Category: Air Amplifier

EXAIR Products in the Semiconductor Industry

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Manufacturers in semiconductor assembly and PCB production face strict cleanliness, throughput, and thermal-control requirements. EXAIRs compressed-air products, specifically our Air Knives and Vortex Tubes, and air amplifiers are proven, compact, and energy-efficient tools for precise blow-off, controlled cooling and heating for spot thermal conditioning and fume extraction. This Blog explains how EXAIR Super Air Knives and Vortex Tubes and Air Amplifiers address three common production needs: 

  1. Drying and particulate removal during lead frame processing with air knives. 
  1. Localized cooling/heating for functional PCB testing using Vortex Tubes. 
  1. Fume extraction during etching, cleaning and plating processes

I’ll cover technical fit, typical performance characteristics, and measurement/ROI considerations so engineers and plant managers can evaluate and implement these solutions. 

Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle in clean room, cleaning microchip parts before installation.

Super Air Knife and Success in the semiconductor lead frame manufacturing process.  

Typical use cases 

  • Removing rinse water or flux residues after cleaning 
  • Blowing off foreign matter, over spray, or machining debris prior to plating or die bonding. 
  • Drying prior to molding or coating operations. 
  • Static-assisted blow-off when combined with static eliminating product for electrostatically attracted particles. 

Why Super Air Knives? 

  • Uniform Laminar Sheet of air: delivers consistent, even blow-off across the width of a lead frame, reducing localized hot spots or mechanical damage. 
  • Adjustable force and flow: adjusting air pressure and shim size allow you to control force and volume so fragile wires or plated surfaces aren’t damaged. 
  • Entrainment & Efficiency: The knives are engineered so they entrain ambient air, increasing total developed flow and reducing compressed-air consumption compared to open pipes. 

Vortex Tubes for functional PCB testing / burn-in and thermal cycling

During in-line or bench functional testing, specific components or integrated circuits may overheat or require temperature conditioning to verify performance at the full range of the rated temperature specifications. Vortex Tubes give fast, localized cooling (or heating) without coolant loops, chillers, or plumbing intricacy. Subjecting devices to burn-in and thermal cycling stress helps products enter the field with confidence there will not be any preventable failures. Normally, environmental chambers are used for burn-in processes, but vortex tubes can help facilitate localized thermal ramps, corner stressing, or temporary additional cooling/heating when size, cost or availability of a full environmental chamber isn’t feasible.  

Why Vortex Tubes fit testing 

  • Instant cold/hot air from regular compressed air: no refrigeration system or refrigeration cycle; instantaneous on/off.  
  • No moving parts: high reliability and low maintenance for test fixtures. 
  • Local spot conditioning: focus cooling on integrated circuits or other small areas without cooling the entire board or fixture. 
  • Adjustable cold fraction: Vortex tubes can be tuned via the control valve to trade flow vs. temperature drop to meet testing conditions. 
Cooling or Heating with the Vortex Tube

Air Amplifiers for fume extraction and partial heat control during etching, cleaning and plating processes.

In semiconductor lead frame manufacturing, maintaining clean, particle-free environments is essential to ensure consistent product quality and process reliability. Processes such as flux cleaning, plating, molding, and soldering generate vapors, fumes, and fine particulates that can contaminate delicate components or compromise yields. EXAIR’s Super Air Amplifier provides an efficient, quiet, and maintenance-free solution for capturing and removing fumes, vapors, and airborne contaminants from sensitive production areas.

Why the Super Air Amplifier?
High-Volume Airflow Through Amplification

  • It uses a small amount of compressed air to entrain large volumes of ambient air multiplying total flow by up to 25 times.
  • Creates a strong, consistent vacuum draw ideal for capturing fumes and fine particulates at their source.

Energy Efficiency

  • Dramatically reduces compressed-air consumption compared to traditional vacuum or exhaust systems.
  • No electricity, motors, or moving parts, maintenance-free operation and long service life.

Compact and Versatile

  • Easy to integrate above process lines, in tool enclosures, or at conveyor transfer points.
  • Available in aluminum, stainless steel, and high-temperature materials for compatibility with cleanroom or chemical environments.
Model 120024 4″ Super Air Amplifiers are commonly used to exhaust smoke and fumes.

ROI and how to show value quantitatively  

  • Baseline metrics: scrap/rework rate, cycle time, compressed-air consumption, downtime for cleaning, and throughput. 
  • Pilot run: instrument a section of line with flow/force and temperature sensors for a 30 day trial. 
  • Key calculations: 
  • Reduced rework % × cost per part = direct savings. 
  • Throughput increase (parts/hr) × margin = additional revenue. 
  • Compressed-air energy reduction (compared to previous blow-offs) = kW savings (U.S. Department of Energy offers a benchmark of $0.25 per 1,000 SCF). 
  • Tangible benefits: throughput improvement, energy savings, reduced capital cost (vs. chillers/chambers), lower maintenance and smaller footprint. 

Conclusion  

EXAIR Super Air Knives, Vortex Tubes and air amplifiers are compact, reliable, and flexible products that can improve cleanliness, thermal testing, and throughput in semiconductor processes.  

  1. Select a process you think could be helped with an air knife, Vortex Tube or an air amplifier and take advantage of our 30-day money-back guarantee.  
  1. Validate throughput and quality improvements and calculate ROI. 
  1. Rollout with appropriate controls, filtration, and operator training.  

If you think any of our products can help you in your process, please reach out. We have a team of application engineers here M-F to answer your questions!

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer

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Super Air Amplifier vs Fan

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

One of the more common applications we work with is cooling. In most instances, the goal is to cool the part as quickly as possible. In order to cool faster, you would think that blowing the coldest air possible would be the best option. Our Vortex Tubes can produce air as cold as -50°F! However, in many instances, more effective cooling will be achieved through larger volumes of air. As long as the ambient air temperature is lower than the target temperature, larger volumes of ambient air will outperform a small volume.

Our Super Air Amplifier is a great option for producing large volumes of laminar (non-turbulent) airflow for minimal compressed air consumption. Using a Coanda profile along with a patented shim, compressed air exits the Amplifier in a manner that generates a low pressure zone, which helps pull in the surrounding ambient air. This creates an amplification ratio of up to 25 times! Due to the laminar output flow having the same speed and direction, it is very effective at removing heat from a target. It also helps keep noise levels down.

The most common, non-compressed air alternative to our Amplifiers is an electric fan. Fans utilize motors and blades to direct air towards their target. When air comes in from behind the fan, the blades push the air forward to the target. This action generates turbulent air flow, as well as a lot of noise. Due to the use of motors, there are parts that can wear out over time, leading to additional maintenance costs over the lifetime of the fan.

Ultimately, when it comes to cooling, what we care about most is how quickly a given solution will get the job done. Is a Super Air Amplifier going to cool faster than a fan? In the video below we put both options to the test. As you will see, the Super Air Amplifier is significantly faster:

If you have a cooling application that you would like to discuss, give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Boosting Ventilation With Air Amplifiers

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Entering a confined space comes with a number of risks:

  • Physical hazards: mechanical equipment, falling objects, structural collapse, etc. Historically, these account for about 20% of fatalities associated with confined space entry.
  • Engulfment hazards: that’s a less horrific way to say “buried alive.” These are similar to some physical hazards, except the danger is from asphyxiation instead of being crushed. A prime example of this would be a farmworker falling into a grain silo in such a way that their head is submerged in the volume of grain. About 11% of confined space entry fatalities involve engulfment accidents. EXAIR Line Vacs are actually used in emergency responses to these.
  • Atmospheric hazards: Without adequate ventilation, carbon dioxide can build up, displacing the oxygen that workers need to breathe. Toxic and flammable gases are in this category as well, and whether workers are asphyxiated or poisoned, failure to provide a safe atmosphere accounts for almost 60% of confined space entry deaths.

Before workers enter a confined space, permits are oftentimes required. Atmospheric monitoring and ventilation are key aspects of such permits: Monitoring to ensure an adequate level of oxygen and the reduction of toxic & flammable gases to safe exposure limits, and ventilation to make sure that happens. It’s generally recommended to have ventilation/exhaust equipment capable of providing 20 air changes per hour.

EXAIR Air Amplifiers are an easy & reliable choice for providing the required ventilation. With no moving parts to break or electrical components to fail, all they need is a supply of compressed air. So, how do we choose the right one? Since we know we need 20 air changes an hour, the first step is to determine the volume of the space. Let’s say we need to enter a 10ft x 6ft x 6ft tank:

  • 10ft x 10ft x 12ft = 1,200 cubic feet
  • 1,200 cubic feet of air X 20 changes per hour = 24,000 cubic feet of air to change per hour
  • 24,000 cubic feet/hour ÷ 60 minutes/hour = 400 cubic feet per minute

In this case, we could specify a Model 6042 2″ Aluminum Adjustable Air Amplifier, which uses just 21.5 SCFM @80psig to generate a total developed flow of 430 SCFM (see table above). Minus the 21.5 SCFM of compressed air flow, that means it’s drawing 408.5 SCFM in from the tank.

If additional airflow is required, the ring gap of the Adjustable Air Amplifier can be easily increased by threading the plug out of the body until the needed flow is achieved. A Pressure Regulator can also be used to ‘fine tune’ the compressed air supply, and hence, the ventilation flow.

EXAIR Air Amplifiers are a simple, low-cost way to move air, smoke, fumes, and even light materials. If you’d like to find out more, or if you have a potential application to discuss, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Intelligent Compressed Air: Two Different Products Called “Air Amplifiers”

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment
A 2psi change in compressor discharge pressure equates to a 1% change in compressor power consumption.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, so it’s no coincidence that mechanical means of compressing air came about in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, eventually becoming known as the “4th Utility” along with electricity, water, and gas. For most of the 20th Century, compressed air system pressure was commonly generated in the neighborhood of 100psig, although many modern industrial air compressors can be operated at 160 to 200psig. Operating an air compressor at higher discharge pressure increases the cost of operation, though, so it’s in EVERYONE ‘S best interests to run compressed air systems at the lowest pressure possible, that still gets the job done for all the air-operated gear in the facility.

So, what if most of your compressed air loads operate at 80-100psig, but one (or a handful) needs 120psig? Or 160psig? Or even higher? Increasing your compressor discharge pressure from 100psig to 160psig means you’re using 30% more power to run the compressor. That’s a LOT for one (or a handful) of operations.

Good news: the laws of physics say that pressure is the amount force applied to a specific area…as in pounds(force) per square inch, or psi. So, if we apply a certain pressure to a large diameter piston, and attach that with a shaft to another smaller diameter piston, the amount of force doesn’t change, but the area does, so the pressure on the other side of the smaller piston HAS to:

Let’s say the primary pressure (P1) is 100psi, and the primary piston (D1) is 4″ in diameter, with a surface area of 12.56 in2. That means the force applied to the primary piston (D1) is : 100 lbf/in2 x 12.56 in2 = 1,256 lbf.
This is the same force applied to the air on the other side of the secondary piston (D2), which has a diameter of 2″ and a surface area of 3.14 in2. Since pressure is force divided by area, that 1,256 lbf applied to 3.14 in2 results in a secondary pressure (P2) of 400psi.

This is the basic theory behind how air (pressure) amplifiers – also known as booster regulators – work. Essentially, you’re trading compressed air flow (into the larger cylinder) for pressure. Now, if EVERYTHING you operate needs higher pressure, the best way to do that is to increase the compressor discharge pressure. But if you only have one, or a few, loads that need higher pressure, the increase in air consumption for those loads is likely less costly than compressing the air to a higher pressure than is needed for the majority of your loads.

The other type of air amplifier is the one that EXAIR manufactures – it’s an air FLOW amplifier, and here’s how it works:

In this case, we’re trading pressure for flow, and getting a much higher total developed air flow rate than just the amount of compressed air it uses. Not only does the entrained air make them incredibly efficient, it also develops a low-velocity boundary layer that attenuates the sound level of the total air flow. They can be used for cooling, drying, cleaning, ventilation, fume exhaust, and even material conveying, especially if the material to be conveyed is very light, or already airborne.

With (16) models to choose from, EXAIR Air Amplifiers are a quick and easy way to provide a tremendous amount of cooling air flow from a compact, lightweight product.

EXAIR Air Amplifiers come in a range of sizes, from 3/4″ to 8″. Super Air Amplifiers are lightweight, durable aluminum, and Adjustable Air Amplifiers are available in aluminum or 303SS. If you’d like to find out more about them, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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