. A vortex based cabinet cooler has no moving parts to wear out or be replaced. The units have been known to last for more than two decades. This lack of moving parts means that a dusty environment will not have an operational impact on the Cabinet Cooler Systems. Secondly, Vortex based coolers can create a positive pressure inside a sealed enclosure. This positive pressure can prevent dust from entering that cabinet. Dust inside of cabinet will cover heat sinks, chip sets, and internal fan blades to prevent air movement and insulate hot parts from heat transfer. If you are comparing a vortex based cooler to a fan in a dusty environment, the vortex based cooler will be pushing dust out of the pipe. The fan will be pulling dust in to the enclosure. The dust pulled in by the fan will lower the cooling capacity of the fan and limit the heat transfer from the heat sink or the circuitry of the device.

I wrote a bit more about this first myth than I intended. This may turn in to a ten part series, if I keep going like this.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Reclassifying Mufflers

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

Have you ever walked into an industrial plant and noticed a “fog” in the air? If they have pneumatic equipment, then it is a good chance that it is an oil mist. With many pneumatic devices, they need oil to lubricate the o-rings and cylinders for functionality and life. This is generally done with a lubricator. A lubricator puts a small amount of oil in the compressed air line to coat the inside of valves and cylinders. The problem becomes when the valve switches or the cylinder retracts, the excess air is exhausted into the atmosphere. And with that air, there is a fine mist creating the “fog”.

Reclassifying Muffler
EXAIR Reclassifying mufflers are available from 1/8 NPT through 1 NPT

 

Most pneumatic equipment will have some type of muffler to reduce the noise. Typically they are a sintered bronze muffler. They work well in noise reduction, but they do not capture the oil. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Association) has a requirement for operator’s exposure. Under the standard 29CFR 1910.1000, the cumulative exposure for a worker is 4.32 PPM (parts per million) for an 8 hour shift and a standard 40 hour week. As EXAIR Corporation is a leader in safety with compressed air systems, we created a muffler with an oil coalescer, or our Reclassifying Muffler. The Reclassifying Muffler will be able to accomplish two things: 1. reduce the noise level, and 2. remove the oil from the exhausted air. The complex matrix of fibers absorbs the noise caused by the pressure relief. Also, this same complex matrix of fibers creates a tortuous path for the oil particles. It will collect on the fibers and coalesce into larger particles. The larger oil particles will now be able to have gravity move the residual oil down the side of the Reclassifying Muffler. At the bottom, we have a sump that will contain the waste oil and a ¼” tube adaptor to discard it safely away. We have a range of sizes from 1/8” npt to 1” npt depending on the amount of exhaust air flow. In some instances, you can manifold the lines together to use one larger Reclassifying Muffler. An instance of this would be many small valves inside an electrical cabinet that would need to have the exhaust air removed. With our range of Reclassifying Mufflers, you will not have to walk around in the fog.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

From Russia With Heat

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment
The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide
The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide

I was once told that the people of Russia have historically migrated to colder regions, despite other people of the world doing the exact opposite.  I’m not sure how true that is, but I am sure that many parts of the vast countryside experience some extremely cold temperatures.

One of our Russian distributors exchanges emails with me regularly and will normally ask about the sunshine here in Ohio.  They will tease me in the summer when it is 35°C (95°F) in Cincinnati, but I have my turn in the winter when it is -10°C (14°F) in St. Petersburg.

And, even though the temperatures drop below freezing for months on end, there are still overheating conditions of the electrical enclosures in industrial facilities.  Because of this, I stay in constant contact about heat load calculations and installation setups.

The best tool for determining heat load of an application, and suitability of an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler, is the Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide.  If the dropping temperatures outside aren’t carrying over to your electrical device enclosures inside, send in a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide and an EXAIR Application Engineer will perform the calculations for you.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

More Power? I DO Think So…

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

We occasionally get calls from folks who are looking for “more power” – and it always brings that classic 1990’s sitcom “Home Improvement’s” Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor to mind. Well, not so much Tim’s “more power” mantra, but the ubiquitous response from his long-suffering sidekick, Al Borland:

Al knows it.  George Foreman knows it. Lisa knows it.  Even Tim knows it, this time.

Sometimes, they’re looking for a product to replace what they’re currently using…something they’re not getting desirable results from. Other times, they have an EXAIR product in place, and it’s just not getting the job done.

Our first response is, of course, to make sure they’re getting a sufficient supply of air to their product, no matter whether it’s ours or not. If you’re familiar at all with our blogs, you know we write about this frequently:

The Importance of Proper Compressed Air Supply Lines

Video Blog: Proper Supply Plumbing for Compressed Air Products

Improper Installation and Associated Problems

3 Common Mistakes in Your Compressed Air System

Once we’ve made sure that the product is indeed receiving appropriate air supply, we can look at adding to the flow rate and force of the air stream. We’ve made it easy to do that with a variety of blow off products by designing them with a replaceable shim.

All of our Air Knife products (Super, Standard, and Full Flow) will ship with a 0.002” thick shim installed. These will perform superbly in a wide variety of general industrial blow off applications. If this doesn’t provide the force needed for your application, we carry Shim Sets for any Air Knife that will allow you to double, triple, or even quadruple the air flow for amplified thrust. Some common examples are stubborn debris in tight spaces (like the fins of a fin-and-tube heat exchanger) or removing oil from a corrugated surface.

From left to right: Super, Standard, and Full Flow Air Knives.

 

Like the Air Knives, our Air Wipes (Super and Standard) are built with 0.002” thick shims, which can be easily replaced for additional flow and force. Like when the Air Wipe is getting all the coolant off an extruded & machined part, but some stubborn, hair-like fibers need a little more “oomph” to remove.

 

Super (left) and Standard (right) Air Wipes come in sizes from 1/2" to 11".
Super (left) and Standard (right) Air Wipes come in sizes from 1/2″ to 11″.

Yes, those were real calls I took. Yes, they had sufficient air flow. Yes, the extra shims worked like a champ.

Similar to our Air Knife products, our Flat Super Air Nozzles also incorporate a replaceable shim. In fact, you have your choice of standard Models with a 0.015” thick shim installed, or High Power Models with a 0.025” thick shim. Shim Sets with a variety of thicknesses from 0.005” to 0.030” are available for either of these.

Model 1126 (Zinc Aluminum) or 1126SS (316SS) 1" Flat Super Air Nozzles (left) have replaceable shims (middle), same as Model 1122 (Zinc Aluminum or Model 1122SS 2" Flat Super Air Nozzles (right.)
Model 1126 (Zinc Aluminum) or 1126SS (316SS) 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzles (left) have replaceable shims (middle), same as Model 1122 (Zinc Aluminum or Model 1122SS 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzles (right.)  High Power versions of both are also available from stock.

Our Super Air Amplifiers and High Velocity Air Jets incorporate patented shims that make for the highest amplification flows available, anywhere. These are available, from stock, in Shim Sets or individually.

High Velocity Air Jets and Super Air Amplifiers use patented shims for optimum performance and efficiency.
High Velocity Air Jets and Super Air Amplifiers use patented shims for optimum performance and efficiency.

If you have an air blowing application that you’d like to get a little (or a lot) more out of, give us a call. Prepare for a discussion on proper air supply first (of course,) but we’ll be more than happy to help in any way that we can.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
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