A few weeks ago I made a video showing how the Back Blow Nozzle operates.  The video is helpful to illustrate the process of pipe cleaning, but this isn’t the only application for a Back Blow Nozzle.

I was recently contacted by a testing facility which provides inspection services for fire extinguishers.  As part of the inspection process, the empty fire extinguishers are pressure tested by filling the empty cylinders with water and raising the pressure to a specific PSI.  After passing this test, they are emptied, turned upside-down, and fed over a drying rig.  The drying rig (shown above) is a crude setup, using a brass tube with a few drilled holes.

In order to sufficiently dry the cylinders with this setup, they needed to be placed on the drying rig for long periods of time, sometimes for several minutes.  This long cycle time was a waste of compressed air, and the end user wanted to find a better, more efficient solution.

The solution was to replace the drilled pipe with a ¼” NPT Back Blow Nozzle, model 1006SS.  The angled orifices of this engineered nozzle force the air, and water in this case, from the cylinder.  There is no longer a need to leave the cylinders on the drying rig for several minutes – drying is now accomplished in a fraction of the initial time.  And, in addition to the improved cycle time, the engineered nozzle is able to reduce sound level from the drying rig.

Back Blow Nozzles can be used in a variety of applications.  If you have a process which you think could benefit from an engineered nozzle solution and you’d like to discuss with someone, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE