Category: Compressed Air Optimization

Is It Plugged In? Let’s Go Back To the Basics 1 of 6

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Today, I want to kick off something a little different with the blog and start back at the basics. Over the next series of posts, we’ll walk through the Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air Systems. The goal is simple: to help you evaluate your current setup, identify opportunities for improvement, and put real numbers to the savings you can achieve.

Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System

The first step to optimization is to measure and understand your compressed air consumption. There are several ways to do this, but one of the most effective is with our Digital Flow Meter paired with a Summing Remote Display or a USB Data Logger.

  • The Digital Flow Meter provides real-time data on compressed air usage.
  • The Summing Remote Display allows you to track cumulative usage over a 24-hour period (or longer).

By installing these tools, you can measure usage across your entire system or isolate a single machine. Once you start gathering data, you’ll quickly see the difference that EXAIR products can make in reducing consumption and improving efficiency.

With usage data in hand, you’re ready to move on to step two—stay tuned for the next installment. If you’d like to jump ahead or talk through your system directly, I’d be happy to connect.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS
National Business Development Manager

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Safety Air Gun Case Study

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

On the first of this month, my co-worker Jason wrote a blog about our case study program. Check it out here. Case Study: Make Your Case. He did a great job breaking the case study program down, and how it can save you money on compressed air and even get a credit to save money on the purchase of EXAIR products. It inspired me to write about one of the most common case studies I send to customers!

You can read and download the case study at the bottom of this blog, but below are the key points!

It is pretty common to get calls about blow-off guns not complying with OSHA dead end pressure and allowable noise exposure. And 9 out of 10 times we can help with that concern along with the added benefit of being more efficient and saving compressed air supply.

Before EXAIR, this customer used open-ended guns with large cross-drilled holes, while these cross-drilled holes allowed the guns to be compliant with the OSHA dead end pressure standard 29 CFR 1910.242(b) they resulted in a staggering 104 dBA. And because of how often they were being used they were not in compliance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95(a) allowable noise exposure. Not to mention, these guns consumed a whopping 49 SCFM @ the 80 PSIG supply pressure.

After EXAIR, in total, after a short testing phase, they bought 355 model 1250-12 Safety Air Guns. The 1250-12 reduced the sound level to 82 dBA (a 22 dBA reduction) and reduced the air consumption to 35 SCFM @ 80 PSIG (a 14 SCFM reduction).

When you worked the math out over a working year, they saved over $28,506.50 dollars in compressed air generation costs. And brought the sound level into compliance with their environment and working patterns. (Not to mention the $1,500 USD credit they got for providing the case study information)

1567_Soft_Grip_Safety_Air_Guns_help_reach_OSHA_compliance_and_reduce_compressed_air_useDownload

EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products have been making things better for compressed air users for over forty years. If you’d like to find out how MUCH better we can make things for you, give me a call.

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer

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Comparing and Combining Sound Levels

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

Sound levels are an important safety consideration in most industrial facilities. OSHA has guidelines on allowable noise levels and exposure, covered in OSHA Standard 29CFR – 1910.95 (a). Sound levels are measured in decibels, or dB. It makes sense that a higher decibel value means a louder sound (as illustrated in the graphic below). What is not intuitive is how multiple sound levels interact and combine, or how they compare to one another.

The first thing to understand about sound levels is that they aren’t measured on a linear scale. Instead, they’re measured on a logarithmic scale. This can really throw off our intuition. For instance, a sound at 20dB is actually 10 times stronger than one at 10dB, and a sound at 30dB is 100 times stronger than 10dB. If it were a linear scale, 20dB and 30dB would only be 2 and 3 times stronger than 10dB, similar to how mass works—like 20kg being double the mass of 10kg.

You can see why this is the case with the formula for calculating sound levels, which is as follows:

It’s important to note that the sound pressure levels calculated using this formula are unweighted. To really grasp how loud something will seem to us, we have to consider how our ears pick up various frequencies. This means that low and extremely high frequencies are given less weight than on the standard decibel scale. This adjusted measurement is referred to as dBA. You can check out some typical sounds and their dBA levels in the chart below:

Because of this logarithmic scale, combining two sounds can be pretty counter-intuitive too. Our Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle generates a sound level of 74 dBA, but when you place two of them side by side, the sound level jumps to 78 dBA (and not 148dBA). This is determined using the formula below:

The specifics of this calculation are explained in this blog here, but OHSA provides a quick and easy way to calculate, as shown in the table below:

To see if you need to tackle the noise levels in your facility, you should start by taking a baseline measurement of the different processes and devices that are making the noise. EXAIR’s Sound Level Meter, Model 9104, is here to help. It’s super user-friendly and gives you a digital readout of the sound level (no need to deal with logarithms!).

If you would like to discuss sound levels in your facility, or any of your other compressed air needs, give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Who Wants to Save on Compressed Air?

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

At EXAIR we pride ourselves on helping our customers optimize their compressed air usage. Our intelligent compressed air products are engineered to be quiet and efficient, saving you on compressed air consumption. This is just one of the six steps that we recommend in order to optimize your compressed air system.

The first step we would recommend is to measure your air consumption. If you are going to attempt to reduce air consumption in your facility, it is necessary to know what is using it. If you know the consumption of your compressed air-operated products, you can make note of this. A more comprehensive solution would be to install some of our Digital Flowmeters in branch lines in your facility. The flow data provided by this will help you narrow down the high consumption areas and processes.

The second step we would suggest is to find and fix leaks. Our Ultrasonic Leak Detector is perfect for this. According to the Compressed Air and Gas Institute, leaks should not exceed 5-10% of your system’s air supply (we would obviously want 0%, but realistically this is unachievable). However, it is not uncommon to see leaks account for over 30% of many facilities’ compressed air supply being lost through leakage. That’s a potential for a 25% gain in compressed air supply!

The third step would be to upgrade your blowoff, cooling and drying operations using engineered compressed air products. All of EXAIR’s products, like our Super Air Knives, or Super Air Nozzles, are designed with efficiency in mind. Upgrading to an efficient EXAIR product is going to reduce your consumption, sometimes dramatically so!

The fourth step is to turn off your compressed air when not in use. This may sound obvious, but it is not uncommon for compressed air products to be left running continuously. We offer many solutions here, from a simple ball valve (found in many of our Drum Vac Kits), to a solenoid valve (found in our Cabinet Cooler Systems), to our Electronic Flow Controllers – combining a solenoid valve and photoelectric sensor.

The fifth step would be to use intermediate storage near the point of use. If you are controlling your compressed air usage through the use of valves and controls, then your consumption won’t be constant. This fluctuation in demand can be evened out with the use of secondary storage, like our Model 9500-60 Receiver Tank. This will ensure you have the volume and pressure when and where you need it.

Finally, our sixth step is to control the operating pressure. More specifically, to reduce the pressure to the minimum required to get the job done. Simply installing a pressure regulator at the point of use will lead to big savings.

If you would like to start optimizing your compressed air system, then give me a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_AW