Month: April 2015

Vortex Tube Cooling Kit Provides Options

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

I recently took a call from a customer who was interested in using a Vortex Tube to cool his electronic controller but was unsure which model to use since the controller can reach different temperatures and heat loads during their manufacturing operation. We typically would recommend a Cabinet Cooler System for this type of application but the customer wasn’t able to mount the unit directly to the controller, so I recommended using our Model # 3930 Cooling Kit.

The Model # 3930 Cooling Kit includes our medium size Vortex Tube and all the generators, cold muffler, fitting, tubing and clips to duct the cold air and a filter separator for the supply line. The generator will  determine the flow rate, cooling capacity (Btu/hr.) and air consumption of the Vortex Tube during operation. The temperature drop of the Vortex Tube can be controlled by adjusting the valve in the hot end to change the cold fraction (the percentage of air being exhausted out of the cold end versus the amount of air being exhausted out of the hot end).

EXAIR Vortex Tube Performance Chart

As you can see in the above chart, operating at 80 PSIG supply pressure and having the cold fraction set at 20%, you would see a temperature drop of 115°F from supply temperature. Conversely, if you have the cold fraction set at 80%, you would see a temperature drop of 50°F from supply temperature. Different generators change to total volume of air through the Vortex Tube. A medium cooling kit contains generator sizes 15, 25, 30 and 40. These generators equate to Btu/Hr values of 1000, 1700, 2000 and 2800. The versatility of the medium Vortex Tube cooling kit allows customers to determine what volume of air, in combination with the cold fraction, will best suit the application. To change the generator you simply remove the cold cap and o-ring.

Vortex Tube Exploded View
Vortex Tube Exploded View

By ordering the Cooling Kit, the customer could change out the generator to provide more or less cooling capacity and airflow, while still allowing for easy adjustment of the cold fraction % via the hot end valve.

If you have a similar application, contact an application engineer for assistance.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

What If Your Cabinet Is In An Extremely Hot Area?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

As the weather starts to warm up we have already started getting calls about customers that are preparing for Summer time by installing Cabinet Cooler Systems on their enclosures.   This is not a lengthy process, in fact, we can hold races in the office to see who can do the calculations the fastest.  If we have a few simple pieces of information, we can even do the calculations and have a recommendation for the correct Cabinet Cooler System for your cabinet while you are on the phone with us.  What kind of information might we need you ask, just take a look at the Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide below.  The only tools you will need are a tape measure and a thermometer.

EXAIR's Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide
EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide

So what happens if your ambient external air temperature is above 125°F?  For EXAIR, that is not a problem.  We offer a full line of High Temperature Cabinet Cooler Systems.  These are ideal for those really hot environments that may be near a furnace, boiler, or other hot process.  The best part is, we will know whether this is needed without you even having to ask for it.  All we need is the information on the Sizing Guide.

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EXAIR’s Dual High Temp Cabinet Cooler System Stands Up To Extreme Conditions

 

Whether your enclosure is in an everyday machine shop, out building with pumps and sensors, or right next to a steel mill, EXAIR will provide the best possible solution to keep the internals safe. Don’t let the summertime heat sneak up on you and cause you problems all you have to do is contact myself, or any one of my team members and we will help as quickly as possible.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Super Air Knife Cools Welded and Lacquered Seam in Metal Packaging Production

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment
IMG_0290
Can form to be cooled by Super Air Knife

On a recent trip to Europe, I was invited to visit a packaging manufacturer who was using EXAIR equipment in a variety of applications. This particular application dealt with the cooling of metal spray cans after they were welded on the seam that runs the length of the can form and after that same seem had been sprayed with lacquer and dried using hot air to keep the welded seam from rusting.

The cans were formed into their round shape from a flat sheet that had all the artwork applied. Then, using a magnetic conveyor similar to the photo on the right above, the machine moves the can form past a welding head to secure the two sides together. The welding process puts quite a bit of heat into the metal and so the customer immediately cools the can with a 72” Aluminum Super Air Knife for that same distance along the travel of the conveyor. The can then enters an area where there is a small spray applicator to add the lacquer to the welded joint. After that, the can traverses through a heated tunnel to dry the lacquer. Finally, the can is cooled by another set of Aluminum Super Air Knives as you see in the photo below.

IMG_0294
Super Air Knives remove heat from the welded seam of a metal can

 

The heat affected area was quite small in relationship to the airflow area that was generated by the Super Air Knife at a few inches distance away from the can form. So, the cooling power that could be developed with a large quantity of regular, room temperature air was quite sufficient to get the can form to cool to the proper temperature before moving on to the next operation.

The Super Air Knife in this application was operating at 1 BARG inlet pressure and provided continuous coverage all along the cooling length of the conveyor. By cooling this metal seam quicker, the customer was able to increase their throughput on this process by roughly 30%.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
nealraker@exair.com

 

Being a Manufacturer Who Improves Manufacturing Has Benefits – For You

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

On many of occasions EXAIR has benefitted from our own products. One of the fertile areas for testing, product development, and customer feedback are our own manufacturing and assembly processes. Yes, EXAIR is a real factory in Ohio with employees, machinery, and equipment that uses our products everyday. Being a production facility leaves us best suited to understand the abilities, challenges, and opportunities of our customers. Today, I want to point out how two of our products have helped us to make Intelligent Compressed Air products that exceed your expectations. The Ultrasonic Leak Detector and Chip Trapper have both been studied at our facility to measure and understand the real benefits and capabilities of our products for our customers. Below is their story.

Leak Detector
Ultrasonic Leak Detector, Model 9061

 

Famously, one of the original case studies for our Ultrasonic Leak Detector took place at 11510 Goldcoast Dr Cincinnati, OH. (That’s EXAIR Corporation’s address). As the biggest rival against wasted compressed air, having it at EXAIR would be inconsistent with our own philosophy – we just can’t have it. Our President, Bryan Peters wrote about the benefits of the Ultrasonic Leak Detector in a blog “Free Money!…”. In the blog, he details the mystery of the compressed air costs during times when our plant was not running. Compressed air was so expensive that was costing us money while we were closed. Using the ultrasonic leak detector, EXAIR was able to find our leaks and fix them. The leaks in our system were miniscule compared to some old and very large compressed air systems. But even with our relatively small leaks we were able to save ONE MILLION CF per year of compressed air. This lost compressed air results in significant energy consumption as your compressors try to keep up with the demand caused by the leaky air lines. Please stop wasting money and energy on compressed air leaks. Find them today with EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector.

EXAIR's new Chip Trapper
EXAIR’s Chip Trapper

At EXAIR, we also deal with a  variety of metalworking coolants as we manufacture aluminum, brass, and stainless steel parts. Before we started using our Chip Trapper, our water based coolant would last around 2 months. After those six weeks, we would vacuum out the coolant. After the coolant is pumped out, we would then shovel out the chips that had settled in the bottom of the sump. This task is time consuming, and the smell is awful from the rancid coolant. We found that by using a Chip Trapper weekly. We could extend our coolant life to six months. Some may say that cleaning the coolant sumps weekly is adding work. That is an old mentality though because by removing chips from the coolant weekly we save hours of labor we used to consume every two months and clean up our coolant in minutes not hours.  Here is a video to learn more. Our machinists loved our final prototype so much they kept it. You know how machinists are. Don’t mess with their tools.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com