Tag: air blow off

Press Release – EXAIR’s CE Compliant VariBlast® Precision Safety Air Gun

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EXAIR’s VariBlast® Precision Safety Air Guns provide a focused blast of air capable of handling tough jobs with remarkable strength. This CE compliant, lightweight air gun uses an engineered valve for variable flow.  It can produce an adjustable force on a target simply by pulling the trigger in a variety of positions.  You can generate higher or lower force as needed for an application.  

A comfortable, full-finger trigger and a convenient hanger loop are built into the Variblast Precision Safety Air Gun.  It has a ¼ NPT female compressed air inlet at the base of the handle, with an option for a BSP threaded adapter.  The VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun is compatible with various nozzles to allow configuration for unique processes. One of the unique features are the replaceable extensions.  They come standard with a 6” (152mm) extension.  For greater reach, we offer a 12″ (305mm) or a 20″ (508mm) extension for a longer reach.  The body is made of high-impact, glass-reinforced nylon to resist breakage.  They can also be outfitted with an impact-resistant polycarbonate Chip Shield.  In combination with the EXAIR Safety Air Nozzles, the airflow that exits the nozzle can’t be blocked, ensuring safe operation and compliance with OSHA standard 1910.242(b). Also, the Precision air gun has a low noise level, only 75 dBA, which is well below the limits of the OSHA noise exposure standard, 29 CFR 1910.95(a).  EXAIR strives to manufacture safe and efficient safety air guns, and the VariBlast Precision fits that bill.  

EXAIR’s complete line of Safety Air Guns is CE compliant and guarantees high performance and safety.  A substandard blow-off gun is unsafe, loud, and wastes compressed air.  They are subject to dangerous conditions and OSHA fines.  EXAIR Safety Air Guns can help improve the situation in all these areas.  EXAIR stocks a wide range of safety air guns for almost any blow-off application.  We stock units ranging from our smallest size; the VariBlast Precision Safety Air Guns, up to our largest size; the TurboBalst Safety Air Guns.  If you would like to discuss your blow-off application in a safe and efficient manner, an Application Engineer will be able to help you.         

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

Contact Angle and Wettability

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Proper position on Super Air Knives

EXAIR has been selling high-efficiency, hard-hitting compressed air products since 1983 for the purpose of drying and cleaning materials with compressed air.  The laminar airflow allows for a consistent force in the same direction, which is beneficial for effective cleaning and drying.  If we look closer at the surface of the material and how liquids interact, we can get a better understanding. 

First, let’s look at the atoms of a solid.  Since the atoms are tightly packed and arranged in a stable format, the forces are even around each atom, except for the atoms on the outside surface.  These forces are unequal, so they will generate an imbalance, which is called surface tension.  This surface tension will have an atomic interface with other objects.  Let’s look at a liquid.  Liquid is a substance that flows readily.  Since it can flow, the surface tension on the outside will create a sphere in space.  So, what happens when these two surfaces interact? 

If we look at a liquid, we can place a drop on a solid surface.  If the surface tension of the solid is weaker than the surface tension of the liquid, then the liquid will bead up.  If the solid has a strong surface tension compared to the liquid’s surface tension, then it will lay flat or wet out.  This phenomenon is important to know if you want things like liquids to wet out with inks and paints versus having the liquid bead up with waterproof materials. 

We can measure how much force the solid surface is exerting when interacting with the liquid by the contact angle (refer to the photo above).   This angle will indicate the wettability of the fluid.  For a contact angle greater than 90o, the surface would be considered non-wettable with that liquid.  If the contact angle is less than 90o, then the liquid will wet out onto the surface.  For water, we have a variety of degrees of interaction as related to contact angles:

  • >150o – Super-hydrophobic
  • 90o – 150o – hydrophobic
  • 30o – 90o – normal wetting
  • 10o – 30o – hydrophilic
  • <10o – Super-hydrophilic

Why is this important to know?  For drying and cleaning applications, it is beneficial to know how easy or difficult the liquid is to remove from the material.  If the contact angle is greater than 90o, then we can help the customer adjust the blowing angle and reduce the air pressure to save money because the liquid is easy to remove.  If the contact angle is less than 90o, then we can adjust the angle to be more direct as well as increase the force level to increase effectiveness. 

How does this apply to EXAIR products?  We are the market leaders for non-contact drying and cleaning.  For applications where you need to remove as much water as possible for quicker heating cycles, to reduce labor costs when cleaning parts, or to quickly dry surfaces for labels and print quality, EXAIR has a variety of blow-off products; like the Super Air Knife.  Within these product lines, we offer a kit that includes a regulator and a shim set to vary the force levels to tackle the different degrees of wettability.  EXAIR is a proponent of using the least amount of air to “do the job”.  The regulator can make fine adjustments to the force levels while the shims will make a coarse adjustment.  So, depending on the contact angles, you can “dial in” the correct amount of force to clean and dry your products.  What could be better than this?  For U.S. and Canadian customers, EXAIR offers a 30-day unconditional guarantee on our cataloged items to try them out.  You can see for yourself how effective and efficient our products are.  If you would like to speak to an Application Engineer about your drying or cleaning application, we would be happy to make a recommendation to help solve your issues. 

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

EXAIR Efficiency Lab at Your Service

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

I couldn’t count the number of times we have written a blog about the EXAIR Efficiency Lab because its that cool, unlike the number of wins the Cincinnati Reds have right now. I can count that on two hand 10………10-26 as of writing this blog and I could go on and on about the pain but I will spare you the tears and write about how amazing the Efficiency lab is for any company that utilizes compressed air!

Is the Mascot signing something? Or hanging his head? We will never Know!

First – what is the EXAIR Efficiency Lab? Well several years ago EXAIR created a free program called the Efficiency Lab.  This program is to compare your current pneumatic blow-off device with an EXAIR engineered product.  The values we compare are air consumption, noise level and force. We generate a detailed report to send to you for review.  It is a free service that EXAIR provides for U.S. and Canadian companies to know more details about solutions you are currently using in your processes.

The EXAIR Efficiency Lab

Why do we offer this?  Air Compressors demand significant electrical power and compressed air is considered to be a fourth utility within plants and industries.  Many people do not realize the cost and safety concerns when using improper blow-off devices.  As an example, if you look at a single 1/8” open pipe for blowing compressed air, it can cost you over $2,000 a year to operate.  This will add to your overhead and cut profits.  Another reason to consider your blow-off device is that compressed air can be dangerous.  With that same 1/8” open pipe, it can violate OSHA standards for noise exposure and dead-end pressure.  In deciding your “vehicle” for blowing compressed air, cheap is not typically best option.  To put it in other terms, a cheap nozzle is like a cheap old car, it’s cheap because it gets 3 MPG with faulty brakes.

With our Efficiency Lab, a comparison it is quite simple to do.  An easy way is to call us and explain the details. These details can be data such as the inside diameter and length of a an open tube you are using, or the actual performance data of a cheap air nozzle you have chosen to use. Perhaps the easiest way to make the comparison is to let EXAIR do it – send in your blowoff product or a sample of the tube, nozzle, modified fitting, etc. We will then put them through our testing process. You can also fill out our Product Efficiency Survey on our website to give the conditions for testing. 

We will run the tests at the specified conditions or in a range of settings.  We will then return your pneumatic device back to you at our cost with a detailed report of the comparison.  Your information will be confidential, and we will not share it without your permission.  We will also provide a simple ROI – many customers like to use this report to show managers, executives, HSE, etc. on the improvements that EXAIR can provide including cost savings and safety.

How do we do the Efficiency Lab?  We use calibrated equipment and standardized procedures to test for noise levels, flow usage, and force measurements.  We will recommend an EXAIR engineered solution as a replacement to your current device to do the comparison.  With the analytical information, we can also figure the total amount of air savings, return on investment, payback period and safety improvements.

Don’t Swing and miss…. (Like the Reds)  You do not want to sacrifice safety, time, and money with a sub-standard product.  Let EXAIR solve this dilemma with our free service; the Efficiency Lab.  Take advantage of our expertise by using the Efficiency Lab service, we will provide you a detailed report with a comparison analysis to make a great choice. 

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

Send me an Email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

Reds Image Provided by IndyDina with Mr. Wonderful via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

EXAIR’s Efficiency Lab Shows How Much Compressed Air You Can Save

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment
The EXAIR Efficiency Lab

EXAIR has been manufacturing compressed air products since 1983, and we created a culture of making high quality products that are safe, effective, and very efficient.  Since we stand by our products, we created a program called the Efficiency Lab.  This program is to compare your current pneumatic blow-off device with an EXAIR engineered product.  The values we compare are air consumption, noise level and force. We generate a detailed report to send to you for review.  It is a free service that EXAIR provides for U.S. and Canadian companies to know more details about solutions you are currently using in your processes.

Why do we offer this?  Air Compressors demand significant electrical power and compressed air is considered to be a fourth utility within plants and industries.  Many people do not realize the cost and safety concerns when using improper blow-off devices.  As an example, if you look at a single 1/8” open pipe for blowing compressed air, it can cost you over $2,000 a year to operate.  This will add to your overhead and cut profits.  Another reason to consider your blow-off device is that compressed air can be dangerous.  With that same 1/8” open pipe, it can violate OSHA standards for noise exposure and dead-end pressure.  In deciding your “vehicle” for blowing compressed air, cheap is not typically best option.  To put it in other terms, a cheap nozzle is like a cheap old car, it’s cheap because it gets 3 MPG with faulty brakes.

With our Efficiency Lab, a comparison it is quite simple to do.  For starters, you can go to our Product Efficiency Survey on our website to give the conditions for testing.  If you wish for a side by side analysis, you can place your pneumatic device (nozzle, open tube, modified fitting, etc.) in a box and send it to EXAIR.  We will run the tests at the specified conditions or in a range of settings.  We will then return your pneumatic device back to you at our cost with a detailed report of the comparison.  Your information will be confidential, and we will not share it without your permission.  We will also provide a simple ROI – many customers like to use this report to show managers, executives, HSE, etc. on the improvements that EXAIR can provide in cost savings and safety.

How do we do the Efficiency Lab?  We use calibrated equipment and standardized procedures to test for noise levels, flow usage, and force measurements.  We will recommend an EXAIR engineered solution as a replacement to your current device to do the comparison.  With the analytical information, we can also figure the total amount of air savings, return on investment, payback period and safety improvements.

Don’t be fooled; not all blow off devices are the same.  You do not want to sacrifice safety, time, and money with a sub-standard product.  Let EXAIR solve this dilemma with our free service; the Efficiency Lab.  Take advantage of our expertise by using the Efficiency Lab service, we will provide you a detailed report with a comparison analysis to make a great choice. 

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

Send me an Email
Find us on the Web 
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_JS