Tag: air jet cooling

Compressed Air Problems? Ask An Application Engineer If An EXAIR Super Air Nozzle Is Right For You.

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

A few years back, I had the pleasure of working with a machine shop manager who wanted to reduce the compressed air consumption in their facility. They had ten lathes, machining high-tech plastic products, and used crimped copper tubing to blow off chips and shavings as the parts were turned. They ran continuously — as did the air compressor — which occasionally caused header pressure to drop below the level required for operation of the pneumatic chucks & tool changers.

These cheap and easy blow offs were making things expensive and difficult for the company.

After some discussion and an Efficiency Lab test of one of their crimped tubes, I recommended our Model 1100 1/4 NPT Zinc Aluminum Super Air Nozzles. They’re our most popular engineered Air Nozzle for typical industrial blow-off applications. They generate a forceful, focused blast of air that’s ideal for chip removal on machine tools, and they’re ideally suited for a number of other uses as well. They bought ten (one for each machine) and installed them one afternoon, right before close of business, by cutting the crimps off the copper tubes and fitting them with simple compression fittings. The whole operation took about five minutes. When the machine shop manager arrived the next morning, he was at first alarmed because there was so little noise coming from the shop (he thought something was wrong with the machines) and then impressed when he found all the lathes were running, and the Super Air Nozzles were so much quieter than the crimped tubes.

The copper tube used to have a crimped end that was aimed at the part in the chuck. They simply cut it off and used a compression fitting to install the Super Air Nozzle.

While our Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle is our most popular one, EXAIR makes a wide range of engineered Air Nozzles to meet the needs of almost any blow-off application. If you’re replacing something else, we can test your current device(s) in our Efficiency Lab (like we did the crimped copper tubing here) and determine the Air Nozzle that most closely matches the performance required for your application.

If it’s a new application, we have tools at our disposal for proper product selection too:

  • The Catalog: Our Air Nozzles & Jets catalog section lists them all, from smallest to largest, with performance data, dimensions, and airflow patterns. I actually like to start with the airflow pattern: once we know the size & shape of the needed/desired flow, we can narrow down our selection.
  • Application Database: At last count, we had over 200 blow-off applications written up. Now, that includes Air Nozzles as well as Air Knives, Air Amplifiers, and Safety Air Guns (which have Air Nozzles on them), but keep in mind what I said about picking the size & shape of the airflow.
  • Engineering Assistance: If you’re short on time, find yourself completely stumped, or just want a 2nd opinion on the best product for your application, we’re here from 7am to 4pm Eastern Time to help you over the phone, in a Live Chat, or at an Engineering Consultation web meeting. You can also email techelp@exair.com, 24/7, with details about what you’re after.

At EXAIR, we want to help you get the most out of your compressed air use. If you want to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Revolutionize Your Internal Pipe Cleaning with EXAIR Back Blow Nozzles

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

In industrial manufacturing, cleaning the inside of pipes, tubes, and blind holes has traditionally been a challenge. Standard forward-blowing nozzles often push debris deeper or create safety hazards by ejecting material out the far end. EXAIR solved this problem with their innovative Back Blow Air Nozzles, designed specifically to “wipe” internal surfaces clean by directing airflow backwards toward the operator.

How They Work

These nozzles utilize the Coanda effect to amplify compressed air, entraining surrounding ambient air to create a high-velocity 360-degree cone of air. Because the air is directed back toward the inlet, it pulls coolant, chips, and debris out of the opening rather than forcing them further in.

See the “Back Blow Magic” in Action

Watch this EXAIR video demonstration to see a Back Blow Nozzle clear debris from a plugged pipe in a single pass.

Common Applications

Manufacturers across various industries use these nozzles to improve efficiency and safety. Typical uses include:

  • Machined Part Cleaning: Removing coolant and metal chips from blind holes or internal threads.
  • Hydraulic Cylinder Repair: Cleaning honed bores ranging from 2″ to 16″ in diameter.
  • Tube & Pipe Manufacturing: Clearing debris from long lengths of pipe where forward blowing is impractical.
  • CNC Machining: Quickly cleaning out spindles between tool changes.
  • Electronics Recycling: Removing residual powder from spent toner cartridges.

Key Product Features

  • Material: Manufactured from durable Type 316 Stainless Steel for superior corrosion and wear resistance.
  • Size Range: Available in three sizes—M4, 1/4 NPT, and 1 NPT—covering internal diameters from 1/4″ to 16″.
  • Safety & Compliance: Meets OSHA standards for noise and dead-end pressure.
  • Configurations: Can be mounted on VariBlast, Soft Grip, or Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns with extensions up to 72″ and optional chip shields for operator protection.

Would you like to know which Safety Air Gun model or extension length is best suited for your specific pipe diameter? Give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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The ROI of Engineered Air: Why Your Compressed Air Setup Is Costing You More Than It Should

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

The electrical costs associated with generating compressed air make it the most expensive utility in any industrial facility. In order to help offset these costs, it’s imperative that the system is operating as efficiently as possible. Taking a holistic look at your system, from the distribution piping down to the individual nozzle, reveals several opportunities to reduce your energy footprint without sacrificing performance.

The first and most impactful step is to identify and fix leaks within the distribution piping. According to the Compressed Air Challenge, up to 30% of all compressed air generated is lost through leaks, which can account for nearly 10% of your overall energy costs. These leaks do more than just waste money; they cause a drop in system pressure that forces equipment to cycle on and off more frequently. This leads to rejected products, increased maintenance, and unscheduled downtime. You can perform a professional audit using an EXAIR Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector to pinpoint these losses or hire an energy audit service to lead the process.

Pressure Regulators “dial in” performance to get the job done without using more air than necessary.

While fixing leaks addresses the distribution side, you must also look at how that air is managed at the point of use. Regulating the supply pressure for individual devices is a massive opportunity for savings. Most shop air runs at a default 80-90 PSIG or higher, but many general blowoff applications can be accomplished with the same level of efficiency at 50 or 60 PSIG. By installing pressure regulators at each device, you reduce consumption immediately. For every 2 PSIG you reduce at the compressor, you save approximately 1% in energy costs.

Drilled and soldered copper pipe.

The hardware you choose for these applications is equally critical. Inefficient, homemade solutions like crimped copper tubes are often thought to be cheap, but the cost to supply them with air far outweighs the price of an engineered solution. An engineered nozzle, such as EXAIR’s line of Super Air Nozzles, utilizes the Coanda effect to entrain free ambient air into the stream. This maximizes force while keeping compressed air usage to an absolute minimum.

Finally, the overall health and operation of the system rely on consistent maintenance and simple human intervention. Inadequate compressor maintenance leads to lower efficiency and higher heat, so a regular preventative schedule for heat exchangers, lubricants, and filters is non-negotiable. Beyond mechanical upkeep, the simplest method to save is to shut off the air when it isn’t in use. Whether operators are on lunch or a shift has ended, simply turning a valve to stop the supply of air is a no-brainer that prevents leaks from wasting power during downtime. Each of these steps, while minute on their own, works together to significantly reduce your overall air consumption and energy costs.

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Assistant Application Engineering Manager

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Supporting The Next Generation of Engineers

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

A while back, I was lucky enough to spearhead a donation from EXAIR to The University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub Makerspace. For the past several years, we have been sponsoring the UC Combat Robotics club, which uses the Makerspace to build its bots and learn more about the applications of its course of study. This facility is open to all students who attend the university. The course of study does not matter; the desire to learn appropriate usage of equipment and a determination to create are all that is needed.

The space puts every student through training for safety and manufacturing processes, if needed, and then the students can operate on their own. The staff in the space are often students themselves, or they are people with years of industry experience to share with the students utilizing the space. This 12,000 square-foot makerspace and fab lab is home to a variety of equipment that can all be seen on their equipment listing here. You can go in and learn how to use anything from a sewing machine or soldering iron, all the way up to a 4-axis CNC machine. If you just have an idea and desire to learn, the staff will even train you on how to make the idea come to life and do it all safely in a semi-controlled environment.

When we saw the need for safe, efficient use of compressed air in this space, EXAIR stepped in to help. We outfitted every air drop in the facility and every machine with an EXAIR VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun w/ Chip Shield and Nano Super Air Nozzle. This will help keep all the operators safe by eliminating the risk of exceeding 30 psig dead-end pressure and also reducing the operating noise level to below the OSHA standard of 85 dBA, all the way down to 75 dBA. By keeping the entire facility uniform, they are also able to make purchasing new units easier when they are needed.

We also helped them assemble their new EXAIR Chip Trapper System to help recycle the coolant from their CNC machines and help them extend the life of their cutting fluid by being able to remove all the debris from their sumps, reducing the surface area on which bacteria can grow.

On top of both of these, we helped them to see how easy a Cold Gun is to mount onto the side of virtually any machine in their shop, even the industrial sewing machine, and showed them just how beneficial it can be. There was actually a group of students using one of the stationary belt sanders, and we were able to connect the Cold Gun to the closest air drop, use the magnet to hold it onto the housing of the sander, and position the single-point cold outlet to the contact point to keep the sandpaper and material cooler to prevent loading up of the sandpaper.

These were just a couple of the products we were able to share with them in order to help outfit their space with safe and efficient compressed air products. I’ve condensed the entire event down into a 50-second clip if you would like to watch. I feel like we need some classic Benny Hill music in the background.

I think the best part of this experience for me was the discussion that evolved as we unpacked all the items. We had already had lots of chatter back and forth around what their system is capable of and also what they plan to do with the EXAIR products. Then, as we are unpacking and discussing the capabilities, more applications started to come up. I have a feeling this is just part of what happens in this space. Ideas are born, then brought into fruition, all within these walls.

Special thanks to Benjamin Jones and his team for letting us be part of training the future leaders in the industry.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS
National Business Development Manager

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF