Daniel Bernoulli, Entraining EXAIR Products

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment

Daniel Bernoulli was born February 8, 1700 in Groningen in the Netherlands and was the son of Johann Bernoulli an early developer of calculus. It is believed that Daniel did not have a good relationship with his father. This mainly stemmed from the both of them entering the same scientific contest at the University of Paris. The two tied and his father Johann took exception to being compared to his son as “equal” and could not accept the shame and banned Daniel from his home. Daniel tried to reconcile their difference but his father carried this grudge to his death.

Earlier in Daniels life his father convinced Daniel to study business as there was no income incentive to study mathematics but against his will Daniel did choose the study of business. His father then convinced Daniel to study medicine but Daniel still wanted to study mathematics and agreed to study medicine under the condition that his dad teach him mathematics privately. Daniel completed his bachelors degree at the age of 15 and his masters degree when he was 17. Daniel then went on to study medicine and received his PhD in anatomy and botany from the Universities of Basel, Heidelberg and Strasbourg.

Daniel Bernoulli was very accomplished but mostly known for Bernoulli’s principle. Bernoulli’s principle is the relationship between fluid speed and pressure. An increase in the speed of a fluid will occur simultaneously with a decrease in the fluid’s pressure or potential energy. The Venturi effect, published in 1797 by Giovanni Venturi, applies Bernoulli’s principle to a fluid that flows through a tube with a constriction in it. The Venturi tube provides a handy method for mixing fluids or gases, and is popular in carburetors and atomizers, which use the low pressure region generated at the constriction to pull the liquid into the gas flow. It also offers a particularly clear example of the Bernoulli principle.

For example, above is how a Super Air Wipe works. Compressed air flows through an inlet (1) of the Air Wipe into an annular chamber (2). It is then throttled through a small ring nozzle (3) at high velocity. This primary airstream adheres to the Coanda profile (4), which directs it down the angled surface of the Air Wipe. A low pressure area is created at the center (5) inducing a high volume flow of surrounding air into the primary airstream. As the airflow leaves the Air Wipe, it creates a conical 360° ring of air that attaches itself to the surface of the material running through it (6), uniformly wiping the entire surface with the high velocity airflow.

EXAIR incorporates the Bernoulli Principle with our engineered products which entrain air such as our Super Air Knives, Super Air Wipes, Air Amplifiers and Static Eliminating products to name a few. We have several Applications Engineers that will appreciate your call to discuss our products. If you have an application or question please call 800.903.9247 or visit us on our website www,EXAIR,com and let us help you.

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

EXAIR Digital Flow Meters

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Information is important to diagnose wasteful and problematic areas within your compressed air system. To measure air consumption, flow meters are used to find the volume or mass of compressed air per unit of time. Flow rates are very useful data points to find problems like leaks, over-use in blow-offs, waste calculations, and comparison analysis.

There are many different types of flow meters. Many of them entail a breakdown of your current compressed air lines by cutting, welding, or dismantling for installation. This will add cost in downtime and maintenance staff. But, not with the EXAIR Digital Flowmeters. In this blog, I will share the features and benefits of the Digital Flowmeters including options for you to start measuring and optimizing your compressed air system in Step 1.

Digital Flowmeter

Overall, it only takes a few minutes to install and start measuring. The installation kit comes with a drill bit and a drill guide to properly locate the two holes on the pipe. The Digital Flowmeter uses a clamp to mount to the pipe and to seal the area around the probes. Once it is powered, the unit is ready to measure the air flow inside the pipe with a large LED display. The display can be customized to show flow readings in three different units; SCFM, M3/hr or M3/min; and, it can display the Daily Usage and Cumulative Usage. This will require that the compressed air line is discharged, or pressure free. However, there are Hot Tap digital flowmeters available for installing on pressurized compressed air lines.

To get started, the EXAIR Digital Flowmeter is a thermal dispersion device that can accurately measure compressed air flows. They use two sensing probes for comparative analysis. One probe is a temperature sensing probe, and the other is a flow-sensing probe. By comparing these, the Digital Flowmeter can measure precisely the mass air flow without needing to be recalibrated. They are a cost-effective, accurate, and simple way to measure compressed air flows.

EXAIR stocks a large volume of Digital Flowmeters to ship same day for U.S. and Canadian customers. We also offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try them out. We stock meters for pipe diameters from ½” NPT to 4″ NPT Schedule 40 black pipe. EXAIR can also offers flow meters up to 8″ NPT black pipe; copper pipes with diameters from 3/4″ to 4″, and aluminum pipes with diameters ranging from 40mm to 101mm. If you have another type of piping for your compressed air system, you can give us the material, O.D. or I.D., and wall thickness. We may still be able to get a Digital Flowmeter for you.

For measuring, all the units come standard with a 4 – 20mA analog output. Per your request, we can change this signal to a serial output for RS-485 or Ethernet connections. What more can we offer with the EXAIR Digital Flowmeter? Options. Options upgrade the flow meters to better suit your application. Here is a list below:

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

Wireless Capability: Our latest Digital Flowmeter now has wireless capabilities. They use a Zigbee® communications to pick up flow readings from other flow meters and the Gateway. The Gateway can detect over 100 Digital Flowmeters in your facility. From the Gateway, the information is transferred through a LAN. You can record and analyze the flow information from each meter on the network with our EXAIR® Logger Software. You can set limits to send warnings when your compressed air system is using too much or too little of compressed air. This technology makes it very easy for measuring your compressed air system in the entire facility without having to be there.

When you need to analyze your pneumatic components, flow is an important point in diagnosing the overall “health” of your compressed air system. The EXAIR Digital Flowmeter can give you that important data point. With optimization, you can cut your energy consumption, improve pneumatic efficiencies, and save yourself money. This blog is an overview of Step 1 of six steps. You may have more questions; and, that is great! You can find them in other EXAIR blogs, or you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Video Blog: What is EXAIR’s Free Efficiency Lab Service Offered to All US & Canadian Customers!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
EXAIR’s Free Efficiency Lab

At EXAIR we want to do everything we can to ensure you’re getting the most out of our products. In many applications, we’re offering a replacement for an inefficient or unsafe “homemade” compressed air device. In these cases, replacing the inefficient device with an engineered product by EXAIR often leads to a quick payback time.

To help you understand your compressed air products, EXAIR offers a free Efficiency Lab Service. Simply send in the device your currently using for testing, and one of our qualified Application Engineers will provide you with a comprehensive report. Included in this report is an ROI calculation, so you’ll know down to the day of when your EXAIR Product will begin paying YOU!

For some more information on this service, and a view of the EXAIR Efficiency Lab, check out my video below:

If you believe there’s places in your facility that could benefit from this service give us a call. We’re ready to help you start saving!

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

Five Things To Know About Single Acting Reciprocating Compressors

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

With the development of highly efficient air compressors, there’s still a place for the most basic design: the single acting reciprocating compressor.  When the piston moves out of the cylinder, it draws air in, at atmospheric pressure.  When it moves in to the cylinder, it reduces the volume that air occupies, increasing its pressure.  These machines are durable, effective, relatively inexpensive, and pretty easy to maintain.  Here are a few interesting things to know about them:

1. Popularity. Because of the simplicity of their design, they’re the most common air compressor in the 10HP and under sizes.  You can get them from a number of sources, and they’re not going to set you back as much as some other types.
2. Oil free air (part 1) While the most basic design uses oil to lubricate the piston rings in the compression cylinder, oil-less reciprocating compressors have cylinders with very smooth (and hard) bore surfaces, like nickel or chrome plating. A series of guide rings around the whole circumference of the piston prevent metal-to-metal contact, eliminating the need for liquid lubrication in the compression cylinder.
3. Oil free air (part 2) If oil in your compressed air is a problem, an oil-free (as opposed to oil-less) compressor is another option. While an oil-less compressor doesn’t use lubricant for the piston movement, an oil-free compressor’s moving parts are oil lubricated, but that oil is kept away from the compression cylinder(s) with connecting rod(s) so that the oil is confined to the lower moving parts…the crankshaft and bottom ends of the connecting rods, and away from the pistons & compression cylinders.
4. Foundation. Reciprocating machinery, as the name implies, has parts that move back and forth. The sudden reversal of direction of heavy metal pistons & rods, dozens of times a minute, means that their operation is inherently unbalanced. This out-of-balance condition, though, can be absorbed by properly securing the compressor to a properly prepared foundation.
5. Higher pressures. If your facility’s compressed air usage primarily entails pneumatic tools, cylinders, and blow off devices like air guns, the system header pressure is likely maintained at around 100psig. While a one-stage reciprocating compressor is usually rated for discharge pressures up to 125psig, a second stage can increase that to 175psig. Multi-stage compressors are used for applications that require up to 3,000psig compressed air. Examples of these are scuba breathing air, pneumatic excavators, and my personal favorite: ballast tank blowing air, used to surface a submarine.

4-stage reciprocating compressors charge 3,000psig air tanks that are used to rapidly push water from a submarine’s ballast tanks to create positive buoyancy.  Because keeping your ‘diving-to-surfacing’ ratio at 1:1 is important.

At EXAIR Corporation, helping you get the most out of your compressed air system is important to us.  If you’ve got questions about how to do just that, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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