Tag: air conveyor

What’s So Great About the EXAIR Sanitary Flange Line Vacs?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The greatness of EXAIR Line Vac Air Operated Conveyors can be summed up in a simple math(like) formula:

Line Vac + Hose or Pipe + Compressed Air = Instant Conveyor System

Today, dear reader, we’re going to explore the factors that contribute to the particular greatness of our Sanitary Flange Line Vacs:

Common industrial piping connections are difficult to sanitize, and offer ample breeding ground for bacteria.

Clean In Place capability. Many industrial fluid piping installations are made up of threaded or soldered connections, like those shown in the photo to the right. These products are easy to work with, readily available, and relatively inexpensive. They’re also unacceptable in facilities that require frequent cleaning to eliminate contamination – biological and otherwise – from their products & processes. Equipment in pharmaceutical, food production, and dairy farm facilities must be able to be sanitized effectively, so they’ll all use pipe & fittings that comply with specifications set forth in ISO Standard 2852 (Stainless steel clamp pipe couplings for the food industry) specifications for dimensions, surface roughness, materials, and assembly & hygienic requirements. While they’re known by a number of names – Tri-Clamp, Tri-Clover, S-Clamp, Sanitary, 3A, among others – they’re all aimed at compliance with ISO 2852. And EXAIR Sanitary Flange Line Vac products are compatible with any of them.

Sanitary Fittings come in number of configurations for quick & easy “making & breaking” for cleaning.

Diverse range of applications. While food & pharma are, by far, the main users, the ease of connection (and disconnection & reconnection), smooth ID specification for pipe, durability of stainless steel construction, and elimination of seams in fittings are all advantageous for other users as well:

  • A chemical company needed to remove long strands of cotton fiber away from a process, and convey it over a 60ft run to a scrap bin. The smooth ID of sanitary-grade stainless steel piping allows them to use a Model 161150-316 1-1/2″ Sanitary Flange Line Vac for reliable conveyance of this material, with no hang-ups or clogging in the long run of pipe.
  • An ammo manufacturer uses our Model 161200-316 2″ Sanitary Flange Line Vacs to convey small shell casings, in bulk from where they’re pressed, to where they’re loaded. They, too, like the smooth, seam-free pipe for conveyance, and the durability of all stainless steel construction. Another benefit is the quickness and ease of breaking & making the connections, as each Line Vac is used to convey these casings to multiple loading stations.
Sanitary Flange fittings make it easy to keep the inlet of this Model 161150-316 1-1/2″ Sanitary Flange Line Vac protected while not in use (left). The spring-loaded clamp makes it easy to swap out the cap for a barb fitting (middle) for use with a flexible suction hose (right).

Type 316 Stainless Steel Construction. Stainless Steel is specified for material construction for a number of reasons such as durability, aesthetics, and corrosion resistance. There are many alloys, and most will give you the smooth & shiny surface that folks think about when they think of stainless steel. Type 316, due to its hardness and particularly high resistance to chloride pitting corrosion, is extraordinarily popular in food & pharmaceutical application.

EXAIR Sanitary Flange Line Vacs come in four popular sizes, and are ideal for applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries…and others.

If you’ve got bulk material to move from “point A to point B”, EXAIR has a number of solutions to choose from. If you want to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

EXAIR has a Line Vac for your Application!

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

With countless number of different Models to fit every application, EXAIR Line Vacs are used to convey everything from the lightest of packing peanuts to heavy steel shot.  They’re versatile, reliable, durable, and incredibly easy to install and operate. 

Line Vacs are EXAIR’s current promotion too, see the offer here.

EXAIR Line Vacs use a small amount of compressed air to generate a powerful vacuum by a Venturi effect.  The unique design of the generator creates a high velocity of air to create a low pressure on one side and a powerful thrust on the other. The Line Vac can pick up and move solid material from light and fluffy batting to dense, heavy and abrasive material and pieces.  They can transfer product horizontally up to 100 feet (30 meters) away and vertically up to 20 feet (6 meters) high.  You can watch a video on the operation of a Line Vac HERE.  Compared to other vacuum or conveying systems, the EXAIR Line Vacs are very quiet, rugged, and powerful. They are exceptionally simple to install and solve many “bucket and ladder”, loading and scrap removal applications. EXAIR makes a variety of Line Vacs in different sizes, styles, and materials to best fit your application.

The standard Line Vac is the most versatile product in this family.  EXAIR stocks a wide range of sizes, materials, and styles for targeting the best solution for moving material.  We have two types of connections, slip-on ends for hose connections and threaded ends for pipe connection.  EXAIR can swap the connections with a slip-on hose on one end with a threaded connection on the other.  They range in diameters from 3/8” (10mm) up to 5” (127mm).  We manufacture the Line Vacs in aluminum, 303SS, and 316SS; but don’t let that deter you if your need them manufactured in any other type of material.  We have high temperature models that can withstand temperatures up to 900 deg. F (482 deg. C).  These Line Vacs work great in applications for loading plastic pellets in hoppers, discarding scrap pieces, trim removal, and transferring material.  If an operator has to carry a container of dry material and climb stairs, a Line Vac could be a much better alternative.

Heavy Duty Line Vac: Hardened Alloy Construction and High Performance

The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are made from a hardened alloy steel for abrasion resistance.  The generators inside these Line Vacs are more powerful than the standard models; so, that they can also convey heavier materials at higher conveyance rates.  They can reach rates as high as 40 lbs./min. (18.2Kg/min) of material.  With the hardened alloy construction, they are great for sand blasting applications, ceramic, glass and steel shot.  They are manufactured with inlet and outlet connections for ship-on hoses or threaded pipes.  EXAIR stocks the Heavy Duty Line Vacs in the range from ¾” (19mm) to 3” (76mm) for both hose and NPT connections.  These Line Vacs are our most powerful design with great wear resistance.

EXAIR’s Light Duty Line Vac

On the other end of the Line-Vac spectrum, EXAIR also manufactures the Light Duty Line Vac.   They use much less compressed air than the other Line Vacs which work great for moving lightweight materials over short distances.  They can also be used for removing smoke and fumes from a work area.  The Light Duty Line Vac ranges from ¾” (19mm) up to 6” (152mm) diameter for slip-on hose connections.  This two-piece design provides an effective way of moving material at a lower cost.  It can be used in applications like hopper loading, fiber tensioning, filling operations, and smoke removal.   For moving material within a short distance, the Light Duty Line Vac could be the proper product to use.

Model 161200-316 – 316 Stainless Steel Sanitary Flange Line Vac

Our latest engineering design within the Line Vac family is the Sanitary Flange Line Vacs.  They can fit within sanitary piping systems to convert pipes into a useful conveyor for bulk material and waste removal.  They use an ISO2852 flange for easy disassembly and cleaning to reduce bacterial entrapment.  They ae made from 316 stainless steel material for superior corrosion resistance.  They come in four different sizes to fit the sanitary flanges from 1-½” up to a 3” flange.  For sensitive applications where cleanliness is a major requirement, the Sanitary Flange Line Vac are manufactured for these conditions.

We are also able to make custom Line Vacs to mean any application, see an example of some unique to the application Line Vacs here, https://blog.exair.com/2020/07/01/custom-products-for-custom-applications/

With all of the EXAIR Line Vacs above, they can be sold as kits.  A kit will include a filter, regulator and a bracket.  (A bracket is not sold with the Light Duty Line Vac kits.)  The filter will help keep the Line Vac clean as well as the product that it is conveying.  The regulator is a great tool to vary the conveyance rates for better control.  The bracket helps to mount the Line Vac to a sturdy base for support.  A useful accessory to conveniently hide the compact Line Vac for ease of use and operation.

If you have any questions on how our Line Vacs can help save you money give us a call! One of our application engineers will be happy to assist!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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

Intelligent Compressed Air® Products for Produce and the Growing Season

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment
Super Air Knife drying fruits and vegetables

If you are like me and love to garden we are approaching the time of year that we start seeding our longer maturing plants like tomato and pepper plants. I have made my purchases of seeds, plant packs, soil and plant food. I am ready and excited for the gardening season.

EXAIR has many applications where our products help the agricultural industry. The use of our Air Knives, atomizing spray nozzles and Line Vacs help assit in the growing, cleaning and movement of products.

Super Air Knife drying fruits and vegetables

EXAIR Atomizing Spray Nozzles atomize fluids (most commonly water) in a range of spray patterns for a variety of uses. These nozzles can be used to keep soils moist, environments humid and also for cleaning the harvested products. The Atomizing Spray Nozzles come in a variety of sizes, styles and spray patterns and can be sized specifically for your application.

EXAIR Air Knives can also be used for cleaning where moisture is a concern before products are placed in packaging containers. Our Air Knifes come is many stock sizes and styles. EXAIR Air Knives are a great option replacing noisy blow-offs and show noise and air consumption reductions.

EXAIR Line Vacs have been used to move grains, soil, sand, wood chips and other products saving labor. They are ideal for moving large volumes of material over long distances. The material flow rate is easily controlled by the size of the Line Vac and by the use of a pressure regulator. No moving parts or electricity assures maintenance free operation.

High Temperature Line Vac

Just as I am excited to strategize my garden, EXAIR can take the frustration of your projects away and make your life as as exciting and fun as Spring and Summer home gardens. If you have a specific application you would like to discuss you can visit us at www.EXAIR.com or by calling 800.903.9247 and talking to me or any of our qualified Application Engineers.

Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_EK

EXAIR's Threaded Line Vac Family

What’s So Great About Threaded Line Vac Pneumatic Conveyors?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Conveyor systems come in many shapes, sizes, and configurations. They can be run at different speeds, and are made of various materials, depending what they’re carrying, and why they’re carrying it. And sometimes, they’re hilarious:

If you’re looking to move solids, in bulk, through pipe, there’s not a simpler way to do it than with an EXAIR Threaded Line Vac.  Like our ‘standard’ Line Vacs, they use compressed air to generate a powerful vacuum flow to get air behind the pieces and carry them along:

Instant conveyor – just add compressed air.

But, while the ‘standard’ Line Vacs are made for use with Conveyance Hose, the Threaded Line Vacs have male NPT threads so you can pipe them in line.  We have a range of options, depending on the nature of your applications:

  • Sizes: 3/8 NPT to 3 NPT.
  • Materials: aluminum, 303SS, 316SS, and hardened alloy.
  • Performance: aluminum, 303SS and 316SS Threaded Line Vacs are made for standard duty; the hardened alloy Heavy Duty Threaded Line Vacs offer higher vacuum performance as well as superior abrasion resistance.
  • Environment: the materials of construction listed above may be important because of the nature of the product being conveyed, but they also have different temperature ratings.  Our Stainless Steel Line Vacs also come in a High Temperature design, in case the material – or the environment – is particularly hot:
    • Aluminum: 275°F (135°C)
    • Heavy Duty Hardened Alloy: 400°F (204°C)
    • 303 or 316SS: 400°F (204°C)
    • High Temp 303 or 316SS: 900°F (482°C)

If you’ve got a conveyor application you’d like to discuss, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook