Create a Custom Blowoff Solution With EXAIR’s Industry-Leading Super Air Knives

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

EXAIR’s 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 in 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 Super Air Knife is available in aluminum, Type 303 & Type 316 stainless steel, as well as in PVDF with Hastelloy bolts for extremely corrosive applications.  While there are numerous options available off the shelf ready to ship same day, not all applications can be served by a stock option. Since EXAIR handles all the manufacturing of these products in our facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, we have a great deal of control over the manufacturing process. If your application cannot accept something right off the shelf, we’re constantly producing special customized knives to fit most requirements.

Our knives can be manufactured in a special length if a stock length won’t fit in your application. We’ll use the same design and size profile and can build it to the precise length you require in order to fit perfectly onto your machine. If the dimensional profile of an existing knife isn’t suitable, we can change that too! The Super Air Knife shown below utilizes a very thin design and has been completely modified to achieve the smallest overall profile possible.

All Super Air Knives come stock with ¼ NPT air inlets and ¼-20 tapped holes along the bottom that can be used for mounting. Unfortunately, that isn’t always going to work for every application, so we also manufacture specials with custom air inlets as well as additional mounting holes to fit right onto any custom bracket. The photo below shows a modified stainless steel Super Air Knife with additional mounting holes machined onto either end.

We don’t just offer them in different shapes and sizes as a special, but we’ve also manufactured stock length knives out of entirely different materials. Shown below are two knives of different materials that aren’t already on the shelf. On the left-hand side is a knife manufactured from PVDF and on the right a glass filled PEEK material with brass hardware and a PTFE shim. In this application, the customer was noticing ground interference due to the aluminum knife construction. They specified this particular material, and we were able to machine a knife completely customized for this application.

Every year a new request comes across that is something we haven’t done before. Just because you don’t see it in the catalog doesn’t mean it isn’t possible when you deal with EXAIR. We’re here to make sure you get the most out of our products, and sometimes that isn’t possible right off the shelf. Contact an Application Engineer today if you’d like to discuss your application and begin the process of identifying your next custom solution!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

EXAIR Cold Gun Promo Starts November 1st!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

That’s right, with the start of November this year we also start our Cold Gun promotion. This promotion runs from the start of November until December 31, 2023. The best part is that Cold Guns have a long history of providing spot cooling solutions for industry. Cold Guns have been cooling product and processes for over 36 years! Take advantage of the current promotion today!

From left to right: EXAIR Mini Coolers, Cold Guns, and Adjustable Spot Coolers come with Magnetic Bases for instant installation.

The EXAIR Cold Gun promo is a great way to receive an additional tool to extend the use of the Cold Gun. With the purchase of a promotional Cold Gun System w/ Single Point Hose Kit or promotional High Power Cold Gun System w/ Single Point Hose Kit you will receive a Dual Point Hose Kit for free. This is a $48.00 USD value. The Cold Gun will drop your compressed air temperature by 54 °F when operating at 100 psig inlet pressure. Choose the standard point tip or the 1″ fan tip to blow the cold air. The total length of the flexible discharge hose is around 11″. If more coverage is needed, the promotional Dual Point Hose Kit gives around 5-6″ of straight hose before splitting into two smaller lines that offer both point or fan tip nozzles as well. This dual point can be used to reach both sides of larger diameter cutters and components that need a blast of cool air.

Single Point
Dual Point

The Cold Gun is easily setup in any machine that has a ferrous metal surface thanks to its integrated magnetic base that will hold the unit in place even when the machine is moving or vibrating. If you do not have ferrous metal available for the magnetic base, using rigid piping or even something like u-bolts to hold the unit into place is a common practice of customers who need the cooling and know the Cold Gun will perform.

Lastly, if you aren’t certain whether the Cold Gun is the solution, we have an entire team of Application Engineers here to discuss the application, and it is also backed by our 30-day guarantee so our US and Canadian based customers can order one, test it in their facility for 30 days. If they are not pleased with the performance for any reason, the item can be returned to EXAIR. If you want to discuss your application, contact us today!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Super Air Amplifiers vs. Fans

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Super Air Amplifier Family

Many times we get the question, “What’s the difference between a fan and an Air Amplifier?”. The best way to answer is to do a comparison. EXAIR Super Air Amplifiers and electrical fans are both designed to move air.  Fans use motors and blades to push the air toward the target.  There are mainly two types, centrifugal fans and axial fans.  The air enters from directly behind the fan, and the blades “slap” the air forward to the target. This creates turbulent and loud air noise that may or may not actually impact the target.  The EXAIR Super Air Amplifiers do not use any blades or motors to push the air.  They use a Coanda profile with a patented shim, allowing compressed air to escape in such a way that a low pressure area is created to draw in surrounding, ambient air.  (You can read more about it here: Intelligent Compressed Air: Utilization of the Coanda Effect.) So, they create laminar (non-turbulent) output flow, which is much quieter and has the same direction and velocity, making it more effective to move heat energy out of or into a target, depending on your application goals. Side note: EXAIR Air Amplifiers can be used in high temperature ambient conditions right out of the box. Fans by comparison, generally cannot be used unless they are specifically designed for the purpose.

