Month: August 2015

Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Amplifiers Replace Blower in Exhaust Hood Application

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment
Vent hood
EXAIR Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Amplifiers model 6034

 

I was working with our Indonesian distributor the other day on an interesting application in the sugar refining industry.

The application was in a sugar refining plant. As the sugar cane is cooked down, the resulting gas vapor is pulled up through a vent hood and exhausted outside the building. The customer was using a 16” diameter blower to create the needed draft to draw the vapors. The problem is that the vapors are corrosive and sticky when cold. The effect is that the blower blade becomes caked with deposits which, in turn corrode the blade and it must either be cleaned and/or replaced at frequent and regular intervals.

The customer wanted to get away from having to deal with the blower issue if they can, so they turned to our distributor for ideas on how to solve the problem using EXAIR equipment. Turns out that a cluster of (3) model 6034 4” Adjustable Air Amplifiers operating at 5 BARG input pressure are able to generate the necessary flow to replace the blower in this system.

The keys to success in the application were the fact that the Adjustable Air Amplifiers are constructed of Stainless Steel to resist the corrosive effects of the gas vapor. Also, there isn’t any deposits on the blade that need to be dealt with. While cleaning of the Air Amplifiers is recommended in this application, the maintenance interval was able to be much longer between cleanings.

In many industrial applications, blower driven or electric motor driven equipment is usually preferred in an effort to save energy. This was a good example of a case where the quality of having no moving parts was able to offset other maintenance costs that made use of a blower actually more expensive for the user.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR

 

More Cooling At A Kuwaiti Sewage Station

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment
Overheating electrical enclosure at Kuwaiti sewage station
Overheating control panels for sewage pumps

Last week I wrote a blog about cooling sewage pumps at a facility in Kuwait.  The pumps in question were overheating and needed a way to cool the pump motors down to ambient temperatures.  And, fortunately, our Super Air Amplifiers proved to be a great fit.

On the other side of the same facility, there were control panels for 3.3kV pumps that were also experiencing an overheat condition.  But, the motors were operating properly, it was the electrical panels that were tripping due to excessive heat.

The overheating of the electrical panels would shut down the pump motors, bringing operations to a screeching halt.  What the end user needed was a way to regulate temperature within the electrical panels that was small, effective, and easy to use.

This application, and its requirements, were a perfect fit for our Cabinet Coolers.  Cabinet Coolers are small, effective, easy to install, require no maintenance, and are incredibly easy to use – once installed and setup, they regulate themselves.

By receiving a completed Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide, EXAIR engineers are able to calculate heat load for an enclosure and recommend a suitable solution.

If you have an overheating cabinet or electrical panel, call an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems Stabilize Relative Humidity

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are able to cool your electrical panels using only clean, dry compressed air. Other systems such as cooling fans or heat exchangers use ambient air full of dust and humidity. The temperature of ambient air also fluctuates with the seasons and will be very warm in the summer months, which degrades their ability to cool as the temperature rises. One of the myths about compressed air cooling is that humidity from the compressed air source will enter the cabinet. A water/dirt filter separator will prevent condensate from entering the cabinet and since relative humidity is carried away with the hot air exhaust, relative humidity will stabilize to 45%. This video shows how quickly EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler Systems will have an effect on relative humidity.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Air Amplifier is Useful as an Air Conveyor for Light Material

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

I had a customer that was wanting to reduce the footprint and the noise level of his machine. His equipment trimmed medical capsule shells, 40 pieces at a time. The capsule shells were dropped into a chute and transferred to another location. The capsules weighed 150 milligram each, and they had to be move 15 feet (4.5 meters) horizontally and 3.3 feet (1 meter) high. The machine contained its own air compressor and blower system. The air compressor was used to operate air cylinders and other pneumatic equipment. A 5HP blower system was used to transfer the capsules. The blower motor, ducting, and cyclone separator was very bulky and noisy. They asked me if EXAIR could supply a product that would use very little compressed air to transfer the capsules without creating excessive noise.

Adjustable Air Amplifier
Adjustable Air Amplifier

I accepted the challenge. The customer only had 12 scfm (20 M^3/hr) of compressed air that was usable. In looking at my options, I had to use a product with a large amplification ratio. (Parts of room air vs. Parts of compressed air). The best candidate was an EXAIR Air Amplifier with a 20:1 amplification ratio. The capsules are light weight, and the distance was not very far which made this application a suitable one for the Air Amplifier. I decided to do a trial test using the model 6032 stainless steel Adjustable Air Amplifier (Stainless Steel had to be used to be compliant). In my trial, I adjusted the Air Amplifier to the desired flow rate. I was able to move the capsules the complete distance. I then reduced the flow to see if I was able to complete the task. I was able to consistently mover the capsules at a compressed air flow rate of 7 scfm (12 M^3/hr).

In some situations, we can run trial tests to make sure that the product can meet the specification of the customer. This customer was able to remove the blower system, reduce the foot print of his design, and more importantly reduce the amount of noise. If you have an unknown situation and you would like for an Application Engineer to do a trial test, you can contact us here.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_jb