Tag: adjustable

Benefits and Options for Safety Air Guns

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment
EXAIR Safety Air Guns are available, from stock, with Chip Shields.

Throughout industrial environments, there are often manual cleaning or blow-off applications that are performed with compressed air. These operations vary in frequency, intensity, and how critical to the operation they may be.

When it comes to OSHA standards and comfort of operators, many of the solutions found in manufacturing do not meet the standards and are dangerous to operators.

This is where EXAIR steps in and focuses on the end application while coupling a high performing engineered solution with an ergonomic and safe handheld safety air gun. In other words, EXAIR safety air guns are safe, easy to use, and typically reduce compressed air consumption. Currently, we offer four types of handheld safety air guns.

The VariBlast Compact Safety Air Gun:

This is my personal favorite in our current lineup of safety air guns.  The compact size fits comfortably in the hands of operators. The multi-finger trigger with patented VariBlast function is easily controlled for extended periods of time. The VariBlast Compact Safety Air Gun also has two compressed air inlets. This gives the ability to plumb compressed air into the bottom 1/4″ FNPT port or the top 1/4″ FNPT which a safe way to run air hoses for virtually any work station. The 1/8″ NPT outlet permits enough airflow to operate up to our High Power 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzle all the way down to our Atto Super Air Nozzle.  The patented design also delivers variable flow from any of the nozzles attached to operate anywhere from a gentle breeze up to a forceful blast.

The VariBlast Compact Safety Air Gun can also be coupled with an extension up to 72″ lengths as well as the Chip Shield to meet or exceed OSHA standards for compressed air cleaning.

The Soft Grip Safety Air Gun:

This safety air gun is the next step up in size and options as far as force and flow of compressed air go. The four-finger trigger and integrated hook design make this safety air gun ideal for industrial environments where a little more force is needed from the air to blowoff products.  The Soft Grip Safety Air Gun offers a 1/4″ NPT female thread inlet on the bottom and is available with up to an 1106 1/2″ Large Super Air Nozzle on the discharge.  This will deliver up to 60 SCFM of compressed air and provide 3.3 lbs of force from 12″ away.  The Soft Grip Safety Air Guns are also available with up to a 72″ extension and a chip shield.

Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns

Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun with extension.
eg. 1350-72

The Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun is even more robust than the Soft Grip Safety Air Gun and showcases a 3/8″ NPT female inlet to provide enough airflow to operate up to our model 1106 Large Super Air Nozzle as well to provide 60 SCFM  of airflow and provide 3.3 lbs of force.  Extensions are available in lengths up to 72″ with the addition of the chip shield.

 

Super Blast Safety Air Guns

Super Blast Safety Air Gun makes short work of large area cleanup.

The final Safety Air Gun offered is the Super Blast Safety Air Guns which are offered in four different NPT sizes. Ranging from 3/8″ NPT up to 1-1/4″ NPT and flows and forces from 56 SCFM providing 3.2 lbs of force up to 400 SCFM giving off 23 lbs of force.  These are available with an optional 3′ or 6′ extension to provide a robust blast for the heaviest cleaning or blowoff operation.

No matter the application, or amount of debris, EXAIR Safety Air Guns have an option that will fit the need while providing a safe and efficient solution. If you would like to discuss these further, please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Custom Air Amplifiers: Customization to Fit Your Needs

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

EXAIR’s line of Air amplifiers can be found in thousands of applications across the world from everything as simple as blowing parts off to exhausting fumes. The Air Amplifier comes in two different styles either the Super Air Amplifier or the Adjustable Air Amplifier. Super Air Amplifiers come in a stock Aluminum Body with a diameter that ranges from ¾” to 8”. This differs from the Adjustable Air Amplifier which comes in either type 303 Stainless Steel or Aluminum and are Sized from ¾” to 4”.

Super Air Amplifiers are supplied with a .003″ (0.08mm) slotted air gap which is ideal for most applications. Flow and force can be increased by replacing the shim with a thicker .006″ (0.15mm) or .009″ (0.23mm) shim. Model 120028 is supplied with a .009″ (0.23mm) air gap. A .015″ (0.39mm) shim is available for Model 120028.

    Even though there is a wide variety of sizes and materials for the Stock Air Amplifiers they don’t always match a customer’s specific need or application. Over the years EXAIR has produced a slew of different custom Air Amplifiers for a customer’s specific need and the following are just a few of what we have done.

    • Depending on the environment certain specific materials may be required like the food industry which requires specific Stainless Steel for various applications. One customer had a special PTFE plug made for the Adjustable Air Amplifier to help pull a sticky material through the process. The PTFE helped prevent the material from depositing on the inside diameter of the Amplifier.
    • For applications where mounting may be an issue, special attachments have been made to assist. For instances where an Amplifier may need to be mounted to a pipe, we manufactured a custom Stainless-Steel Adjustable Air Amplifier with class a 150 raised face flange.
    • Applications that are in a hot environment may require a special high temperature version which has be developed to operate in areas up to 700°F. The High Temperature Air Amplifier was so widely sought after that we turned it into a stock item.

    No matter what your application is EXAIR is capable to work with you to create custom solutions for your application. Whether you need a different material, size or shim thickness, EXAIR is able to meet your requirements. These Air Amplifiers represent only one of our many product lines that can be custom made to your specifications. 

    For more information on EXAIR’s Air Amplifiers or help with customizing any of EXAIR‘s Intelligent Compressed Air® Product lines, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or any of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

    Cody Biehle
    Application Engineer
    EXAIR Corporation
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    Air Knife Shim Adjustment can be Key to Successful Applications

    Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

    On January 2, 1960 Little Anthony & The Imperials appeared on The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show to sing Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop. While I wasn’t around at that time, I have heard the song quite a few times and get it stuck in my head more than I have heard it. What does that song and EXAIR have to do with each other? Well, we shimmy shimmy Super Air Knives to dramatically increase or decrease their flow and force.

    The stock shim that is assembled in every Super Air Knife is a .002″ (0.05mm) thick. This sets a continuous opening the full length of the knife that drives the performance of the knife. The shim sets the gap height between the cap and the body of the Super Air Knife. If we evaluate a 24″ Super Air Knife with the stock shim installed we could calculate the airflow opening of the knife as the surface area of a rectangle.  To obtain the surface area we take the length of the air knife times the thickness of the shim.  See the example below.

    As you can see with the stock .002″ thick shim installed we are actually operating at a surface area opening of 0.048 square inches.  If we were to install the .004″ thick shim into the knife then we would double the height which in turn doubles the surface area, shown below.

    This doubling effect will increase the force out of the Super Air Knife when applications require more power.  Thinning out the shim will have the exact opposite effect, if the shim thickness is reduced to .001″ thick then the air consumption and force will be reduced.

    Changing the shims out of the Super Air Knives is a fairly simple task as shown in the video below.  Installing a different thickness of shim is a coarse adjustment to the volumetric flow needed for your application.  Then a pressure regulator can be used to fine tune the needed force and flow for the ideal setting to meet your needs, and operate at maximum efficiency for the application.

    If you would like to discuss this further or even see what kind of custom thicknesses we can offer on the shims to truly make a tailor fit Super Air Knife for your application, please contact us.

    Brian Farno
    Application Engineer
    BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
    @EXAIR_BF

     

    Little Anthony & The Imperials “Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop” – [Merlin] XelonEntertainment, WMG (on behalf of Turntable Recordings LTD); ARESA, LatinAutor, União Brasileira de Compositores, Spirit Music Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, Abramus Digital, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., and 4 Music Rights Societies – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mLjZRAXRRA

    Applying a Vortex Tube and Adjusting Temperature

    Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

    Throughout my tenure with EXAIR there are may days where I have tested different operating pressure, volumetric flow rates, back pressures, lengths of discharge tubing, generator compression, and even some new inquiries with cold air distribution all on a vortex tube.  These all spawn from great conversations with existing customers or potential customers on different ways to apply and applications for vortex tubes.

    Many of the conversations start in the same spot… How exactly does this vortex tube work, and how do I get the most out of it?  Well, the answer is never the same as every application has some variation.  I like to start with a good idea of the area, temperatures, and features of exactly what we are trying to cool down.  The next step is learning how fast this needs to be done.  That all helps determine whether we are going to be looking at a small, medium, or large vortex tube and which cooling capacity to choose.   After determining these factors the explanation on how to adjust the vortex tube to meet the needs of the application begins.

    This video below is a great example of how a vortex tube is adjusted and what the effects of the cold fraction have and just how easy it is to adjust.  This adjustment combined with varying the air pressure gives great versatility within a single vortex tube.

    The table below showcases the test points that we have cataloged for performance values.  As the video illustrates, by adjusting the cold fraction lower, meaning less volumetric flow of air is coming out of the cold side and more is exhausting out the hot side, the colder the temperature gets.

    EXAIR Vortex Tube Performance Chart

    This chart helps to determine the best case scenario of performance for the vortex tube.  Then the discussion leads to delivery of the cold or hot air onto the target.  That is where the material covered in these two blogs, Blog 1, Blog 2 comes into play and we get to start using some math.  (Yes I realize the blogs are from 2016, the good news is the math hasn’t changed and Thermodynamics hasn’t either.)  This then leads to a final decision on which model of vortex tube will best suit the application or maybe if a different products such as a Super Air Amplifier (See Tyler Daniel’s Air Amplifier Cooling Video here.)is all that is needed.

    Where this all boils down to is, if you have any questions on how to apply a vortex tube or other spot cooling product, please contact us.  When we get to discuss applications that get extremely detailed it makes us appreciate all the testing and experience we have gained over the years.  Also, it helps to build on those experiences because no two applications are exactly the same.

    Brian Farno
    Application Engineer
    BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
    @EXAIR_BF