In one example application, a customer contacted EXAIR to find a better way to cool a die in a rotational molding facility.  Rotational molding, or Roto molding, involves a heated hollow mold that is filled with plastic material. It is then slowly rotated (usually around two perpendicular axes), causing the softened material to disperse and cling to the walls of the mold. In order to maintain an even thickness throughout the part, the mold has to continue to rotate during the heating phase. After the desired timing sequence, the heating is turned off to allow the material to solidify.

This particular company was making plastic containers.  To try and improve the cycle rate between each container, they were using two fans (reference photo below) for cooling.  Time is money in this industry, and they wanted to target the fans to improve cooling.  Water has a higher specific heat, but using water for cooling would affect the life of the molds due to thermal shock.  Cooling with air was their only option. EXAIR had a solution for them: the Super Air Amplifier.

Super Air Amplifier – flow region

The Super Air Amplifier, when compared to fans, are compact, easy to use, and very effective in cooling.  The capacity to cool is determined by the mass of air and the temperature difference. Since the mold is heated to 650oF (343oC) and the ambient air is 80oF (27oC), we have a good temperature difference for cooling.  For this application, I recommended replacing their fans with our model 120024 4” Super Air Amplifiers.  Each one can move 2,190 SCFM (6,1977 SLPM) of air while only using 29.2 SCFM (826 SLPM) of compressed air at 80 PSIG (5.5 Bar).  With the combination, we were able to cool the mold 25% faster than the fans.  EXAIR did a comparison video between a Super Air Amplifier and a fan for cooling.  Watch it HERE. 

In physics, it is easier to pull than it is to push.  The same goes for moving air.  Fans are designed to “push” the air, while the Super Air Amplifiers are designed to “pull” the air.  This method of pulling makes it simple to create a laminar flow in a small package that is more efficient, effective, and quiet.  With the patented shims inside the Super Air Amplifier, they maximize the amplification by “pulling” in large amounts of ambient air while using less compressed air.  More air mass means better cooling. And no moving parts in an Air Amplifier means no maintenance. If you want to move away from blower systems or axial fan systems to get better cooling, drying, cleaning, and conveying, you can contact an Application Engineer for more details about our Super Air Amplifiers.  

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Clean Up Clean Up… Everybody Do Your Part

Published on by Brian Farno2 Comments

Okay, if the title doesn’t get the song stuck in your head, maybe the YouTube video will. Whenever our kids were younger, my wife and I would start to sing this song when the kids didn’t want to help clean up, and then we would just be singing and trying to get them to clean up with the words. Eventually, they would help…

1 – Clean Up – Barney

So what does this have to do with industrial compressed air? Well, the compressed air system generally starts in a remote corner or location in the facility that not many people venture to. It is often where there is minimal routine cleaning that can directly impact the well-being of the air compressors for a facility.

We’ve blogged about this many times on critical ways to improve your compressed air system, and we often touch on ensuring you have clean compressed air. That all starts with the room or areas the compressors are housed in. If you keep the area clean and keep the air exchanging there, then the compressor has clean, fresh air to entrain and begin the compression process. If your compressor condensate drain just goes into a puddle and oil dry gets thrown on top of it, then that dust and debris all begin to become airborne over time. That gets entrained into the intake and not to mention the smell and biomass that begins to generate is rather foul. If oil or some other lubricant gets spilled and not cleaned up when it happens, then when a real leak develops on the compressor it can’t be found because the area is already covered in oil and grime that never gets cleaned.

The notorious “Compressor Closet” that never gets opened in a small shop.

When trying to perform preventative maintenance and the area is littered with debris, oil dry, unused parts, and dimly lit, you can’t easily see or find all the maintenance points on the equipment and will often spend more time trying to clean the area up than the actual maintenance takes. Adding a cleaning process to the weekly routine of the area is one of the best things that can be done for the compressor room/area. It makes operators more aware of where the compressed air is coming from and should anything not look right, it makes it easier to see and report.

If you would like to talk about other key components to optimizing your compressed air system, contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, Application Engineer