Tag: adjustable air nozzle

Atto Air Nozzle Saves Dental Crown Manufacturer

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This blog may get a little uncomfortable for some of us. It revolves around a subject that can strike fear into the hearts of many and just the thought of it can make sounds or smells come back from memory. For me, the sound of the high-pitched drill is precisely what comes to mind when I think of the Dentist….

That’s right, today we are talking about the Dentist. Well, more so a vendor for dentists that still deals with teeth. This manufacturer came to me looking for a way to improve their compressed air consumption on a tooling blowoff for the machining of dental crowns. They used custom-made blowoffs to try and remove the residual material on their cutting tools before contacting a new part and during the machining of a crown. The customer didn’t have a ton of room, and they did not want to redesign the entire blowoff. The blowoff was essentially an open pipe that had a .085″ diameter. Each machine station had three blowoffs, there are 20 machining stations per production line, with five total production lines. So any savings will add up quickly over 300 blowoff points.

BEFORE: A .085″ diameter open blowoff at each spindle to remove debris.

They were able to cut back and thread the end of the open blowoff for one of our 1108SS Atto Super Air Nozzles. The open blowoff was consuming 6 SCFM when operating at 80 psig inlet pressure for each blowoff point. For a single machining center that equates to 18 SCFM per center. 18 SCFM times 20 machining centers equals 360 SCFM of consumption per production line. Implementing the 1108SS reduced the consumption to 2.5 SCFM @ 80 psig per nozzle and gave a more defined blowoff pattern. 2.5 SCFM times 3 nozzles per center equates to 7.5 SCFM. 7.5 SCFM times 20 machining centers per production line totals 165 SCFM per production line. 360 SCFM minus 165 SCFM equates to 195 SCFM of compressed air savings by installing the further engineered solution.

AFTER: Three 1108SS Atto Super Air Nozzles provide adequate blowoff of debris.

Per nozzle, they can save up 72 cents per twelve-hour shift. While this does not seem like much, multiply that across 300 nozzles installed. You end up with $216.00 saved per twelve-hour shift. Some other breakdowns are shown below.

If you would like to discuss just how much a “little” open pipe blowoff is costing you, contact an Application Engineer today!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Rebates Rewarded for Energy Efficiency & How to Get Them

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

The patented design of EXAIR’s 1” and 2” Flat Super Air Nozzles makes them a highly efficient option when seeking a powerful, flat airflow. A precise air gap across the width of the nozzle provides a forceful stream of high velocity, laminar airflow without consuming high amounts of compressed air and also resulting in a greatly reduced sound level compared to some of the alternative flat nozzles available in the market.

Did you know that upgrading to an efficient engineered air nozzle, such as the 1” or 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle, can make you eligible for an incentive from your energy provider? Similar to other energy-saving programs for upgrading to LED light bulbs or high-efficiency HVAC systems, these are made available to you as an incentive to start using more energy efficient products.

The energy costs associated with the generation of compressed air, often referred to in industry as a 4th utility, can make it expensive. These programs are offered to encourage you to use engineered products that are more energy efficient due to the reduction in compressed air consumption. Essentially, they’re offering you free money to implement a solution that will also save you money. It almost sounds too good to be true!! But these products, after implementation and receiving the incentive, will continue to save you money year after year.

The US Department of Energy, in conjunction with the NC Clean Energy Technology Center, provides a website that allows you to search the various programs available to you in your state. The DSIRE® website allows you to select your state, then select your energy provider to determine what programs are offered.

In Southwest Ohio, Duke Energy provides an incentive that offers $40 USD each per engineered air nozzle that is installed. When replacing open pipe or tube, these nozzles generally pay for themselves relatively quickly. But, when combined with a $40 USD rebate, that return on investment happens even quicker!!!

Don’t leave free money on the table. If you’re using open pipe or tube, or inefficient plastic flat nozzles, replace them with an engineered air nozzle from EXAIR. If you need help determining what rebate programs are available to you in your area, we’re also here to help. Contact an EXAIR Application Engineer today!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

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

EXAIR’s 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzles Provide Fast ROI When Replacing Inefficient Blowoffs

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Any time you’re considering a new purchase your return on investment is a critical aspect of the decision-making process. An easy way to illustrate this is the use of an LED lightbulb. An LED lightbulb may cost more initially but will use less energy to operate. In addition, it’ll also have a longer lifespan than an incandescent bulb. You can calculate, down to the day, when you’ll recoup the costs difference from buying the more expensive bulb.

The same can be said for EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air Products. In many cases, our products are replacing a homemade, cheap, or otherwise inefficient blowoff device. Let’s walk through an example of an application where EXAIR helped save a company money by reducing their compressed air consumption.

An extrusion company had a line where they were using (3) modular-hose style flat nozzles. These products are not designed to be used with compressed air, but rather are intended for distributing liquid coolant. Despite these devices not being designed for compressed air, seeing them used for blowoff purposes is all to common in industrial applications. A total of (3) nozzles were being used to dry the material as it exited a cooling bath. While they did work for them in the application, they had begun to notice pressure drops in their compressed air system that was causing issues for other processes in the facility.

The (3) nozzles were all operated at 50 PSIG consuming 17 SCFM per nozzle for a total consumption of 51 SCFM. They were operated for one full 8-hour shift, 5 days per week.

51 SCFM x 60 mins x 8-hours = 24,480 SCF/day

To keep the same airflow profile, we recommended the Model 1126 1” Flat Super Air Nozzle to replace the modular hose. Operating at 50 PSIG, the 1126 will consume 7.17 SCFM of compressed air. With a total of (3) nozzles operating, that comes to 21.5 SCFM total for the drying operation.

21.5 SCFM x 60 mins x 8-hours = 10,320 SCF/day

By implementing the 1” Flat Super Air Nozzles, they reduced their compressed air consumption for this particular application by 57%!! But, just how quickly will that air savings provide them with a return on their investment? Let’s calculate the savings:

The average cost for compressed air is $0.25/1000 SCF. Before the installation of the Super Air Knives, the total consumption was 24,480 SCF/day.

24,480 SCF x $0.25/1000 SCF = $6.12/ day

With the Flat Super Air Nozzles, this was reduced to just 10,320 SCF/ day:

10,320 SCF x $0.25/1000 SCF = $2.58/ day

Total Savings – $3.54 each day!!!

The 2022 list price on the Model 1126 is $53.00. Since they bought (3) their total investment was $159.00.

$159.00/$3.54 = 44.92 (45 days)

On the 45th day, the customer will have saved enough money from the reduced air consumption to account for the initial purchase price of the Flat Super Air Nozzles. Once they’re paid for, it isn’t like you just stop saving money. The nozzles will continue to save money, each shift, day in and day out. In some areas, your local utility provider may also offer rebates for the installation of engineered compressed air nozzles when replacing an inefficient solution.

If there’s a process in your facility that you can improve upon, give us a call. We’re also able to test it out here at EXAIR and report back to you on the savings through our free Efficiency Lab!

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

Light bulb photo courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr Creative Commons License

INDIANA: Energy Rebates and EXAIR Save You Money On Top of Compressed Air Savings

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

The energy rebates described below are available throughout the country, not just Indiana – but here is the latest example.

Here in Cincinnati we border two states, our bypass loop actually goes through both of them, Kentucky and Indiana. Indiana is a state that most may fly over or if you are going anywhere it may be to go to Indianapolis, myself, I have a few ties to the state elsewhere, from racing motorcycles at Putnam Park west of Indy, my niece attending the prestigious Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, to my previous career where I installed CNC machines in various parts of the state. While many may think the state is a giant wind power farm, there is a great deal of industry and manufacturing throughout the state including pharmaceutical and medical devices, mining, and transportation. The leading energy provider for the state, Duke Energy, also supports these manufacturers with programs to incentivize (through rebates) products which increase efficiency.

We’ve mentioned energy rebates previously and I have recently had the chance to help a customer with their energy rebate. More often than not, these rebates are an after thought, I hope that after reading this we can help you to check with your local service provider to see if they offer a similar process – they are available throughout the country from MANY electricity providers. The process for this customer was based off purchasing a single Soft Grip Safety Air Gun with Stainless Steel Mini Super Air Nozzle. The rebate was focused on the engineered air nozzle. For a 1/8″ NPT nozzle, it must consume 10 SCFM or less at 80 psig inlet pressure. For a 1/4″ NPT nozzle, they have to consume 17 SCFM or less at 80 psig. The fact the nozzle was assembled onto a Soft Grip Safety Air Gun enabled the customer to apply for a rebate for the full cost of the whole air gun.

EXAIR Model 1299SS – Soft Grip Safety Air Gun w/ Stainless Steel Mini Super Air Nozzle

The value of the rebate for Indiana where Duke is the energy supplier is $40.00 USD per engineered nozzle installed. The rebate is capped at 75 percent of the project cost in Indiana. The current cost of the 1299SS is $134.00, which enables this customer to the full $40.00 for each Safety Air Gun with Mini Super Air Nozzle they install. This is one of the simplest prescriptive rebates in the Duke Energy program. The main focus here is to conserve compressed air which ultimately puts more energy available to the rest of the grid. The engineered nozzle prescriptive rebate is just one way that Duke Energy customers in the state of Indiana can save.

If you are in the state of Indiana (OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE USA) and would like to discuss whether the Safety Air Guns or any point of use compressed air application in your facility can be improved, contact an Application Engineer. The truth is we all love saving a customer their resources, whether it be compressed air, electricity, liquid, or good old-fashioned cash.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF