Tag: air consumption

Calculating Return On Investment with EXAIR Products

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Just because something works, doesn’t necessarily mean it works as well as it could. We talk to folks every day who have compressed air-operated devices that work OK, but they’re loud. Or they’re not compliant with safety regulations. Or they use too much compressed air. EXAIR has solutions to all of those issues, but it’s that last one that I want to spend some time on today.

A caller was using a drilled pipe to clean blow off a conveyor – it was 36″ wide, so the pipe had (72) 1/16″ diameter holes drilled, one every 1/2″ along the pipe length. It used compressed air at a rate of 261 SCFM with a supply pressure of 60psig. We can use a US Department of Energy thumb rule which states that it costs $0.25 to generate 1,000 Standard Cubic Feet of compressed air to determine the annual operating cost of this drilled pipe, which they operate eight hours a day, 250 days a year:

261 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 8 hr/day X 250 days/yr X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $7,830.00 annual cost

Here’s a typical drilled pipe that we tested for a customer in our Efficiency Lab.

A 36″ Super Air Knife only uses 82.8 SCFM @60psig. Using the same math:

82.8 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 8 hr/day X 250 days/yr X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $2,484.00 annual cost

Super Air Knife drying fruits and vegetables

Now we have the data to use our Return on Investment calculation:

Gain from investment: $7,830.00 (drilled pipe cost) – $2,484.00 (Super Air Knife cost) = $5,346.00

Cost of investment: 2024 price for a Model 110036 36″ Aluminum Super Air Knife = $938.00

A 470% annual return is spectacular by any measure. To further put that in perspective, let’s calculate how long it takes for the Air Knife to pay for itself. The 36″ Aluminum Super Air Knife costs $938.00 (2024 price), and the annual savings in compressed air cost are $5,346.00:

$938.00 (spent) ÷ $5,346.00 (saved/yr) = 0.18 years

Since we used 250 days – 5 days/week for 52 weeks, less 10 days for holidays, maintenance, etc.:

0.18 years X 250 days/year = 45 days

So, in about a month and a half, they saved as much as they spent on the Super Air Knife. We’ve worked with customers who have seen their return on investment in just a few days, or as long as a year or so. Regardless, if it costs less to operate, you’re still moving in the right direction. If you’d like to find out how much you can save – and how fast you can pay off your investment – you can do the math above, or you can use our Online Calculators, or you can give me a call.

Oh, and if you don’t have the air consumption data on what you’re using now, we can measure that for you in our Efficiency Lab. It’s a free service we offer, without obligation to purchase anything, for anyone who wants to know the performance level of their air-operated blow off devices.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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EXAIR Wireless Digital Flow Meters Monitor Compressed Air Use

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Would you like the ability to monitor your plants compressed air usage from one convenient location?  If the answer is yes, EXAIR has just the solution to fit your needs, EXAIR’s Digital Flow Meter with Wireless Capability.

Wireless capability is an option for EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter’s.  It is the efficient way to monitor your compressed air consumption wirelessly utilizing the ZigBee® mesh network.  This is accomplished by a module located within the meter that transmits data to an ethernet connected gateway.  Each meter has a range up to 100 feet (30 meters), however the ZigBee mesh network protocol is very versatile as it allows data to also be transmitted from meter to meter, effectively extending the distance over which the system can operate.  So large facilities with great distances to cover are not a problem.

Digital Flowmeter w/ Wireless Capability, Gateway, and Drill Guide Kit

The Digital Flowmeter with Wireless Capability is offered in a kit with a wireless output flow meter, wireless to ethernet gateway, drill guide, power supplies for each component, and ethernet cable for gateway connectivity.  These kits are best suited for new installations.  They are also available without a gateway if you are simply adding an additional meter to a pre-existing Gateway in your plant.  EXAIR simplifies this process by configuring each gateway to communicate with the flowmeter to provide the necessary communication for monitoring your system.  Models from 1/2″ to 4″  iron pipe are in stock. 5″, 6″ iron pipe,  copper pipe ranging from 3/4″ to 4″ diameter and aluminum pipe from 25mm to 101mm diameter are available with short lead time as a special product offering.  Each digital flowmeter is calibrated for the pipe size to which it is mounted and the large digital display shows air use in either SCFM or Cubic Meters per Hour.

