When the topic of Air Amplifiers comes up, there are two avenues to consider – is it the air pressure or the air volume that you wish to amplify? There exists technologies to amplify either parameter, and we will examine them both.
There may be equipment or processes within a facility that operate best at air pressures higher than can be delivered, due to air compressor limitations or the supply system. An Air Pressure Amplifier can take the existing compressed air supply, and boost the pressure allowing for the higher needed air pressure without requiring a dedicated compressor capable of operating at the higher pressure.
An Air Pressure Amplifier is basically an air pump, driven by a portion of the compressed air supply. The pump cycles and compresses the remaining amount of compressed air to a higher outlet pressure. This higher output pressure can be used to operate the equipment or process that required the pressure levels that the base system could not supply. The drawback is that the pump system consumes a good amount of the compressed air volume, to power the pump which reduces the amount of air available for other equipment or processes. This drives up the compressed air consumption for the system, and requires the extra capacity to operate.
The other type of Air Amplifier is the kind that amplifies the air flow volume. EXAIR manufactures this type of amplifier.
The air flow amplification works by taking compressed air (1) and directing into an annular chamber (2). It is then throttled through a small ring nozzle (3) at high velocity. This primary stream of air adheres to the Coanda profile (4) and is directed through the outlet. A low pressure area is created at the center, inducing a high volume flow (5) of surrounding air to be drawn in and added to the main air stream. The combined flow of primary and surrounding air exits as a high volume, high velocity flow.
EXAIR manufactures (2) types of Air Amplifiers, the Super Air Amplifier and the Adjustable Air Amplifier. In addition, a special model for High Temperature applications is available. Sizes range from 3/4″ (19mm) to 8″ (203mm) to meet most air flow requirements. Air amplification ratios start at 12:1 for the 3/4″ model and increase to 25:1 for the 4″ and 8″ models.
Charts and tables are available to help determine the right Air Amplifier for the job.
If you have questions about the Air Amplifiers, or would like to talk about any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, 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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