Liquid Handling With Compressed Air: An Overview

Published on by Russ Bowman

There are some very good reasons to consider an EXAIR compressed air operated Industrial Housekeeping Product for liquid applications:

*Durability. No moving parts means nothing to wear or get damaged.
*Safety. No electricity means no dragging an energized cord through a wet area.
*Convenience. All you need is a supply of compressed air.
*Reliability. If you supply it with clean, dry air, it’ll run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free.

Depending on the needs of the application, we have different models to choose from:

Reversible Drum Vacs

If you’ve got a closed top steel drum that’s in good condition, look no further than the Reversible Drum Vac System.  It comes with everything you need to turn that drum into a powerful, 2-way liquid pumping system.  This is great if you just need to park the drum in one spot and suction out a sump or tank on a regular basis, using its 10 foot Vacuum Hose & Suction Wand.  They’re in stock for your existing 30, 55, and 110 gallon drums.  A 5 Gallon Mini Reversible Drum Vac System is also available; it includes the drum as well.

Reversible Drum Vac Systems come in sizes from 5 to 110 gallons.

If you’d like a little mobility, and a way to clean up floor spills, then the Deluxe Reversible Drum Vac System might be what you’re looking for.  It adds a Drum Dolly and our Spill Recovery Kit…it consists of a floor-length wand and a dual squeegee tool.  It also comes with a set of plastic tools (crevice tool, small skimmer, and two 20″ extensions) and a Tool Holder with clips for the tools, and magnets to attach to the drum.  We keep them in stock for your existing 30 and 55 gallon drums.  It also comes in the 5 Gallon Deluxe Mini Reversible Drum Vac System (drum included.)

 

Deluxe Systems add a Spill Recovery Kit, and a Dolly for your drum.

For a complete system, the Premium Reversible Drum Vac Systems have everything you need for most any liquid drum transfer job: they add a drum, lid & latch ring, as well as a compressed air supply hose & shutoff valve, and an upgrade to Heavy Duty Aluminum Tools.  They’re available with 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums; in stock.

Premium Reversible Drum Vac Systems come with everything you need, right out of the box.

Any of the 30, 55, or 110 Gallon systems are also available with our High Lift Reversible Drum Vac.  These provide for increased performance with more viscous liquids, and/or when the liquid needs to pumped from a depth of up to 15 feet.  They are outfitted identically to the standard Reversible Drum Vac Systems, except they come with a 20 foot Vacuum Hose.

The High Lift Reversible Drum Vac System converts a drum and dolly into a mobile pumping system.

As versatile as the Reversible Drum Vacs are, we also incorporate them into another 2-way pumping system, designed to help you get maximum life and performance from machine tool coolant and cutting oils:  The award-winning Chip Trapper Systems.

The vacuum hose (1) is attached to the barbed connection of the Chip Trapper (2). The directional flow control valve on the top of the drum (3) and knob on the pump (4) are set to the “fill” position. The air supply valve is opened to permit compressed air at 80-100 psig (5.5-6.9 BAR) to flow through the pump which pulls the liquid through the hose, then into the reusable filter bag (5). When all liquid is in the drum, the air supply is turned off. The filtered liquid can then be pumped out by setting the directional flow control valve on top of the drum and the knob on the pump to the “empty” position. Once the air supply valve is opened, the air pushes the liquid back through the hose while all solids remain in the reusable filter bag.

Powered by the Reversible Drum Vac, the Chip Trapper System draws the incoming liquid into the drum through a Filter Bag, which retains (or “traps”) any particulate as the drum fills with liquid.  Then, the freshly filtered liquid can be immediately pumped back out, while the particulate remains in the bag.  Once the bag is full, simply remove the drum lid, unhook the bag, empty it out, and return it to service.  The Chip Trapper System comes with two Filter Bags, in fact, so you can clean one while you use the other.  They are available, from stock, in 30, 55, and 110 gallon sizes.  They are all three available in High Lift configuration as well, with a 20 foot Vacuum Hose.

If you’d like to find out more about safe, reliable and effective liquid handling with EXAIR’s compressed air operated Industrial Housekeeping Products, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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