Setting up the EXAIR Digital Flow Meter with Wireless Capability is super easy.  After the meter is installed download the graphing software from our website and install on your computer.  There is also a video tutorial posted in the previous blog from Tyler Daniel, Video Blog: EXAIR’s New Wireless Digital Flowmeter Installation.

The Digital Flowmeter with Wireless Capability is designed for permanent or temporary mounting to the pipe.  It requires the user to drill two small holes through the pipe using the optional drill guide which includes the drill bit and locating fixture.  The two flow sensing probes of the flowmeter are inserted into these holes.  The unit seals to the pipe once the clamps are tightened.  No cutting, welding, adjustments or calibration are needed, ever!  If the unit needs to be removed, blocking rings are available for the 1/2″ to 4″  iron pipe sizes from stock with other sizes available on short lead time as special orders.

If you have questions on Digital Flowmeter’s, Digital Flowmeter’s with Wireless Capability or need expert advice on safe, quiet and efficient point of use compressed air products give us a call.   We would enjoy hearing from you!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Air Nozzles and Air Jets: An Overview

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

One of the simplest solutions to lower your air consumption and noise level when it comes to compressed air is to switch your open tubes or pipes and liquid nozzles which are being used for air applications to an engineered compressed air nozzle. EXAIR’s Engineered Air Nozzles and Jets provide a simple solution for a wide variety blow off and compressed air applications and can solve a multitude of process problems efficiently. These applications can include simple blow offs, cooling, part ejection, and much more.

Super Air Nozzles:
Super Air Nozzles are one of the more versatile of all of EXAIR’s Engineered Air Nozzles. They come in many different sizes from a tiny size of M4 threads and 13 millimeters long to the largest with  1-1/4 NPT threads which has a 2″ hex and is almost 5″ long. These are usually used for standard blow off applications that replace open pipes to reduce your air consumption and noise. The force values vary from 2 ounces to 23 pounds of force. 

Another variation of the Super Air Nozzles is the Flat Super Air Nozzles; these nozzles create a small flat curtain of air at a high force to provide a wider blow off area for smaller NPT sized nozzles. The 1” and 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle also have replaceable shims that allow you to adjust the force coming out of the nozzle by increasing the amount of air that is used.   

EXAIR Air Nozzles

Back Blow Air Nozzles:
Back Blow Air Nozzles are designed in a way that blows that makes it easy to blow out the inside of pipes. The Back Blow Air Nozzles have holes around the outside diameter pointed back that creates a cone of air around the air inlet port. This makes it easy to dislodge clogs in pipes that you don’t want going back into the machine and for blowing out liquid and debris from the inside. They are also commonly used with EXAIR’s Chip Shield as to prevent any particles from flying back and hitting the user. Back Blow Air Nozzles come in three sizes: M4, ¼”, and 1” and can be used on inside diameters ranging from ¼” to 16”. 

EXAIR Back Blow Air Nozzles

Super Air Nozzle Clusters:
Super Air Nozzle Clusters use a number of the ¼” Super Air Nozzles to create one nozzle that has a wider cone and larger force. Clusters are usually used in wide area blow off but can also be used for part cooling and part reject as they do supply a wider area of force. Super Air Nozzle Clusters are sized by the number of nozzles in the cluster; the three sizes that we offer are 4-nozzle cluster (3/8” NPT inlet), 7-nozzle cluster (1/2” NPT inlet), and the 12-nozzle cluster (1” NPT inlet). 

EXAIR Super Air Nozzle Cluster

Air Jets:
Air Jets amplify the total volume of air into a high velocity stream of air. This makes it very useful for blowing off/drying applications and cooling applications due to the higher volume of air flowing through the unit. Air Jets come in two variations which are the High Velocity Air Jet and the Adjustable Air Jets. The High Velocity Air Jet uses a 0.015” shim that allows the air to escape the unit at a high velocity laminar flow to entrain the surrounding ambient air; this can be adjusted down using the shim kit which includes a 0.006” and 0.009” shims. The Adjustable Air Jet allows the user to easily adjust the air gap using the micrometer gap indicator. 

EXAIR Air Jets

If you have any questions about compressed air systems or want more information on any of EXAIR’s products, give us a call, we have a team of Application Engineers ready to answer your questions and recommend a solution for your applications.

Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Opportunities to Save On Compressed Air

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

Since air compressors use a lot of electricity to make compressed air, it is important to use the compressed air as efficiently as possible.  EXAIR has six simple steps to optimize your compressed air system.  (Click HERE to read).  Following these steps will help you to cut your overhead costs and improve your bottom line.  In this blog, I will cover a few tips that can really help you to save compressed air.

To start, what is an air compressor and why does it cost so much in electricity?  There are two types of air compressors, positive displacement and dynamic.  The core components for these air compressors is an electric motor that spins a shaft.  Like with many mechanical devices, there are different efficiencies.  Typically, an air compressor can put out anywhere from 3 SCFM per horsepower to 5 SCFM per horsepower.  (EXAIR settles on 4 SCFM/hp as an average for cost calculations.)  Equation 1 shows you how to calculate the cost to run your air compressor.

Equation 1:

Cost = hp * 0.746 * hours * rate / (motor efficiency)

where:

Cost – US$

hp – horsepower of motor

0.746 – conversion KW/hp

hours – running time

rate – cost for electricity, US$/KWh

motor efficiency – average for an electric motor is 95%.

As an example, a manufacturing plant operates a 100 HP air compressor in their facility.  The cycle time for the air compressor is roughly 60%.  To calculate the hours of running time per year, I used 250 days/year at 16 hours/day.  So operating hours equal 250 * 16 * 0.60 = 2,400 hours per year.  The electrical rate for this facility is $0.08/KWh. With these factors, the annual cost to run the air compressor can be calculated by Equation 1:

Cost = 100hp * 0.746 KW/hp * 2,400hr * $0.08/KWh / 0.95 = $15,077 per year in just electrical costs.

There are two major things that will rob compressed air from your system and cost you much money.  The first is leaks in the distribution system, and the second is inefficient blow-off devices.   To address leaks, EXAIR offers an Ultrasonic Leak Detector.  The Ultrasonic Leak Detector can find hidden leaks to fix. That quiet little hissing sound from the pipe lines is costing your company.

A University did a study to find the percentage of air leaks in a typical manufacturing plant.  For a poorly maintained system, they found on average that 30% of the compressor capacity is lost through air leaks.  Majority of companies do not have a leak preventative program; so, majority of the companies fall under the “poorly maintained system”.  To put a dollar value on it, a leak that you cannot physically hear can cost you as much as $130/year.  That is just for one inaudible leak in hundreds of feet of compressed air lines.  Or if we take the University study, the manufacturing plant above is wasting $15,077 * 30% = $4,523 per year.

The other area to check is air consumption.  A simple place to check is your blow-off stations.  Here we can decide how wasteful they can be.  With values of 4 SCFM/hp and an electrical rate of $0.08/KWh (refence figures above), the cost to make compressed air is $0.25 per 1000 ft3 of air.

One of the worst culprits for inefficient air usage is open pipe blow-offs.  This would also include cheap air guns, drilled holes in pipes, and tubes.  These devices are very inefficient for compressed air usage and can cost you a lot of money.  As a comparison, a 1/8” NPT pipe versus an EXAIR Mini Super Air Nozzle.  (Reference below).  As you can see, by just adding the EXAIR nozzle to the end of one pipe, the company was able to save $1,872 per year.  That is some real savings.

 By following the Six Steps to optimize your compressed air system, you can cut your energy consumption, improve pneumatic efficiencies, and save yourself money.  With the added information above, you can focus on the big contributors of waste.  If you would like to find more opportunities to save compressed air, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We will be happy to help.

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