Month: May 2021

High-Power Stainless Steel Line Vacs for Dental Work

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A manufacturing plant had machines that would process ceramic 6mm beads into blanks for machining small components in the dental industry.  Ceramic can be used in items like braces, crowns, root implants, and bridges.  From the blanks above, they milled crowns and bridges in specific designs to fit in the patient’s mouth.  In their current process, they used a belt conveyor that would move the ceramic beads into a hopper above the sintering machines.  They had a failure with their conveyor, and they had to shut down the machines. 

They contacted the conveyor manufacturer for assistance.  Because of the complexity of conveying systems, as compared to EXAIR Line Vacs, they needed time to evaluate.  They had to determine if it was the motor, the belt, the gear box, pulley bearings, or electrical system.  Depending on which item that failed, there was a possibility that it would not be in stock or would have to be sent off-site for repair.  With this amount of downtime, it would cost the company money and delays in shipments.  Being that they were under pressure to meet deadlines, they contacted EXAIR to see if we could help. 

Air Operated Conveyor

In discussing their layout, the hopper was 10 feet (3 meters) away from the supply container, and the opening of the hopper was 10 feet (3 meters) above the floor.  These lengths were well within the limits of the EXAIR Line Vacs.  The bulk density was 70 lbs./ft3 (1,140 Kg/M3), and they needed 316SS since the equipment was used for medical devices.   I suggested the model 6964-316 2” 316SS Line Vac Kit.  At those distances, I mentioned that we could move roughly 10 lbs./min. (275 Kg/hr.) of ceramic beads at 80 PSIG (5.5 Bar) air pressure.  They wondered if we could get a bit more power from our Line Vacs.  This we can do!!!  EXAIR can modify our Line Vacs to fit into different applications.  We can modify the inlet and outlet connections from a smooth connect for hose to a threaded connection for pipe, or vice versa.  We can also modify the generator for our Stainless Steel Line Vacs to increase the capacity.  This would be our “HP” (for High Power) prefix.  I then recommended the model HP6964-316 High-Power 316SS Line Vac Kit.   This model has a conveyance rate near 13.3 lbs./min. (362 Kg/hr.) at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar) air pressure.  This was perfect for their operation.  With the different hopper volumes, they could adjust the inlet air pressure to increase or decrease the conveyance rates. 

The next question they asked was, how fast can we get them a special unit?   EXAIR stocks every cataloged model number for same-day shipping with orders placed before 2 p.m. EST.  For the “HP” special, we were able to ship the next day to get their operation running.  They did mention to me afterwards that they wished they knew about the EXAIR Line Vacs before they purchased the conveyor system.  Since the Line Vacs do not have any moving parts or motors to wear, they would have years of non-maintenance operations.      

If your company relies on conveying systems to move product, you may want to have an EXAIR Line Vac on-hand just in case of an emergency.  When things go wrong, you do not want to be down any longer than needed.  If you need help in sizing the correct Line Vac for your application, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We will be happy to help.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Photo: Tooth Replacement by dental-inno.  Pixabay License. 

EXAIR’s Cabinet Coolers: No Maintenance, Simple Installation, Many Years of Trouble Free Operation!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

I recently had the pleasure of working with a customer that was looking to expand their production capacity. They were duplicating an existing line due to an increase in demand and needed another Cabinet Cooler. The previous unit, HT4325-24VDC, had been installed over 20 years ago and was still functioning without any issues. This was long before he had started working with the company and they were unable to locate any order history with EXAIR to determine the appropriate model size to order so they quickly uninstalled it to help identify which model they had been relying on all these years.

cabinet cooler
HT4325 Cabinet Cooler – over 20 years old!!!

They installed the cooler and auto-drain filter that comes with the kit. The only maintenance they’ve had to complete for the system is periodically changing the filter element. The Cabinet Cooler has no moving parts to wear out and requires little to no maintenance so long as it is supplied with clean, condensate free compressed air.

Utilizing Vortex Tube technology, the Cabinet Cooler produces cold air from an ordinary supply of compressed air. This cold air keeps the enclosure free of debris and moisture and is easily installed in minutes through a standard electrical knockout. Here is a short video that shows just how simple it really is. The Cabinet Cooler Systems are available with Nema 12 (IP54) ratings and are also available in Aluminum, 303 Stainless Steel, and 316 Stainless Steel construction for Nema 4/4X (IP66) rated enclosures. For systems that are not able to be mounted on top of the cabinet, we also have Side Mount Kits available in Aluminum, 303 Stainless, and 316 Stainless.

These systems are available with cooling capacities of anywhere from 275-5,600 Btu/hr. To make things much easier for you, we offer a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide that will allow us to recommend the most suitable model for your cabinet. With a few quick measurements, we’ll be able to determine the exact heat load that we’ll need to dissipate and offer you a quick and easy solution. If you experienced heat related issues on electrical panels last year, contact an Application Engineer today and we’ll see to it that this summer your cabinets remain cool!

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

What Is A Coanda Profile?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The big thing that sets engineered products like EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products apart from other devices is the engineering that goes into their design.  Several principles of fluidics are key to those designs:

The one I wanted to discuss today, though, is the Coanda Effect, what it means for our engineered compressed air products, and what they can do for you:

The Coanda effect is named after Henri Coandă, who was the first to use the phenomenon in a practical application…in his case, aircraft design.  He described it as “the tendency of a jet of fluid emerging from an orifice to follow an adjacent flat or curved surface and to entrain fluid from the surroundings so that a region of lower pressure develops.”  Put simply, if fluid flows past a solid object, it keeps flowing along that surface (even through curves or bends) and pulls surrounding fluid into its flow.  Here’s a demonstration, using an EXAIR Super Air Amplifier and a plastic ball:

What’s interesting here is that the Super Air Amplifier is not only DEMONSTRATING the Coanda effect, it’s also USING it:

Air Amplifiers use the Coanda Effect to generate high flow with low consumption.

EXAIR Standard and Full Flow Air Knives also have Coanda profiles that the primary (compressed air) flow follows, and uses, to entrain “free” air from the surrounding environment:

Compressed air flows through the inlet (1) to the Standard Air Knife, into the internal plenum. It then discharges through a thin gap (2), adhering to the Coanda profile (3) which directs it down the face of the Air Knife. The precision engineered & finished surfaces optimize entrainment of air (4) from the surrounding environment.

EXAIR Air Wipes can be thought of as “circular Air Knives” – instead of a Coanda profile along the length of an Air Knife, an Air Wipe’s Coanda profile is on the ring of the Air Wipe, which entrains surrounding air into a 360° ring of converging air flow:

Air Wipe – How it works

So that’s the science incorporated in the design of our products.  But what does it mean to the user?

  • Efficiency.  Pulling in a tremendous amount of “free” air from the surrounding environment means minimal consumption of compressed air, while still getting a hard hitting, high velocity air flow.
  • Sound reduction.  This air entrainment also creates a boundary layer in the air flow, resulting in a much quieter air flow than you get from a simple open-end blow off.

EXAIR Corporation is committed to helping you get the most out of your compressed air system, and thanks to Mr. Coandă, that includes reducing your compressed air consumption and noise levels.  If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

 

 

 

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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EXAIR Digital Flow Meters

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

A topic that we’ve talked about here on the EXAIR blog discusses the costs of compressed air and how to use it more efficiently. How can you determine the costs of your compressed air? The first step you’ll need to take is to put a number to how much compressed air you are currently using. In order to do that you’ll need a measurement tool such as the EXAIR Digital Flowmeter.

EXAIR Digital Flow Meters

The Digital Flowmeter is available from stock for use on Schedule 40 pipe with sizes ranging from ½”-4” I.D. Sizes up to 8” for Schedule 40 and ¾”-4” for copper pipe are also available. Metric sizes are also available for 25mm, 40mm, 50mm, 63mm, 76mm, and 101mm. With a digital readout display, it’s easy to accurately monitor your compressed air usage throughout the facility. Creating a baseline of your usage will allow you to understand your compressed air demand, identify costly leaks, and replace inefficient air products.

The Digital Flowmeter installs in minutes with help from a drill guide and locating fixture to assist in mounting the Digital Flowmeter to the pipe. Two flow sensing probes are inserted into the drilled holes in the pipe. The meter then seals to the pipe once tightened. There is no need to cut, weld, or do any calibration once it is installed. With blocking rings also available, installation can be permanent or temporary. Below is a easy to follow video on how to install EXAIR’s Digital Flow Meter!

The newest addition to this product line is the Digital Flowmeter with wireless capability. Using a ZigBee® mesh network protocol, data is transmitted to an Ethernet connected gateway. This allows you to mount the Digital Flowmeter in areas that you may not be able to easily access and wirelessly monitor and graph the usage with the EXAIR Logger software. Take a peek at this video blog for a demonstration of the use of a wireless Digital Flowmeter software to compare an open pipe to an engineered Air Nozzle.

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Wireless output gives you the freedom to track air usage data from any computer!

In addition to communicating wirelessly with the gateway, the Digital Flowmeters can “piggyback” off of each other to extend their range. Each meter has a range of 100’. Using multiple Digital Flowmeters within the same ZigBee® mesh network, data can be passed from meter to meter to extend the distance over which the meters can operate. These can be installed on each major leg of your compressed air system to continuously monitor usage throughout the facility.

If you’d rather go with a hard-wired data collection method, the Digital Flowmeter is also available with a USB Data Logger. Simply remove the Data Logger from the Digital Flowmeter and connect it to the USB port of your computer. The data can then be viewed directly in the accompanying software or exported into Microsoft Excel.

dataloggerPRce_559wide
Add a Data Logger for easy Value Tracking

Two special flow meter options we now offer are the Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeters, and the Hot Tap Digital Flowmeters!

Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeters help by generating a pressure and consumption profile of a system can help to pinpoint energy wasters such as timer-based drains that are dumping every hour versus level based drains that only open when needed. Hot Tap Digital Flowmeters offer a way to install a flow meter on a pipe that is currently under pressure. It uses a series of valves and mufflers to maintain a safe working environment for the installer.

If you’d like to get a clear view of your compressed air usage, give us a call. An Application Engineer will be happy to work with you and get the proper Digital Flowmeters installed in your facility!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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