Month: June 2017

Vortex Tube Kits Make Heat Removal A (Cool) Breeze

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I recently had the pleasure of discussing a cooling application with a customer.  The caller was familiar with our Cabinet Cooler Systems, and wanted to incorporate the same technology into a spot cooling application.  Problem was, he wasn’t sure about exactly how much cold air flow, and at what temperature, would suit his needs best…this was on a brand new mold (for plastic parts) that had just arrived.  His idea was to order a few different Vortex Tubes, and experiment with them.

I agreed that trying a few different Vortex Tube models would be a quick and easy way to find a solution, but I had a quicker and easier way: the Model 3930 Medium Vortex Tube Cooling Kit.  This gave him all the Generators that fit the Medium Vortex Tube, allowing him to make any medium Vortex Tube model he desired.  He would also be able to adjust the Cold Fraction to get the most effective temperature drop as well.

EXAIR Vortex Tube Cooling Kits come with all parts necessary to effect a wide range of cold air flow & temperatures.

With the Vortex Tube in place, it was very easy to configure the optimal cooling…as he decreased the Cold Fraction (to get colder air) he replaced the Generator (to get higher air flow.)  His application (cooling molded plastic parts) was satisfied with a Model 3225, set to a 70% Cold Fraction…this gave him 17.5 SCFM of cold air flow, at temperature of around 0F (a 71F drop from their compressed air supply temperature, which is around 70F.)

Is an EXAIR Cooling Kit right for your heat removal application?  If you’d like to find out,  give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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Warranties: Better Safe, Than Sorry!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
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Not my pool, but hey I can dream right?

The last few months for me have been quite busy to say the least. In this time: I’ve gotten married, gone on our honeymoon, purchased my first home, and am planning for an upcoming business trip to China and Taiwan. While it has definitely been exciting, there’s been a fair amount of stress to accompany it. We were thrust into the wonderful world of home ownership when two days in our pool pump went out. I know, you’re probably thinking, whose crazy enough to buy their first home with a pool? Well, we did it! Needless to say, we were fortunate enough to have also gotten a home warranty with the purchase. We’ve had the pleasure of now also using it on our pool filter and the microwave. All of this in just six short weeks! No one is ever excited when things break around the home, but it sure is nice when you have something to fall back on. A few deductibles later, and we’re off to swimming!

Capture

Here at EXAIR, we have a longstanding history of standing behind our products. We take pride in ensuring that we manufacture a quality product that will work for years on end, solving your problems. With our 5 year built to last warranty, we guarantee the performance of the product under normal operating conditions for 5 years. If during that time there is any issue relating to a manufacturing defect, we will repair or replace the item at no charge to you.

In addition, we also offer an unconditional 30 Day Guarantee for all of our stock products. We want to make sure you get the most out of our products and this 30 days gives you the time to test it out in your application. If you’d like to discuss a possible application, or have any questions about our Intelligent Compressed Air Products, give us a call.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

 

Image courtesy of Bill Wilson. Creative commons license.

Cooling Gelatin Pills Using The Mini Cooler

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

I recently worked with an OEM on a cooling application for a gelatin pill forming machine they designed for their customer. In their machine design, the gelatin film leaves an extruding machine then travels between 2 punch rollers to form the pills. After the pills are formed, they are supposed to drop onto a chute feeding a conveyor to carry the pills to the bottling/packaging area.

View of machine showing direction of travel for the film and punch rollers

The problem they were having was the film was retaining heat which caused the pills to occasionally stick to the roller, resulting in rejects and lost production time. They were looking for an economical way to blow cold air across the rollers and film but were concerned about putting too much demand on their customer’s compressed air system.

After reviewing the photos and discussing the details, I recommended they use our Model # 3308 Mini Cooler System with dual point hose kit. The Mini Cooler provides a 50°F temperature drop from the incoming supply air temperature and provides 550 Btu/hr. of cooling capacity. The system includes a swivel mag base for easy installation while the dual point hose kit would allow them to direct the cold air to blow across both rollers from a single device. Compressed air demand is minimal, at only 8 SCFM @ 100 PSIG, alleviating their concern for the customer’s compressed air system.

Model 3308 Mini Cooler System with 2-cold outlets – provides a focused stream of 20°F air (based on ambient supply of 70°F)

If you are having heat related issues with your process or to discuss a particular application or product, give me a call, I ‘d be happy to help.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Reducing Lubricant in a Blanking Operation

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We recently chatted with a customer that was looking to improve the lubrication system for multiple blanking lines.  Blanking involves the cutting of sheet metal in a single step, to separate the piece form the surrounding stock. The part that is cut out is the desired product and  is called the ‘blank.’  This operation can be moderate to fast in speed, and the process creates heat, so a lubricant is used to cool and decrease the wear on the tooling.  Our customer was looking for a better way to apply the lubricant.

We proposed the model AN2010SS, a No Drip, internal mix, narrow angle, round fan Atomizing Nozzle.  The nozzle uses compressed air to create a mist of the liquid with very fine droplet size. When using for the  lubricant, a fine layer can be applied over the entire surface without areas of over coverage and waste.  This leads to lower costs for lubricant, and less mess on the blanks.

No Drip Atomizing Nozzle
No Drip Atomizing Nozzle

To simplify the process, the No Drip model was chosen. The No Drip style has the added benefit of positively stopping liquid flow when the compressed air is turned off.  There is no need to independently control the liquid flow via a control system and valve.

Finally, to control the compressed air side, we recommend the Electronic Flow Control (EFC.)  Utilizing a photoelectric sensor, the open position of the press can be detected and using 1 of many program options, the compressed air can be turned on and off to accurately control the application of the lubricant.  Due to the excessive amount of lubricant being used, the customer was applying every other cycle.  The first blank would be overly lubricated so that there would be some remaining for the next.  With the Atomizing Nozzle and EFC, the right amount of lubricant can be applied for each cycle.  The result is reduced lubricant usage, and a better operation.

EFCp4

If you have questions regarding Atomizing Nozzles or any EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Product, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

Brian Bergmann
Application Engineer

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