Utilizing EXAIR Accessories

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

Here at EXAIR we are very proud of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products. We can spend a lot of time talking about our favorites (mine is the Vortex Tube). We have written many blogs about the advantages – no moving parts, little to no maintenance, meeting or exceeding OSHA safety standards for noise or dead end pressure. One thing we don’t talk as much about are the accessories that go along with and complement our products.

From left to right; a few value added accessories for your Vortex Tube: Hot Muffler, Cold Muffler, Automatic Drain Filter Separator, Oil Removal Filter, and Solenoid Valve/Thermostat Kit.

Some of the most commonly used accessories are our compressed air Filters and Regulators. We would recommend the use of these with all of our products (or even with products that aren’t even ours).
The Filter Separator will remove water, dirt and rust from your compressed air system. The 5-micron filter element will keep contaminants from plugging or damaging your compressed air product.
An Oil Removal Filter (always placed downstream of our Filter Separator) will provide even finer filtration by removing oil and solid particulate using a 0.03-micron element.
Our Pressure Regulators will enable you to select the operating pressure. At EXAIR we always recommend operating at the minimum pressure required to get the job done. Pressure Regulators allow you to do that, saving on unnecessary air consumption and allowing for dialing in the performance of EXAIR products within an application.

For some of our products, we have accessories made specifically for them. For use with our Line Vacs we have Line Vac Hose. We have Thermostats and Solenoid Valves to pair with our Cabinet Coolers, and for our Vortex Tubes we would recommend our Mufflers.
For our Air Knives we have several great offerings:
If you need an easy and reliable way to mount your Air Knife, then our Universal Air Knife Mounting System is what you are looking for.
If your application requires something longer than our stock Knives, or perhaps you need to control certain sections of the air flow independently, then our Coupling Bracket Kits are the perfect fit.
If you want to make plumbing your Air Knife easy, take a look at our Air Knife Plumbing Kits. They can be used for all Air Knives longer than 24″.

If you need to plumb many of our other Intelligent Compressed Air Products, then we have a selection of compressed air hoses and fittings that will make life easier.
Our Coiled Hoses pair well with our Safety Air Guns, allowing you to move more freely while operating.
Our Compressed Air Hoses are commonly used with our Industrial Housekeeping products to give the drum and dolly the reach needed.

If you need a way to mount or position your Air Nozzles, then we have our Magnetic Bases, Stay Set Hoses, and Swivel Fittings that can be added to make a complete set-up.

Whatever your application’s need is, or the product you’re looking for, we certainly have a range of complimentary accessory products that will make installation and adjustment easier. If you have any questions about these, or any other EXAIR product, feel free to contact us.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Adjusting Mounting Angle Helps Food Packaging Manufacturer Enhance their Super Air Knife Blowoff

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Super Air Knives are the ideal fit for any application requiring a laminar “curtain” of air for blowoff purposes. The high-velocity airflow does an excellent job of cleaning off surfaces, cooling, and drying in a wide variety of applications throughout industry. These products are engineered to provide a consistent and reliable force across the full length of the knife, ensuring repeatable performance in any application.

The Super Air Knife utilizes a source of compressed air to create a laminar sheet of high velocity air. This supplied compressed air mixes with ambient air that is entrained into the primary airstream. The Super Air Knife entrains ambient air at a rate of 40:1, making it VERY effective for a variety of drying, cleaning, and cooling applications. Available in lengths ranging from 3”-108” and in a variety of different materials of construction, there’s a Super Air Knife available for just about any application. Any time you have product moving along a conveyor that needs to be cleaned, dried, or cooled off, a Super Air Knife is the ideal fit.

The key to any successful Super Air Knife application is ensuring proper plumbing is assembled to the Air Knife as well as the correct mounting angle for the blowoff. This was the case in a recent application I assisted with for a company who deals in packaging raw foods using a method to increase longevity. The foods are bagged where they’re submerged in a water tank and exposed to high pressures. This process results in a significantly greater ability to preserve the quality of the food and keep any bacteria at bay for longer than just simply sealing the bags alone.

Once the products emerge from the water bath, they’re placed on a conveyor to dry. EXAIR’s Super Air Knives are being used to blowoff any remaining water from the package before they’re boxed. Looking to speed up the process a bit as they had residual water remaining on the packages that was being dried manually, they reached out to EXAIR for some assistance in improving the overall result.

As you can see in the photo above, the knife has been installed blowing directly down onto the conveyor. When positioned in this way, the product is only in contact with the high velocity airstream for a brief moment. For any blowoff operation where products are traveling along a conveyor, we want to angle the knife against the direction of travel to maximize time in contact. By blowing against the direction of travel, we maximize the contact time and can dry the packaged food far more effectively.

A situation that originally started with the customer looking to either increase air consumption by adding thicker shims to their existing Air Knife or adding new Air Knives altogether was solved by simply adjusting the current angle of their existing installation.

In doing so, they saved what would’ve been unnecessary compressed air usage and were able to immediately case pack the food in boxes once it made it to the end of the conveyor. If you have an existing EXAIR product that you’d like assistance with, EXAIR’s team of Application Engineers is ready to take your call. Reach out to us today, and we’ll be happy to help you to determine the best products for your application!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

CAGI CCASS Certificate Awarded To Our Own John Ball!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I blogged in October 2023 about our 4th team member who had passed the Compressed Air And Gas Institute’s Certified Compressed Air System Specialist test. Once Neal Raker received his CCASS certification, it was only a matter of time before the next one of our International Application Engineers, John Ball, was going to take the plunge, so to say.

John has studied, written content revolving around, and demonstrated his knowledge in the compressed air field for many years before he came to EXAIR and has continued his education ever since, doing the necessary due diligence of studying for and obtaining his CCASS certification. As with Neal, Russ, and Tyler all obtaining this, what kind of value does that add for you our customers, and content consumers?

Certainly, it means you can rely on us to actually know what we are talking about when we make a recommendation to you on a phone call, chat or e-mail. It also means that the content of our informal videos, presentations, and blogs is well researched. We hold ourselves to a higher standard, and we must ensure we continue to improve our knowledge through continuing education or else we will not be able to maintain these types of certifications. Our goal is to help in such a way that you will want to come back for more! When we say our people are our most valuable resource, investing in continuing education is one way we walk the walk.

If you want to experience our help first hand, please contact one of our Application Engineers and give us a try. We would be happy to listen and verify your thought process for an application or perhaps walk you through a few scenarios based on multiple, possible solutions. Many times, there’s more than one right answer. We encourage you to bounce your ideas off of us. Contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Overview

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Static charge is an unavoidable “by-product” of just about any operation that involves the moving of, and/or the contact & separation of, non-conductive materials. This charge is caused by a physical phenomenon known as the triboelectric effect, by which the surface of a non-conductive material becomes electrically charged by coming into contact with another non-conductive material’s surface. Some materials tend to generate a more positive charge, meaning their molecules are prone to losing electrons to the molecules on the other surface, while others tend to generate a more negative charge – meaning their molecules are prone to gaining electrons from the other surface. These are the materials found at either end of a triboelectric series chart, like this one:

Wherever a non-conductive material is located in the triboelectric series, the solution to removing the static charge is to provide an ample supply of ions (either positively or negatively charged) to attract – or offer – electrons to neutralize that charge. And that’s exactly what EXAIR Gen4 Static Eliminator Products, like the Super Ion Air Knife, do.

Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Kits come with a 2-Outlet Power Supply, Shim Set, Filter Separator, and Pressure Regulator.

EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives generate a laminar, controllable curtain of ionized air, and come in lengths from 3 inches to 9 feet. Like any of our Air Knife products, they can be easily installed & positioned with our Universal Air Knife Mounting Systems. Plumbing Kits, simplifying the supply of compressed air and are especially beneficial with longer lengths. They’re capable of dissipating a 5kV static charge in as little as 0.18 seconds, so they’re ideal for fast moving sheets & films. The armored & shielded high voltage cable resists cuts and abrasion.

The constant motion of these plastic jugs on the conveyor (left,) generated (and multiplied) a static charge so great, it resulted in adhesive labels folding or wrinkling while being applied. A pair of EXAIR Super Ion Air Knives (right) solved the problem.

If you have compressed air, and problems with static, the EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife could very well be the solution you’re looking for. Depending on the size and shape of the ionized air flow required, we may also consider a Super Ion Air Wipe, Ion Air Cannon, Ion Air Jet, or if a handheld solution is desired, an Ion Air Gun. If you’d like to discuss your issues with static charge, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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