Intelligent Compressed Air® Products for Produce and the Growing Season

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment
Super Air Knife drying fruits and vegetables

If you are like me and love to garden we are approaching the time of year that we start seeding our longer maturing plants like tomato and pepper plants. I have made my purchases of seeds, plant packs, soil and plant food. I am ready and excited for the gardening season.

EXAIR has many applications where our products help the agricultural industry. The use of our Air Knives, atomizing spray nozzles and Line Vacs help assit in the growing, cleaning and movement of products.

Super Air Knife drying fruits and vegetables

EXAIR Atomizing Spray Nozzles atomize fluids (most commonly water) in a range of spray patterns for a variety of uses. These nozzles can be used to keep soils moist, environments humid and also for cleaning the harvested products. The Atomizing Spray Nozzles come in a variety of sizes, styles and spray patterns and can be sized specifically for your application.

EXAIR Air Knives can also be used for cleaning where moisture is a concern before products are placed in packaging containers. Our Air Knifes come is many stock sizes and styles. EXAIR Air Knives are a great option replacing noisy blow-offs and show noise and air consumption reductions.

EXAIR Line Vacs have been used to move grains, soil, sand, wood chips and other products saving labor. They are ideal for moving large volumes of material over long distances. The material flow rate is easily controlled by the size of the Line Vac and by the use of a pressure regulator. No moving parts or electricity assures maintenance free operation.

High Temperature Line Vac

Just as I am excited to strategize my garden, EXAIR can take the frustration of your projects away and make your life as as exciting and fun as Spring and Summer home gardens. If you have a specific application you would like to discuss you can visit us at www.EXAIR.com or by calling 800.903.9247 and talking to me or any of our qualified Application Engineers.

Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_EK

Video Blog: Laminar and Turbulent Flows

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

I have written blogs about laminar and turbulent flows as related to the Reynold’s number.  Now, let’s demonstrate the difference between the two flows and the advantages of laminar flow from EXAIR’s engineered air nozzles; as demonstrated by our VariBlast Safety Air Gun.

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

We Lift Things Up and Put Them Down: EXAIR’s E-Vac Vacuum Generators

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
Myself, my wife, and our coach/father-in-law

2020 certainly had its ups and downs. During a tumultuous year there wasn’t a whole lot of positivity to be found, but it wasn’t all “doom and gloom”. In the midst of the worldwide shutdown, my wife and I both took some of the extra time we had to focus on ourselves. Getting antsy with all of the time sitting at home, we decided to embark on a new fitness journey that would really push us to our limit. What started as just focusing on improving our health, quickly became a new passion. Just this past weekend we both competed in our first powerlifting meet. It was great to validate all of our hard work we’ve put in. My wife brought home the 1st place trophy for her weight class while I took 2nd in mine. I’m sure I’ll never live that down… All in all it was a great way to kick off the new year.

Here at EXAIR, we offer a whole line of products designed specifically to lift stuff up and put it down. EXAIR’s In-Line and Adjustable E-Vacs are a powerful compressed air powered vacuum generator. They’re a low-cost way to create a vacuum for a variety of different applications: pick and place, clamping, chucking, lifting, surface mounting, and vacuum forming are just some of the possibilities. Both the In-Line and Adjustable E-Vacs are available in a variety of different sizes and flows and can accommodate a wide range of applications.

In addition to the vacuum generators themselves, EXAIR offers a variety of different accessories to help you build a complete system. To minimize the sound level and ensure you’re adhering to OSHA 1910.95, we have Standard Mufflers as well a Straight Through Mufflers. The Straight Through Mufflers offer the best level of sound reduction, up to 26 dBA!!

With no moving parts to wear out, EXAIR’s E-Vacs are virtually maintenance free when supplied with clean, dry compressed air. To maintain proper operation of your E-Vac, installation of an Automatic Drain Filter will remove any particulate and moisture from the air supply. In addition, oil removal filters are also available if your compressed air supply contains any oil as is common in many compressed air systems.

