Have you ever been in a situation where you need to blow debris or chips out of a pipe or a blind hole? Maybe it is a pipe you are saw cutting and don’t want to push chips and debris further down the pipe line You could be trying to clean out a pipe that has debris inside and and can’t push it further down the line because it could damage other system components. Other customers cleaning out inside diameters of pipe cannot blow all the way out the other side of the pipe due to people being present on that end of the pipe and need to avoid harming them.
The Model 1006SS cleans metal shavings from inside a pipe.
This is where EXAIR has seen an opening in our product offering and we have filled the void yet again. We currently offer two sizes of the EXAIR Back Blow Nozzle. The 1/4″ NPT version, model 1006SS is made to clean out pipes from 7/8″ I.D. to 4″ I.D. The 1″ NPT version, model 1008SS, is best suited for pipes from 2″ I.D. to 16″ I.D.
Various Views of the Model 1006SS Back Blow Nozzle
Airflow Patterns for EXAIR Back Blow Nozzles
So if you have a critical operation or even just a saw cut and don’t want to blow debris further down the pipe, tube or extrusion, contact us about the EXAIR Back Blow Nozzle.
This video illustrates the proper way to apply PTFE (Teflon*, or Plumber’s) tape to a threaded fitting in order to eliminate future problems with your compressed air system or products.
*Teflon is a registered trademark of E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company Corporation.
Have a Good Day,
John Ball, Application Engineer
1-800-903-9247
johnball@exair.com
@EXAIR_JB
I mentioned in one of my last blogs about how having a camera phone can come in handy when discussing applications. If there is anything unclear about a description, a quick photo and email can clear things up.
Thankfully, a potential end-user of EXAIR products was proactive and took the liberty to send the video above and the photos below along with a description of their problem.
Tea bagging machineInternal components of the machineInternal components. Note the existing vacuum hose.Another image of the machine internals.
This is a tea bag making and filling machine. Inside of the machine, as the tea bags are made and filled with tea, a small amount of dust is created with each bag. Over time, this dust becomes substantial and collects, and must be removed to prevent disruptions in quality and processing.
The difficulty for this end user, in addition to needing to vacuum the material with something that could withstand this high dust concentration, was that the dust adhered to the machine components due to a static charge.
Tea dust statically adhered to the machineStatically charged tea dust
With the strong static attraction in place, only vacuuming the material could not remove the fine dust sticking to the machine parts. What they needed was a way to neutralize the static charge so that the dust could be released from the machine components.
We recommended a two-tiered approach. During one portion of the solution, an Ion Air Jet would provide ionized (static eliminating) air onto a deliberate area while an operator used a Heavy Duty HEPA Vac to vacuum the dust from the same location. We were, in effect, freeing the dust from the static cling and immediately vacuuming it away.
This was great, except the solution needed to function during machine operation, which meant having an operator standing by was not an option. So, we had to go back to the drawing board.
In re-examining the application, we noted the existing vacuum lines in place, and considered a way to add addition vacuum. What we determined was that a pair of Line Vacs could remove the tea dust, but we had to ionize the air in the the chamber in order to remove the static.
The problem with a more permanent installation to remove the static is that the dust present within the machine could pose a problem for the longevity of an ionizer. Our only option would be to generate the ionized air externally and feed it into the machine, though such an arrangement is not highly desirable because when ducting an ionized airflow, the static eliminating ability of the air is reduced.
This meant that we needed a one-way entrance for the ionized air which did not induce turbulence and deteriorate the static eliminating abilities of the solution. We came to a proposal to use a 12” Super Ion Air Knife mounted at the top of the machine used in conjunction with an actuated door approximately 12” x 2”.
With everything controlled via the same ladder rung in a PLC, the door actuator and compressed air supply to the Super Ion Air Knife and Line Vacs will engage simultaneously. The door will open, the knife will blow ionized air, and the Line Vacs will provide additional vacuum for the airborne tea dust. The vacuumed tea dust will be fed into the existing dust collection system.
The solution is currently being presented to the key stakeholders involved with this application. If any questions arise, we will be here to help provide any answers we can. If you have a similarly unique application and need a solution, or just need to brainstorm, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.
We’ve got a lot to be proud of at EXAIR. Over 32 years of experience in providing superior engineered compressed air products for demanding applications worldwide. A 19 year track record (we can only claim 19 years because it’s when we started keeping track) of over 99.9% on-time shipments. 35 Industry Awards (and counting) for new product excellence.
The thing I want to brag on today is…well, me. OK; not just me, but the whole Engineering staff at EXAIR. See, in addition to knowing the ins & outs of 192 pages of compressed air products and accessories in our catalog, EXAIR Application Engineers are well-versed in the situations where our products will…and won’t provide a successful solution.
Sometimes, a user is looking for something different. Same principle of operation, functionality, method, etc., but in a different size. Or shape. Or material of construction. And that’s where the Design Engineers come in…we’ll work together to determine the best way to apply all those years of experience and successful track record and solve your application. And usually, pretty darn quickly.
Case in point: I had the pleasure of discussing an application requiring a special Super Air Knife yesterday afternoon with a caller. Seems they had a tight spot that they needed to fit the Air Knife into, and saw that we had made a special flat Super Air Knife:
This design goes back about 16 years, and has been No, at times, for other applications as the need arises. Because of the large variety of these simulations, we’re probably already pretty close to the next simulation. I realized this was the case when, within 5 minutes of submitting my request to Design Engineering, the office printer (which sits next to my desk) started up, and one of our Design Engineers was on his way over to retrieve the print…of an approval drawing for my caller. Not to swell any heads around here (past our current level of well-deserved swagger, that is,) but this was just about the same amount of time that it took the caller to communicate the requirements to me, and for me to transcribe them into my inter-departmental request.
There’s always a first time for everything…and we look forward to each one of them. If you need help with a compressed air solution, give us a call.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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