Tag: agriculture pipe

Application Database: Agriculture.

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EXAIR uses many different methods to connect with our customers.  We have our website, social media, blogs, publications etc.  We like to share solutions for some of the most common pneumatic problems in the industry.  EXAIR generated a large collection of application information where EXAIR products have solved problems and improved processes, and we placed them in a database.  We organized them by Application and by Industry.  In this blog, I will show you how to use our application database; specifically for agriculture.

The agricultural industry is an essential business for people around the world.  So, it is very important to reduce costs and improve processes.  EXAIR has engineered products that can help in these areas.  This can include spraying fungicide, conveying products, blowing compressed air, and monitoring pneumatic systems.  Compressed Air Systems are considered to be a fourth utility within industries because they use a large amount of energy.  Whether an air compressor uses electricity or fuel for portable units, it is important to use this system as efficiently as possible.  EXAIR has a library of different processes in which we already have improved in these areas safely and efficiently.  If you are part of the Agricultural industry, it can be beneficial for you to find the areas that we already improved.  It is a “been there, done that” solution that you can take an advantage of using. 

Here is how you can find this library.  First, you will have to sign into the EXAIR website.  Click HERE to log in.  Once you fill in the proper information, you can then retrieve a great number of resources about EXAIR products that we manufacture.   The Application database is located under the Resources drop-down tab (Reference photo below) and at Applications.

At the Application Search Library, we have over one thousand applications that we reference.  In the left selection pane, we organized them in alphabetical order under two categories, Application and Industry.

Scroll down in the Industry selection pane until you come to the sub-category: Agriculture.  If you do not find it, you can select the Expand button to open up more industries.  We have other applications as well that may relate to your specific process if you scroll up and down the list, like Food and Beverage as examples. 

Why is this important?  If you are a plant manager or owner, the value of the Application Database can help your current processes with pre-qualified results.  Within the Agriculture industry, simple solutions can be found to address those “nagging” issues that you see every day.  For crisis situations and shutdowns, EXAIR categorized these applications in a way to reference quickly and easily.  And since EXAIR has a high volume of stocked items, we can get the parts to you very fast so you can quickly be on your way to a solution.

In today’s market, companies are always looking for ways to cut cost, increase productivity, and improve safety.  EXAIR can offer engineered products to do exactly that.  With the “been there and done that” solutions already described in the Application Database; you can have confidence in finding a way in solving pneumatic issues.  If you do not sign up at http://www.EXAIR.com and take advantage of these offerings, you will be missing out on a great tool to optimize your compressed air system.  And if you did not find a solution inside our Application database, an Application Engineer at EXAIR is available. 

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

Standard Air Wipes™ Clean Agriculture Drain Pipes

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Standard Air Wipe Family

Being in Ohio, I have gone by many farmlands with rolls of black polyethylene tubes in the fields.   They use these tubes to place in the ground to create proper drainage in the fields. A manufacturer of these agricultural drain pipes sent me a video of their operation.  After the pipe was extruded, they would run it through a wash system to cool the pipe.  After the wash system, they needed to remove the water from a 4” (102mm) diameter pipe at a speed of 70 feet per minute (21 meters per minute).  They designed a home-made device that used a blower-system to blow the water off the pipe (reference photo below).  Since the pipe had ribs and the blower system is at a much lower force, the removal rate of water was only around 75%.  They needed a way to get the pipe dryer before packaging. 

This company made plastic pipe ranging from 4” (102mm) to 10” (254mm) in diameter.  When they searched for pipe and tube blow-off devices, they came across the Standard Air Wipes from EXAIR.  The design of the Standard Air Wipe blows compressed air at a 30-degree angle toward the center in a 360-degree air pattern, just like a cone.  It uses a Coanda profile to maximize the entrainment of ambient air into the compressed air stream to produce a strong force.  As a non-contact wiping device; the Standard Air Wipe is very efficient and very powerful. 

For this application, I recommended the model 2485 5” Standard Air Wipe Kit.  This kit includes our Standard Air Wipe, a Filter Separator, a Regulator, and a Shim Set.  With a ½” or 13mm clearance, it gave ample room to allow the 4” (102mm) pipe to travel through without touching and to allow for ambient air entrainment.  The Filter Separator will remove bulk liquids and debris from the compressed air to keep the unit performing optimally and to keep the pipe from getting dirty.  The Regulator is used to control the amount of force.  This helps to not over-use the amount of compressed air required for the cleaning.  With a Regulator, you can make fine adjustments to get the proper amount of air while the shims in the Shim Set will give you coarse adjustments.  With the Regulator and Shim Set together, you can “dial” in the correct amount of force required for the different speeds.  The Standard Air Wipe Kits will give you the most versatility in your system to optimize the 360-degree blow-off. 

As they removed their home-made unit and attached the Super Air Wipe, they noticed some great things.  The speed of production was increased by about 10% which matched the maximum speed of the machine.  The water removal from the surface was near 100% even in the rib area.  (Some acceptable “overlaps” in the extrusion process was cleared by QC).  They also noticed that the Standard Air Wipe was much quieter; near 82 dBA at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar).  The nearby operators were very happy with this choice as the blower-type system was very loud.  And, with no moving parts, the Air Wipe was able to remove the maintenance requirements for the blower system and used a much smaller footprint.  Also, we use a split design to mount the Standard Air Wipe around the outside of the pipe without cutting into the extruded lengths.

With the creation of the EXAIR Standard Air Wipes; uniform cleaning, cooling, and blowing around the outside of parts is a simple task.  You don’t have to worry about many nozzles to target the circumference, or a fabricated blow-off device that will waste time and money.  At EXAIR, we offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee for U.S. and Canadian customers.  This customer used the 30-day trial to try the Standard Air Wipe.  After the testing, they will now purchase the model 2491 11” Standard Air Wipe Kit for their largest pipe.  You can order them from our website at www.EXAIR.com or call us at 800-903-9247.  If you need help in selecting the proper size for your application, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR for help. 

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