Category: Air Knife

Another Trip Around The Sun

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Well folks, today marks my 30th trip around the sun in this adventure we call life.   If there is anything I have learned so far it is, you can’t teach experience, and making your 2-year-old laugh so hard they double over are some of the best things you can know.

Here at EXAIR we are in our 29th trip around the sun and still constantly learning and changing.   This is because we have a lot of experience under our belt when it comes to compressed air and customer service.  One of the best pieces of free information we have to offer is our experience.  One thing I have learned through experience is it’s better to be prepared when you’re trying to do something in the field.

This is why here at EXAIR we offer a large amount of information about our products and it’s all available through our website.  If you are trying to get a machine designed or trying to figure out how to fit a new Super Air Knife into  a customer’s machine we offer 2 and 3D dimensional drawings of virtually every product, along with installation and maintenance sheets.

This means you can have a detailed drawing to figure out every last bolt or fitting you will need to install the new product and know exactly what it’s going to take to install and get the product up and running.

If you have any questions on how to install an item, need the dimensions of one of our products, or help figuring out which one will work for you, give us a call.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF 

Efficient Energy

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

As we welcome the return of Ivan Banks from a lengthy trip overseas, I’m reminded of the wide cultural variety over which we supply our products.  Reading through the travel brochures and noting the different customs proves to be a stark reminder of how isolated it can be to live within your comfort zone.

There’s a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson that says, “There are no foreign lands.  It is the traveler only who is foreign.”  Reading through expected differences on the CIBT website has shown me that this is indeed the case.  I like to relate this to a method of thinking as well.

We’re often taught how to do something and it can be strange to see things done in a different way.  In industry, however, we’re always looking for a more economical and efficient process to achieve the end goals.  It’s a frequent occurrence to see something pieced together in an ingenious way, or in a much different manner than would be expected.

Fortunately, along with the worldwide appreciation for ingenuity, there is also an appreciation for efficiency.  This has helped EXAIR to be transparent across multiple cultures and markets.  Our efficiency lab is a prime example of our efficiency appreciation, as well as a variety of posts by our very own, Professor Penurious.

Earlier this week I ran a calculation for an application currently using a 20 horsepower blower system to clean steel tanks.  The system was inefficient, and the results were poor.  The application needed a blow off with higher force and a more efficient use of the plant energy.  We were able to propose multiple setups of EXAIR Super Air Nozzles or Super Air Knives to accomplish the necessary blow off.  And, the operational cost of any EXAIR system was almost half that of the blower system.  (Approximately $2500.00/yr. to operate the blower system vs. approximately $1400.00/yr. to operate the EXAIR blow off components)  In addition to lower operating cost, the EXAIR products had a lower purchase price as well.  Just another prime example of the benefits to an EXAIR equipped blow off system.

We run calculations like this with great frequency.  And we do this for applications all over the world.  Efficiency and cost savings are a language everyone seems to speak.

The following calculations show electrical cost for operating a 20 Hp blower and do not include any maintenance costs associated with blower maintenance such as bearing replacement. The cost for generating compressed air ($0.25/1000 cubic feet) includes electrical costs and maintenance costs.

20 HP Blower  = 14.71 kW
14.71 kW x 0.083 = Operational cost per hour
14.71 kW x 0.083 = $1.22 per hour
1.22 cents per hour x 40 hours per week =$48.80
$48.80 per week x 52 weeks per year = $2537.60
Annual operating cost = $2537.60   

EXAIR Blow off (55 SCFM)
55 SCFM x 60 minutes = 3300 SCF/hour
3300 SCF x 40 = 132000 cubic feet per week
132000 x 52 = 6,864,000 cubic feet per year
6,864,000/1000 = 6864     6864 x $0.25 = $1716.00
Annual Operating cost = $1716.00

Operating costs based on electricity cost of 8.3 cents per kWh.  Annual cost reflects 40 hours per work week, 52 weeks per year.

