Sanitary Flange Line Vac for Food and Pharmaceutical Conveying Applications

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

I recently wrote a blog about a great Sanitary Flange Line Vac application, Application Spotlight! – Conveying Products Through a Metal Detector. This was a great way to show the flexibility of the sanitary line vac operation in a very important metal detection operation for a pharmaceutical operation.

EXAIR’s Sanitary Flange Line Vac is the ideal solution for customers looking to convey bulk materials in food & pharmaceutical applications (among others). Operating in the same manner as EXAIR’s smooth and NPT threaded Line Vacs, the Sanitary Flange Line Vac is available in (4) common flange sizes: 1-1/2”, 2”, 2-1/2”, and 3”.  All of EXAIR’s Sanitary Flange Line Vacs are constructed of Type 316 Stainless Steel for superior corrosion resistance.

There are different styles of flanges in industry. The Sanitary Flange Line Vac has been designed according to the flange standard outlined in ISO 2852. This standard was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 5, Ferrous metal pipes and metallic fittings, Sub-Committee SC 1, Steel tubes. This is the second edition that replaces the first edition (ISO 2852:1974). The standard specifies the dimensions, tolerances, surface roughness, materials, assembling, and the hygienic requirements for the flange. These styles of flange are intended to be used with stainless steel tubes, specified in ISO 2037. ISO 2852 is considered an international standard, defining the connections used for non-permanent food-grade piping systems used within the pharmaceutical, food processing, dairy and agricultural industries.

In these industries, it’s required for the components to be cleaned thoroughly and sanitized. Using this type of connector, components within the piping system can be easily removed, sanitized, and then reassembled. A lipped flange with a grooved indentation is on each end of the pipe and Line Vac. A sealing gasket is then placed in between each section of pipe. A raised groove on either end allows it to seat into the mating end of each flange. A clamp is then placed on the outside, forcing the sections together and compressing the gasket, creating an airtight seal.

If your processes currently utilize sanitary flange piping, EXAIR’s Sanitary Flange Line Vac is the ideal solution to help you convey bulk materials from one point to another quickly, safely, and efficiently. If you have interest to test one out in your process, EXAIR offers an Unconditional 30-Day Guarantee on all stock items. They’re on the shelf now, available to ship on the same day, with an order by 2:00 Eastern Time!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Removing Coolant From Cold Rolling Operations

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

An overseas company had a cold rolling process where they would make metal sheets of different thicknesses and widths.  They were having issues with their machine removing the excess coolant from the surface that was used in the process.  Like with too many applications, they made their own home-made air knives.  They found that they had reduced production rates, increased quality failures, and amplified noise levels.  They contacted EXAIR to help resolve these issues.    

To go into the details of the application, the cold rolling process uses work rolls to “squeeze” the metal to a thinner gauge.  This squeezing creates heat up to 350oF (177oC).  So, before each work roll, they would spray a coolant to help remove the heat.  The amount of coolant is very important to get the proper cooling and metal gauge.  After the work rolls, the coolant has to be removed before the next work roll operation.  Their system was designed for 3,300 ft/min (1000 m/min), but they could only run it at half the speed as they could not remove enough coolant from the surface.  For each work roll, they used three homemade compressed air knives that were made from 54” (1372mm) pipes with drilled holes.  They laid one on top and one on bottom just after the work rolls.  After the trial, they had to add another one on top to try and remove the remaining coolant that was missed by the first one.  Each home-made knife used 440 SCFM (744 M3/hr) of compressed air at 100 PSIG (6.9 bar) during the cold rolling operation.

Super Air Knife

With similar solutions, EXAIR has a great product for non-contact wiping for flat surfaces, the Super Air Knives.  They use compressed air to generate a force at varying degrees.  With the engineered design, we are able to add free ambient air at a rate of 40:1.  For every one part of compressed air, we can entrain 40 parts of ambient air.  By adding this mass to the airstream, we can generate a hard-hitting force.  Generally, with a drilled pipe, they have an entrainment near 4 to 5:1 which requires more compressed air to get that same force.  Also, with the Super Air Knives, we can generate a laminar flow to give an even force across the entire length. 

For this application, I was worried about the setup of their home-made air knives.  With the position of being straight across, the coolant liquid could build up to a heavier amount in front of the knives, which could allow for some of the coolant to bypass.  This would be the reason for the second drilled pipe on top.  The bottom unit worked fine as gravity was helping to remove the coolant from the surface.  But they were using a lot of compressed air with high noise levels.  I was able to help them to create a more effective blow-off design and to save a lot of compressed air. 

Chevron Style

In my discussion, I mentioned that with high-speed operations, the setup is important for great non-contact wiping.  For this customer, I recommend the Chevron style which mounts two Super Air Knives as an inverted “V”.  Now we can cut the amount of coolant in half.  Half of the sheet means half of the weight of coolant.  For the top, I recommend two pieces, model 110036 36” (914mm) Aluminum Super Air Knife, and a single piece, model 110054 54” (1,372mm) Aluminum Super Air Knife, for the bottom.  We were able to solve their issues with their cold rolling process. 

As they started their operation, they were able to increase the production rates, and removed the need for the extra air knife.  With the Super Air Knives, we were able to save them 877 SCFM (1,490 M3/hr) of compressed air at 100 PSIG (6.9 bar), as compared to the total amount of 1,320 SCFM (2,232 M3/hr) for the three home-made air knives.  With a 24-hour operation, the Super Air Knives saved them a lot of money.  The Return on Investment, ROI, was less than 30 days.  As a note, the Super Air Knife only has a noise level of 72 dBA at 100 PSIG. 

If you are looking to improve your blow-off application to increase production rates, reduce waste and improve safety, the EXAIR Super Air Knives can provide that solution.  With the customer above, the development happened immediately with a short ROI.  If you have a similar application and want to discuss it with an Application Engineer at EXAIR, you can contact us directly.  We’d be happy to help you.

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

Photo: Steel Roll Alignment by Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier.  Creative Commons 2.0

Upcoming Event: Fall 2024 Webinar – Adding Capacity Back In

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

If you have been around our blog for any length of time, you may see that we tend to do these things called webinars. I’m sure you have even attended a few webinars over your professional career. Well, this is my shameless plug for you to register for the one I am presenting.

I’ve always been a person who has leaned into continually improving. I struggle with this from time to time. However, improvements don’t always come in the form of losing half the weight you need to within a month or a radical change in how you structure your day. Bettering yourself, to me, can more often than not mean a 5mm change. Why did I choose 5mm? I don’t know. Actually, it was due to a sermon I heard years ago and felt as though it was directed at me.

See the thing is, these very small changes that you may not notice so much day to day add up over time. Just like compressed air leaks, inefficient blow offs and artificial demand. That’s why I have put together this webinar. CCASS holders can utilize it for a continuing education credit, and others can use it as their 5mm change for the day, week, month, or year.

This event won’t be an infomercial for just EXAIR products. Instead, there will be a block of time when I try to explain where these compressed air costs come from and then methods that can result in a much bigger change than a 5mm change in the amount of money spent on compressed air.

Please follow the link and register, even more importantly, show up on October 24th, 2024 and listen to my spiel.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Cabinet Cooler Selection

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

EXAIR‘s Cabinet Coolers are a low-cost and reliable way to cool and purge your electrical panels. They incorporate our Vortex Tubes to produce cold air from compressed air. With no moving parts, our Cabinet Coolers can run maintenance free for many years.

When selecting which Cabinet Cooler is right for your application, there are a few things for you to consider:

First, is your cabinet in a hazardous location? We have HazLoc Cabinet Cooler models that are rated for UL Classified areas, including Class I Div 1, Groups A, B, C, and D; Class II Div 1, Groups E, F, and G; and Class III; as well as ATEX rated units that are approved for use in Zones 2 and 22. All of our hazardous location Cabinet Cooler Systems need to be used in conjunction with a purged and pressurized control system.

From right to left: Small NEMA 12, Large NEMA 12, Large NEMA 4X

After this you will need to determine what NEMA integrity your enclosure requires.
We have NEMA 12(IP54) models, which are dust and oil tight. These are ideal for most industrial environments where no liquids or corrosives are present.
Our NEMA 4(IP66) options can be used inside and outside, and are splash resistant as well as dust tight and oil tight. The low-pressure relief valve will ensure the integrity of the NEMA 4 enclosure is maintained.
Finally, our NEMA 4X(IP66) option offers all the same protection as the NEMA 4X, but is constructed of stainless steel for food service and corrosive environments.

Next, you need to decide if you need continuous operation or thermostat control. The thermostat control systems are the most efficient way to operate a Cabinet Cooler. They save on compressed air by only activating the cooler only when the internal temperatures approach critical levels. The standard thermostat control systems include an adjustable thermostat factory set at 95°F. We also have our Electronic Temperature Control (ETC), which allows for precise temperature control that can be adjusted with the touch of a button.

ETC Electronic Temperature Control can be used in a wide variety of applications.

Finally, you will need to calculate the heat load to determine the cooling capacity. We have a calculator on our website that can help with this. However, if you speak to any of our Application Engineers, we can perform these calculations for you. If you would like to discuss your Cabinet Cooler application, feel free to give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay