Have you ever been in the middle of a new design and found yourself in need of accurate 3D models of your vendor’s part so you can sort out how to interface their design with yours? What is your first instinct? Do you ask the vendor if they have models readily available? Or do you just draw up your own model?
With EXAIR products, there is no need to go it alone and produce your own model. We have 3D models of just about every product we manufacture. For those models we do not have available through our website, a simple request through our Application Engineering department at techelp@exair.com is all that is needed to begin the process of getting what you need.
CAD Options on EXAIR.com
We are engineers here, so we know the benefit of popping a 3D model into your assembly to make sure it fits, and you are going to be able to plumb and mount it correctly. That is why we have taken the time to build out such a large offering when it comes to 3D and 2D files for 90% of our items.
Our 3D models and CAD drawings are available in over sixty native formats for each product. Registered users can simply log in and go to the EXAIR CAD Library to navigate to the right model. If you haven’t registered yet, do it now. If you have not taken advantage of our CAD Library, we encourage you to do so as well!
Earlier, I wrote a blog about how entrainment works with EXAIR products by using two phenomena, Coanda Profile and the Venturi Effect. You can find it here, “Entrainment: how it works and why EXAIR products use it.” In this blog, I will cover the Super Air Knife specifically and how it uses the Venturi Effect to entrain the surrounding air.
This Venturi Effect is named after Giovanni Venturi, who discovered that by increasing the velocity through an orifice, the surrounding fluid will move with it, generating a lower pressure. The higher the velocity, the lower the pressure. When you have a low pressure, the surrounding air will fill that void and move into the airstream. The amount of ambient air that gets “pulled” into the airstream is the entrainment, and this amount as compared to the inlet flow is the Amplification Ratio.
So, what does this mean? The definition of a ratio is the relationship between two amounts showing the number of times one value is contained within the other. For the Super Air Knife, it is a value that shows the amount of ambient air that is drawn in along with the primary, compressed air flow. With an amplification ratio of 40:1, that means that there are 40 parts of ambient air for every 1 part of compressed air, which helps make them the most efficient compressed air operated Air Knives available on the market. By adding mass, the Super Air Knife will give a hard-hitting force to do more “work”.
Most people think that compressed air is free, but it is most certainly not. Because of the amount of electricity required to produce compressed air, it is considered to be a fourth utility for manufacturing plants. To save on utility costs, it is important to use compressed air as efficiently as possible. So, the higher the amplification ratio, the more efficient the compressed air product. Manufacturing plants that use open fittings, copper tubes, and drilled pipes for blowing are not efficient. These types of products generally have a very low amplification ratio, somewhere between 2:1 to 5:1. When EXAIR began manufacturing in 1983, we knew that there was a better way of saving compressed air by increasing the amplification ratios of our various air moving products.
I like to explain things in everyday terms. For this analogy, we can use the amplification ratio as represented by gas mileage. Like your car, you want to get the most distance from a gallon of gas. With your compressed air system, you want to get the most utilization for the compressed air being expended. With an EXAIR Super Air Knife, it has a 40:1 amplification ratio; or, in other words, you can get 40 MPG. But, if you use drilled pipes, copper tubes, etc. for blowing, then you are only getting 2 to 5 MPG, so to say. If you want to get the most “mileage” for the money you spend on creating compressed air, you want to check the “fuel efficiency” of your blow-off components.
EXAIR manufactures many blow-off items with high amplification ratios to save compressed air. EXAIR can help “tune up” your blow-off systems to make them efficient and safe by contacting an Application Engineer. We will be happy to help you.
The basic vortex tube has been utilized in numerous industrial cooling applications over the years. Some of these applications have gained such popularity that they have led to the creation of specialized “applied products” tailored to meet specific needs. These products encompass the Adjustable Spot Cooler, Mini Cooler, Cold Gun, and Cabinet Coolers, all of which are available in our catalog and on our website.
The Mini Cooler utilizes a vortex tube to transform a limited quantity of compressed air into two low-pressure streams that flow in opposite directions, one within the other. This interaction allows the two air streams to exchange heat, resulting in the generation of cold air at one end of the tube and hot air at the other. A flexible hosechannels the cold airstream towards the surface intended for cooling.
Heat produced by processes like machining, welding, soldering, brazing, electrical losses, and the functioning of rotating or reciprocating machinery poses considerable challenges that extend beyond simple comfort. Efficient heat removal from these activities is crucial for uninterrupted operation, as significant amounts of heat often require dissipation. For example, power plants generating electricity employ large pumps to circulate thousands of gallons of water each minute through extensive heat exchangers, which condense steam from turbines, enabling reheating and sustaining turbine functionality.
The Mini Cooler operates on the Vortex Tube principle to produce cold air from compressed air without any moving components, providing immediate cooling on demand. This method relies on a physical phenomenon rather than direct heat transfer, allowing the Mini Cooler to deliver cold air at specified flow rates and temperatures as soon as compressed air is supplied. It can be activated or deactivated as frequently as required, and its design eliminates the risk of wear from moving parts or failure of electrical components. With a compressed air requirement of just 8 SCFM at 100 psig, even relatively small compressors, some as low as 3HP, can sustain continuous operation of the Mini Cooler.
If you would like to discuss the Mini Cooler, please do not hesitate to contact an Application Engineer. We are always happy to help!
The word “amplifier” can mean some very different things, depending on the context in which it’s used. A musician may plug an instrument into an amplifier to increase the sound power being put out by said instrument. Folks who work with electronic or electrical systems use devices to amplify voltage (at the cost of current) or current (at the cost of voltage.)
In pneumatics and fluid power, there are even two very different devices called an ‘air amplifier.’ One is made to amplify the downstream pressure by using air flow and are commonly known as pressure boosters (we don’t have those), and the other amplifies the flow, proportionally to the supply pressure (THOSE are ours).
EXAIR Air Amplifiers use a small amount of compressed air to create a tremendous amount of air flow.
So that, dear reader, handles the question of what they amplify – now let’s cover why it’s important:
Lower cost of operation: Like the picture above says, Air Amplifiers use a small amount of compressed air, but make a tremendous amount of total developed air flow. This is a feature of our entire line of air blowing products – they’re ALL designed to consume as little compressed air as possible, and develop as much flow as possible. The less you use, the less it costs to operate…use the calculator on our website if you want to find out how much you can save.
Sound reduction: The discharge of compressed air into the open creates a LOT of noise, but the air entrained by our Air Amplifiers (and Air Knives & Air Nozzles) creates a low velocity boundary layer around the primary high velocity, laminar air flow. This boundary layer serves as an insulating shield, of sorts, and it results in dramatically quieter operation.
High ventilation rate: Because they entrain so much air from the surrounding environment, they can be used for rapid removal of fumes, smoke, airborne dust, etc. from spaces. And they’re going to do it quicker than standard Venturi or ejector devices.
Model 120024 4″ Super Air Amplifiers are commonly used to exhaust welding smoke and fumes.
That’s it for the “what they do” and “why it’s important” – if you’d like to find out how valuable an Air Amplifier can be, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
