Category: Air Wipe

The Right Tool for Drying, Cleaning, and Cooling Continuous Material

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

If you’ve ever tried to dry or clean a continuous length of pipe, wire, or hose using a handful of nozzles pointed at it from different angles, you already know the problem. You’re always going to miss a spot. It doesn’t matter how many nozzles you throw at it or how you arrange them, getting full 360° coverage on a moving product with open-ended blow offs is a losing battle. That’s exactly the problem the Super Air Wipe was built to solve.

The Super Air Wipe is a close relative of our Super Air Knife, and it works on the same principle. A Coanda profile entrains large amounts of ambient air to amplify the compressed air supply and deliver a high-velocity, laminar airflow across the entire target. The difference is the geometry. Where the Super Air Knife delivers a flat curtain of air, the Super Air Wipe delivers a uniform 360° ring of laminar airflow directed inward at a consistent angle. The result is complete, gap-free coverage on pipe, cable, hose, wire, and extruded shapes as they pass through the center of the unit.

Split ring design eliminates the need for product “threading” through the Air Wipe.

One of the most practical features is the split design. The Super Air Wipe opens up like a clamshell, allowing you to clamp it directly around a continuous run of material without having to thread anything through. That means no line stoppages for installation, no re-threading when you switch over to a different product diameter, and no downtime when maintenance requires you to pull the unit for inspection. You just unlatch, remove, reinstall, and go.

The aluminum Super Air Wipe is available from stock in sizes ranging from 3/8″ all the way up to 11″ inside diameter, covering a wide range of pipes, tube, and hose diameters. All units include stainless steel hardware and stainless steel shims. For sizes up to 4″, a brass tee and a stainless steel wire braided hose are included to supply each half of the unit independently, which is important for maintaining even airflow around the full circumference. For sizes over 4″, each 1/4 NPT compressed air inlet should be piped directly from the supply line to ensure both halves receive equal pressure.

For applications involving corrosive environments or elevated temperatures, the Super Air Wipe is also available in 303 stainless steel construction. The stainless steel version handles temperatures up to 800°F, making it a solid option for positioning close to an extrusion die or in areas where chemical exposure would deteriorate aluminum over time. The stainless steel Super Air Wipe is available in sizes from 1/2″ to 4″ and ships from stock.

Like the Super Air Knife, the Super Air Wipe has 1/4-20 tapped holes along the downstream side for hard mounting. For smaller sizes, rigid compressed air supply pipe can double as structural support, eliminating the need for a separate mounting bracket altogether. Airflow and force can be tuned two ways, through shim sets for gross adjustments to the air gap, or through a pressure regulator for real-time fine-tuning. Kits are available that bundle the Super Air Wipe with a shim set, a pressure regulator, and an auto-drain filter to keep the supply air clean and dry. Increasing input pressure increases both force and flow from the unit, so if line speed changes, you’re not reworking the installation, you’re just turning a knob. For operations running different product sizes or materials across shifts, that flexibility matters.

One of the most straightforward uses for the Super Air Wipe is drying extruded PVC pipe after it exits the cooling tank. At that point in the process, the pipe is wet and moving continuously toward a printer or saw. Positioning a Super Air Wipe immediately after the water bath and before the downstream equipment ensures the surface is dry before it reaches the inkjet coder or the cutoff. Manual wiping at line speed is unreliable, and open nozzles leave gaps. The Super Air Wipe handles it consistently, every time.

If you’re processing any type of hose, wire, cable, or extruded profile that could benefit from a reliable blow off, drying, or cleaning solution, give us a call.

Tyler Daniel

Assistant Application Engineering Manager

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Automated Drying For Pipe, Tube, and Extruded Shapes

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

The challenge with drying or cleaning a continuous pipe or tube is that air has to reach the entire circumference simultaneously. Standard nozzles or simple air rings often leave “dead spots” where moisture or debris can hide, leading to quality failures in downstream processes like ink jet coding or packaging. The Super Air Wipe solves this by generating a high-velocity, 360-degree laminar air curtain. As the pipe or tube passes through the center of the wipe, the air strips the surface clean without any gaps in coverage.

In many pipe and hose operations, the biggest bottleneck is the inability to break the line for maintenance or setup. Because the Super Air Wipe features a split design, it can be unlatched and clamped around the pipe at any point. You do not have to feed the material through the center, which means no downtime when a new roll is started or a different section of the line needs a blow off station.

For tubes ranging from 3/8 inch up to 11 inches, the Super Air Wipe provides a concentrated blast that moves with the material. On a PVC line, for example, the air wipe can be positioned immediately after the cooling tank. By stripping the water off the pipe at high speed, you ensure the surface is bone dry before it hits the printer or the saw. This level of consistency is impossible to achieve with manual wiping or haphazard nozzle arrangements.

Control is straightforward. By using a pressure regulator, you can dial the force up or down based on the line speed. If you are running a heavy gauge pipe at low speed, you can drop the pressure to save air. If the line speeds up, you increase the pressure to maintain the same drying efficiency. This flexibility ensures you are only using the compressed air required for that specific run.

For those working in high-temperature extrusion or corrosive environments, the 303 Stainless Steel models are the standard choice. They handle temperatures up to 800°F, allowing you to position the wipe closer to the die where the material is at its hottest. This prevents debris from baking onto the surface and ensures a cleaner finish. Whether you are dealing with cutting fluid on machined tubing or water on an extrusion line, the Super Air Wipe provides a repeatable, 360-degree solution that manual methods simply cannot match.

Tyler Daniel

Assistant Application Engineering Manager

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

How the Coanda Profile Drives Efficiency in EXAIR Products

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

In compressed air applications, efficiency often comes down to how effectively you use the air you already have. One of the most important aerodynamic principles that allows modern air-powered devices to operate efficiently is the Coanda Effect. This phenomenon is the foundation behind several EXAIR engineered products, enabling powerful airflow while minimizing compressed air consumption.

Understanding how the Coanda profile works can help engineers and plant managers optimize processes such as drying, cooling, cleaning, and conveying.

Compressed air flows through the inlet (1) to the Full Flow (left) or Standard (right) 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.

What Is the Coanda Effect?

The Coanda Effect describes the tendency of a fluid stream—such as air—to follow along a nearby curved surface instead of continuing in a straight line. As the air travels along this surface, it pulls surrounding air into the stream, creating a region of low pressure and dramatically increasing total airflow.

In simple terms:

  1. Compressed air exits a small opening.
  2. The air adheres to a curved surface (the Coanda profile).
  3. This creates a low-pressure area.
  4. Surrounding air is entrained, or pulled into the airflow.

The result is a much larger volume of moving air than the compressed air supply alone would create.

This principle was originally studied by aeronautical engineer Henri Coandă in the early 1900s while researching airflow over aircraft surfaces.

EXAIR Products That Use the Coanda Profile

EXAIR incorporates this aerodynamic design into several of its Intelligent Compressed Air Products™.

1. Air Knives

EXAIR Air Knives use a Coanda profile to create a wide, high-velocity sheet of air across the entire length of the unit.

Examples include:

  • EXAIR Standard Air Knife
  • EXAIR Full-Flow Air Knife
  • EXAIR Super Air Knife

Inside these units, compressed air enters a plenum chamber and exits through a narrow slot. The air then follows the curved Coanda surface, turning approximately 90° and flowing down the face of the knife.

As the air moves along the profile, it entrains large volumes of surrounding air—up to 30-40 parts ambient air for every 1 part of compressed air.

Common applications include:

  • Parts drying after washing
  • Conveyor cleaning
  • Web or sheet drying
  • Cooling components
  • Pre-paint blowoff

2. Air Amplifiers

Another product that relies heavily on the Coanda profile is the Air amplifier.

Super Air Amplifier Family

Example:

  • EXAIR Super Air Amplifier
  • EXAIR Adjustable Air Amplifier

Instead of producing a flat airflow like an air knife, air amplifiers generate a conical air stream. Compressed air flows across a circular Coanda profile that draws in large amounts of surrounding air.

This creates amplification ratios up to 25:1, meaning the airflow produced is far greater than the compressed air supplied.

Typical uses include:

  • Cooling hot parts
  • Ventilating smoke or fumes
  • Circulating air in enclosures
  • Removing heat from equipment

3. Air Wipes

EXAIR also applies the Coanda profile in a circular configuration for drying or cleaning cylindrical materials.

Super (left) and Standard (right) Air Wipes come in sizes from 1/2″ to 11″.

Example:

  • EXAIR Air Wipe
  • EXAIR Super Air Wipe

These devices create a 360-degree ring of air that surrounds rods, tubes, wires, or cables. As air follows the Coanda profile around the ring, it entrains surrounding air and produces a strong, uniform drying or blowoff action.

Applications include:

  • Drying wire or cable
  • Removing coolant from tubing
  • Cleaning rods or extrusions

The Coanda Effect might seem like a theoretical concept, but it has a very practical impact on industrial operations. By carefully designing curved surfaces that guide airflow and entrain surrounding air, EXAIR products turn a small supply of compressed air into a powerful and efficient airflow solution.

Whether drying parts, cooling electronics, or removing debris from a conveyor, the Coanda profile allows EXAIR products to deliver maximum performance with minimal energy use.

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer / Sales Operations Engineer

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Buy 1, Get 40 Free

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

Buy one, get one free is a phrase many of us are familiar with. Most of the time it is a good thing; we all like free stuff. What would you say to buy one, get 30 free? Or even 40 free? That’s not far off how our Air Knives perform. They entrain large volumes of ambient air, so for every 1 SCFM of compressed air you are paying for, you are getting 30–40 SCFM of additional free ambient entrained air.

So how are our Air Knives able to do this? We explain this phenomenon in more detail in this blog here, but in summary, a Super Air Knife takes advantage of the Venturi Effect. Named after Giovanni Venturi, who found out that when you increase the speed of a fluid through an orifice, the surrounding fluid will move along with it. This creates a region of low pressure, and the faster the speed, the lower the pressure. With low pressure, the air around rushes in to fill that gap and join the airstream. The quantity of ambient air that gets ‘pulled’ into the airstream is entrained air, or free air.

The engineered surface of the Super Air Knife is designed to minimize as much loss in air speed as possible, which maximizes the amount of free air that is being entrained. The ratio between free air and compressed air used is called the amplification ratio. Super Air Knives have an amplification ratio of 40:1, with our Standard Air Knives having an amplification ratio of 30:1. For comparison, a pipe with holes drilled will have an amplification ratio of between 2:1 and 5:1. As you can see, with a Super Air Knife you are getting a much better deal on your compressed air usage.

This additional free air adds more mass, which allows the Super Air Knife to do more work. You will get a harder hitting force than a comparable product while using less compressed air. This makes Super Air Knives especially good for cooling and drying applications, where moving large volumes of air is ideal.

EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products such as (left to right) the Air Wipe, Super Air Knife, Super Air Nozzle, and Air Amplifier are engineered to entrain enormous amounts of air from the surrounding environment.

It’s not just our Air Knives that take advantage of the Venturi effect to produce large amplification ratios. Many of our products are designed with efficiency in mind, including our Air Amplifiers, Air Wipes, and Air Nozzles and Jets, to name a few. If you would like to discuss how an EXAIR engineered compressed air product can amplify your process, then give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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