For pick and place or lifting applications, vacuum cups will be necessary. With a wide variety of different vacuum cups available: Small Round, Large Round, Oval, and Bellows, we can accommodate nearly any size or shape material. For heavier materials, round cups with cleats provide rigidity and ensure that the load remains stable. For applications on textured or uneven surfaces, Bellows style cups have convolutions that allow for the cup to quickly decompress when it touches the surface of an uneven part or material.

The vacuum port of the E-Vac has an NPT thread, vacuum cups can be installed directly in this inlet. For applications where the vacuum cup(s) are remotely located, we offer polyurethane vacuum tubing as well as a variety of different fittings to connect them. Both 1/4” and 3/8” O.D. sizes are available in 10’ lengths up to 50’. Simply indicate the model number of the tubing and add the length with a “-“ at the suffix. In addition to fittings and tubing, vacuum check valves are also available. These can be beneficial if there is potential for fluctuations in the compressed air pressure or supply. In the event that there is a significant drop in pressure or loss of compressed air supply, the check valve will ensure that the load remains stable.

With all of the different options making a selection can seem like a daunting task. If you’re struggling to determine the most suitable E-Vac and Accessories for your application, give an Application Engineer a call today!

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

What’s So Great About The Gen4 Ion Air Cannon Static Eliminator?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

It’s bitter cold this week in southwest Ohio, and one of the consequences of that is dry air in heated indoor areas.  If you’ve walked across a carpeted floor and pet your cat (like I did the other day), you (and your cat) may have experienced a phenomenon known as dissipation of static electricity.

In my defense, Elle The Cat often looks down on me just like she does on Rocky The Dog. Neither of us care.

The relatively low static charge you pick up by shuffling your socks across the rug is pretty small, compared to the charge generated by:

  • High speed rolling & unrolling of plastic film on a shrink wrapper.
  • Plastic pellets traveling through a conveyor system to an injection molding machine.
  • Slitting or trimming of paper, laminates, sheets, etc.
  • Removing protective layers between sheets of delicate materials.

And these can cause issues year-round.  The problems associated with static charge in these situations include:

  • Nuisance shocks to operators.
  • Dust and debris clinging to product finishes and surfaces
  • Product clumping or clinging while in transit.
  • Thin sheets tearing, jamming, folding, or misfeeding.
  • Disruption of sensitive electronic sensors, switches, etc.

EXAIR Corporation has a variety of Static Eliminator Product solutions, depending on the specific needs of a particular application.  To answer the question in the title of this blog, though, the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon is quite versatile, and is often considered alongside our other products.  For example:

  • Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives come in lengths from 3 inches to 9 feet.  If you have a wide web, sheet, or plate to remove static charge from, they’re the best choice, hands down.  For narrower widths, or situations where you have to blow in from the side or at a certain angle due to physical interference, the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon’s small footprint and adjustable mounting bracket provide a great workaround.
  • Gen4 Ion Air Jets generate a focused, concentrated flow of ionized air, for spot cleaning of smaller parts.  Its compact design is ideal for installations in close quarters.  If you have some room, the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon actually uses less compressed air to generate a higher ionized air flow…and it’s quieter, to boot.
  • Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipes are made to blow off and remove static from pipe, cable, extruded shapes, etc.  They come in 2″ or 4″ diameters.  If your product is larger than that, an array of Gen4 Ion Air Cannons can accommodate that.
  • Gen4 Ionizing Points are often installed in ducts to ionize existing air flow.  Arrays of two, three, or four are suitable for ducts up to about 6″ in diameter, depending on the air flow rate.  For larger ducts (or very high flow rates,) Gen4 Ion Air Cannons can be installed to blow into a ‘Y’ connection in duct walls.

Regardless of the nature of the application, if you’ve got a static problem, EXAIR has a solution!

These are just a few of the myriad Static Eliminator applications that EXAIR Corporation has successfully solved over the years.  Many times, the details of the application make one particular product the clear choice.  When there ends up being more than one worth consideration, one of the others is usually the Gen4 Ion Air Cannon.

Again…that’s based on the details of the application, and we’re here to help with that.  If you’ve got a static problem, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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