(For those interested, the photo is of a concept to allow charging of a cell phone battery by swinging the battery around your finger.  Designed by Song Teaho & Hyejin Lee)

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE

OSHA is Concerned About Noise, You Should Be Too

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

For a guy who is exceptionally sensitive to noise I often wonder why I thought having three kids was a good idea. Don’t get me wrong here, like every other guy in the world, I enjoy the built-in excuse to behave like a 10-year-old. But the noise which accompanies three children, and their friends, may one day be part of the equation for an army’s non-lethal defense system.

For example, a flute playing daughter, a trumpet playing son and another with an inclination for bongos or other assorted drums. Nevermind the memorization and vocalization of myriad Weird Al songs mixed with Crazy Train or Iron Man. Did I mention anything about general screaming, wrestling grunts and assorted crashing sounds I prefer not to find the origin of? How about my luck of moving next door to a child with the most grating voice this side of Fran Drescher?

All in all I prefer the basement door shut, the roar held to a dull one and my Iron Man through a set of mightily insulated headphones (oddly enough music is almost impossible to be too loud). There is something about the sharpness or frequency of constant kid noises that does take its toll.

But all of this noise is, in fact, the result of my choices and I wouldn’t change a thing (though it may be hard to glean that from the above rant). If it weren’t for those kids I would never recognize peace and quiet on the rare occasion it reveals itself. Nor would I be able to tell the difference between the “I’m really hurt” and “I’m faking death” distress calls.

Fortunately I am afforded a job where I can turn my attention to other damaging noises to concentrate upon. The noise of compressed air. Were you aware that OSHA mandates limited exposure noise levels within the workplace and that constant exposure to high decibel levels of noise can damage your ears? OSHA currently recommends hearing protection for any decibel level above 90 dBA. Many work areas exceed this level and should not be entered without hearing protection. But humans being, well, human – we cannot always rely on folks making good decisions when entering such areas.

Some of these loud areas can have the environmental noise levels lowered by reducing the noise levels of compressed air use. Open air lines are notorious for producing decibel levels beyond the safe range. EXAIR recommends outfitting open lines with our engineered Super Air Nozzles, the quietest air nozzles in industry. Other products, Super Air Amplifiers and Super Air Knives will also dramatically lower air noise in the area. Pneumatic Cylinders also get loud when exhausting air and need to be outfitted with mufflers to protect your people from harmful noise levels.

Noise is a dangerous element of many work areas. So dangerous, in fact, OSHA presents exposure guidelines to protect us from it. EXAIR can help you lower noise levels and assist you in providing a better work environment for those hard-working folks who have to deal with it on a daily basis.

Let us know if you would like any additional information. For now, I’m going to see if OSHA has any standards for exposure to loud children…

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Out With the Old and In With the New

Published on by 2 Comments

Oh really!!  Being in my senior years I’ve been around long enough to see things come full circle. What is being touted today as new is merely something recycled from the past with a new coat of paint.  I have a closet full of ties: wide ones, thin ones, stripped ones, paisley prints, stripes, and colors of all sorts. I don’t throw them away because over time they come back into style.

When we were kids, Mom reused jelly jars for juice glasses. Grandma recycled flour sacks into pillow cases. Anything headed for the dump Dad stripped of its nuts and bolts and saved them in recycled baby food jars. As we outgrew our clothes, we recycled them down to our smaller siblings.

Then there came the era of “planned obsolescence“.  The idea was not to make products designed to last, but they should be made cheaply and simply discarded and replaced. This would create jobs and stimulate a robust economy. So we became a wasteful, consuming, throwaway society.

Today we have come full circle. Catch phrases such as sustainability, recycle, and conserve are the rage. Oh really! That’s what we used to do. So is this really new or simply recycled from the past with a new coat of paint?

EXAIR does not subscribe to planned obsolescence. For 27 years we have built our products to last and back it up with a 5 year built to last warranty. Nozzles, jets, and air knives have been around forever. So their basic concept is not new. What is new is what EXAIR has done to design them to conserve compressed air, operate at low sound levels, and be compliant to OSHA directives without sacrificing performance.

If you need help in retrofitting your inefficient nozzles or have an application that requires the use of compressed air call one of our application engineers at 1-800-903-9247

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com