I didn’t grow up ON a farm, but more than a few of the kids I went to school with did. My wife’s grandpa had a farm, and one of her uncles still does. Farmers have always been the most diversely talented people I’ve ever known. They’re well versed in soil chemistry and plant biology. They have a keen understanding of climate & weather patterns which allows them to sow seed after the last frost in early spring, and gather their last harvest before the first frost of mid-to-late autumn. Most of them are also expert mechanics, welders, and plumbers as well, to avoid costly repair bills on equipment they operate in fairly harsh conditions. And the ones that raised livestock, I’d stack their veterinary knowledge & skills up against just about any vet’s office.
In my twelve years with EXAIR, I’ve had the pleasure of talking with many farmers & other folks in agricultural-type jobs, and a lot of the stuff they use our products for is downright fascinating. Here are two prime examples – one from an agricultural product provider, and one from an actual agricultural job:
*A company that makes irrigation drain pipe uses Model 2485 5″ Standard Air Wipe Kits to cool and dry their extruded 4″ pipe before cutting to length & packaging it for shipment. This replaced a blower operated setup that didn’t completely dry the corrugated outside diameter. The Air Wipe not only blew off almost all the water, all the time, but also allowed them to increase production speed by nearly 10%.
*Once fruit & vegetables are harvested, most of them go through some sort of cleaning process. EXAIR Super Air Knives are commonly used in conjunction with those processes. Sometimes they’re blowing loose dirt from, say, onions or potatoes, so they don’t turn the wash water into a mud bath. They’re also used to blow the wash & rinse water off, so they’re as dry as possible before packaging or processing. One particular customer uses Super Air Knives for the latter. By replacing blowers with a Model 110236SS 36″ Stainless Steel Super Air Knife Kit to dry freshly washed potatoes, they were able to increase the speed of conveyance…the laminar flow from the engineered Air Knife was better at blowing off the potatoes than the turbulent flow from the blower. Also, since the temperature of the Air Knife’s flow is the same as ambient temperature (because they entrain air from their surrounding at a rate of 40:1 to their compressed air consumption), this extended the time before spoilage. The warmer air from the blower (caused by friction in the rotating elements) was fostering the bacterial growth that leads to spoilage.
Engineered compressed air products are widely used in agriculture (and, of course, many other industries) for their simplicity, durability, and reliability. If you’d like to find out how EXAIR products can make your life (or at least your job) easier, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer
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