The Soft Grip Super Air Scraper for Cleaning Tanks

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A transport company was in the business of moving food product like powdered milk, sugar, salt, gluten, etc. to different Food and Beverage industries.  The tanks ranged from 1,700 to 2,200 cubic feet (47 to 61 cubic meters) in volume.  Because of condensation that can occur, some of the powdered materials would solidify on the sides of the tanks.  They found it occurring more often with the powdered milk.  So, they created a cleaning mechanism to use compressed air and an open pipe to clean the residue after each stop (reference above).  They realized quickly that with this type of cleaning nozzle was not safe and not efficient.  They could only scrape roughly 1” (25mm) at a time.  The noise level was too loud, the compressed air usage was too high, and the time to clean the tank was too long.  They contacted EXAIR to see if we could improve on their process.

Model 1144 Super Scraper Nozzle

The answer to the problem was the EXAIR Super Air Scraper.  This product uses a nozzle that combines a scraping blade with our 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle.  It uses the mechanical force of a blade with the force of compressed air to remove stubborn sticky materials.  The 3” (76mm) wide corrosion-resistant steel scraper is robust and durable, and they can be easily sharpened or replaced when worn.  To add flexibility to the Super Air Scraper, a shim set can be used to increase the blowing force.  This combination of the nozzle and the scraper is an effective and powerful way to remove material with compressed air.

Soft Grip Super Air Scraper

To get pressurized air to this patent-pending nozzle, EXAIR attached the Super Air Scraper to our Soft Grip Air Gun.  The Soft Grip Air Gun has an ergonomic soft handle and a full-grip trigger for hours of use without fatigue.   We include different extensions for hard-to-reach applications ranging from 6” (152mm) to 72” (1,829mm) in length.  With extensions that are 36” (914mm) and longer, EXAIR installs an additional foam grip sleeve.  This gives more leverage for scraping material at a distance like at the floor level.  Chip Shields can also be added to prevent blow-back on the users.

Scrape off, and blow away, stubborn debris with the Model 1244-48 Soft Grip Super Air Scraper.

For the company above, this was the perfect tool to improve their process.  I recommended the model 1244-48 Soft Grip Super Air Scraper which had a great length to reach the tank areas and a foam grip to comfortably force the blade under the powder residue.  With the compressed air, it helped to keep the area clean during scraping and aided with the areas that were really stuck.  With the 1” (25mm) pipe as compared to the 3” (76mm) blade, the cleaning for each tank was cut in half the time.  Also, with the open pipe, they were using roughly 150 SCFM of compressed air.  The model 1244-48 was able to cut this amount down to 22 SCFM at 80 PSIG.  This was a huge cost savings.  And as a bonus, the noise level was lessened from 100 dBA to 77 dBA; a much safer way to protect any hearing damage.

To give some other areas for the Soft Grip Super Air Scraper, they can be used for removing gasket material, tape, caulk, adhesives, paint, labels, and much more.  If you have a sticky situation at your facility, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We will be happy to discuss it with you.

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

EXAIR Founder’s Day 2021

Published on by Bryan PetersLeave a comment

EXAIR celebrates Founder’s Day each year on February 22nd (or the closest working day) in order to commemorate the birthday of our founder, Roy Sweeney.  He founded the company in 1983 and drove EXAIR to become the strong, successful and innovative company that it has over the years.  Roy led EXAIR for 33 years.  Today would have been his 87th birthday.

We choose to make this day a celebration and a day to mark our ongoing commitment to the service of others in keeping with the values that Roy and his wife Jackie felt (and feel) very strongly about.  We continue to look outside our company, outside ourselves and outside our immediate surroundings to do what we can to improve the world around us.

This marks our 5th Founder’s Day.  Over the past four years, we have supported a total of 21 different charities with direct, substantial donations as part of our commitment to organizations that are making a difference right here in our area.  This year, we have chosen to further deepen our commitment by contributing to all 21 organizations that we have supported in past years:

  • Freestore Foodbank
    Supplies 33 million meals per year to those in need
    https://freestorefoodbank.org/
  • Lighthouse Youth and Family Services
    Supporting their Safe and Supported program for LGBTQ youth
    https://www.lys.org/safeandsupported/
  • DAV
    Supporting disabled American veterans and their families
    https://www.dav.org/
  • Arts Wave
    Funds and supports 100+ arts projects and organizations through impact-based grants
    https://www.artswave.org/
  • Cincinnati Works
    Partners with all willing and capable people living in poverty to assist them in advancing to economic self-sufficiency through employment
    https://cincinnatiworks.org/
  • Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati
    Helps eliminate substandard housing locally and globally by building and renovating decent, affordable homes to sell to low-income first-time homebuyers.
    https://www.habitatcincinnati.org/
  • Matthew 25: Ministries
    Provides humanitarian aid and disaster relief along with partners in the Greater Cincinnati area, across the US and in more than 60 countries
    https://m25m.org/
  • SPCA Cincinnati
    Offers programs including animal adoptions, animal cruelty investigations, spaying and neutering shelter animals, companion animal and wildlife rescue
    https://spcacincinnati.org/
  • Tender Mercies
    Transforms the lives of homeless adults with mental illness by providing security, dignity, and community in a place they call home
    https://www.tendermerciesinc.org/
  • Bethany House
    Helps homeless and at-risk families with solutions to achieve housing stability and long-term self-sufficiency
    https://bethanyhouseservices.org/
  • Women’s Crisis Center
    Supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual abuse
    https://www.wccky.org/
  • Dragonfly Foundation
    Supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families
    www.dragonfly.org
  • Master Provisions
    Supporting those in need with food, clothing and other items in the Greater Cincinnati area and abroad through mission trips
    www.masterprovisons.org
  • Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
    Supporting vulnerable children and young adults to overcome obstacles and succeed in education, career, and life
    www.cycyouth.org
  • Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati
    Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House provides a home for critically ill children and their families while they get the life-saving medical care they need
    www.rmhcincinnati.org
  • Women Helping Women
    Prevents gender-based violence and provides evidence-based prevention and expert crisis intervention and support services for survivors of dating violence, sexual violence, domestic violence and stalking 
    www.womenhelpingwomen.org
  • Elementz
    Elementz is an urban oasis of hope and a catalyst of change for Cincinnati’s inner-city youth. This Urban Arts Center fosters talent, ignites potential and inspires possibilities.
    www.elementz.org
  • Special Olympics Ohio
    Special Olympics Ohio is part of the global inclusion movement using sports, health education, and leadership programs to empower people with intellectual disabilities. 
    www.sooh.org
  • Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
    The CSO is situated in the heart of Cincinnati and is contributing at every level to serving our community and elevating Cincinnati’s vibrant cultural scene.
    www.cincinnatisymphony.org
  • MusiCorps
    MusiCorps is a conservatory-level music rehabilitation program that helps wounded warriors play music and recover their lives.
    www.musicorps.net

EXAIR also established an Employee Volunteer Program in 2018 that enables every full-time employee with at least 90 days of service to volunteer with organizations of their choice during the normal work week with full pay by EXAIR.  The COVID pandemic has impacted our ability to volunteer with outside organizations for nearly a year.  We look forward to better days when we can collectively work with organizations in our community to improve the lives of those in need.

So, as we celebrate Founder’s Day today, we wish Roy a happy birthday.  We miss having him here.  We remember what he did for all of us and for countless others.  And we pledge to continue his commitment to helping those who need it.

Happy Founder’s Day 2021 from everyone at EXAIR!

Bryan Peters
President
EXAIR Corporation

Static Eliminators Essential To Packaging Operations

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I had a headache the other day. Of all the things that can make me grumpy, nothing makes me grumpier than a headache. Luckily, there are over the counter medications that work quite well, and quickly, to boot.  And I had a brand new bottle of them in the cabinet.

When I opened the package and removed the tamper-resistant plastic band on the cap, it stuck to my hand when I went to drop it in the trash can.  This raised my grumpiness just a touch.  I shook my hand to try and get it off, and it fell behind the trash can.  My grumpiness elevated a bit further.  I hit my head (you know, the one I was trying to cure the pain in?) on the counter while bending over to retrieve it.  That activated my grumpiness alarm, which sounds just like mild profanity.  My wife silenced that alarm pretty quickly.

The plastic band stuck to my hand, of course, because it’s made of a non-conductive material, and peeling it from the bottle cap, which is also a non-conductive material, generated a static charge.  As a subject matter expert on the topic of static elimination, I am quite familiar with the phenomenon, the problems it causes, and, more importantly, the numerous ways to apply solutions to those problems:

  • One such solution was related to my problem with the tamper-resistant seal.  A mouthwash manufacturer was actually having trouble getting those seals ONTO the bottles on their packaging line.  The bottle caps themselves had so much static charge on them that they repelled the seal as the machine tried to drop it in place before heat shrinking it.  An Ion Air Jet solved the problem:
Gen4 Ion Air Jet ensures bottle caps & necks are static free for application of tamper resistant seals.
  • Speaking of plastic bottles, the finishing process after extrusion can leave small bits of plastic particulate behind, and static charge can keep them on the bottle.  This was a great fit for an Ion Air Cannon:
Gen4 Ion Air Cannon eliminates static & dust prior to filling bottles.
  • Sometimes, air flow isn’t necessary, like in the case of a film that is eventually made into single-use condiment packages, with a static charge that was high enough to fry the print heads that apply the label text.  An Ionizing Bar protects those print heads:
Initial static charge of almost 17kV (left) is almost completely dissipated by the Ionizing Bar (center) to just 0.04kV (right)

EXAIR Corporation’s Gen4 Static Eliminator product line offers a wide variety of options for total static control.  If you need to get rid of nuisance shocks, clinging dust, tearing, jamming or curling of material, misfeeding sheets or rolls, or any of the numerous other problems that static charge can cause, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

EXAIR Wireless Digital Flow Meters Monitor Compressed Air Use

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Would you like the ability to monitor your plants compressed air usage from one convenient location?  If the answer is yes, EXAIR has just the solution to fit your needs, EXAIR’s Digital Flow Meter with Wireless Capability.

Wireless capability is an option for EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter’s.  It is the efficient way to monitor your compressed air consumption wirelessly utilizing the ZigBee® mesh network.  This is accomplished by a module located within the meter that transmits data to an ethernet connected gateway.  Each meter has a range up to 100 feet (30 meters), however the ZigBee mesh network protocol is very versatile as it allows data to also be transmitted from meter to meter, effectively extending the distance over which the system can operate.  So large facilities with great distances to cover are not a problem.

Digital Flowmeter w/ Wireless Capability, Gateway, and Drill Guide Kit

The Digital Flowmeter with Wireless Capability is offered in a kit with a wireless output flow meter, wireless to ethernet gateway, drill guide, power supplies for each component, and ethernet cable for gateway connectivity.  These kits are best suited for new installations.  They are also available without a gateway if you are simply adding an additional meter to a pre-existing Gateway in your plant.  EXAIR simplifies this process by configuring each gateway to communicate with the flowmeter to provide the necessary communication for monitoring your system.  Models from 1/2″ to 4″  iron pipe are in stock. 5″, 6″ iron pipe,  copper pipe ranging from 3/4″ to 4″ diameter and aluminum pipe from 25mm to 101mm diameter are available with short lead time as a special product offering.  Each digital flowmeter is calibrated for the pipe size to which it is mounted and the large digital display shows air use in either SCFM or Cubic Meters per Hour.

Setting up the EXAIR Digital Flow Meter with Wireless Capability is super easy.  After the meter is installed download the graphing software from our website and install on your computer.  There is also a video tutorial posted in the previous blog from Tyler Daniel, Video Blog: EXAIR’s New Wireless Digital Flowmeter Installation.

The Digital Flowmeter with Wireless Capability is designed for permanent or temporary mounting to the pipe.  It requires the user to drill two small holes through the pipe using the optional drill guide which includes the drill bit and locating fixture.  The two flow sensing probes of the flowmeter are inserted into these holes.  The unit seals to the pipe once the clamps are tightened.  No cutting, welding, adjustments or calibration are needed, ever!  If the unit needs to be removed, blocking rings are available for the 1/2″ to 4″  iron pipe sizes from stock with other sizes available on short lead time as special orders.

If you have questions on Digital Flowmeter’s, Digital Flowmeter’s with Wireless Capability or need expert advice on safe, quiet and efficient point of use compressed air products give us a call.   We would enjoy hearing from you!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

Send me an email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS