Tag: Air Knife

Accessories for Your Compressed Air Products

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

Here at EXAIR we are very proud of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products. We have spent a lot of time discussing their many benefits, including their efficiency, the fact that many have no moving parts, little to no maintenance, meeting or exceeding OSHA safety standards for noise or dead end pressure. One thing we don’t talk as much about is the accessories that go along with and complement our products. Several of these accessory items are the reason why our compressed air products can boast about having little to no maintenance, or reduced noise levels. In this blog I want to cover some of these unsung heroes.

From left to right, a few value-added accessories for your Vortex Tube: Hot Muffler, Cold Muffler, Automatic Drain Filter Separator, Oil Removal Filter, and Solenoid Valve/Thermostat Kit.

Some of the most popular accessories we offer are our compressed air Filters and Regulators. We suggest using these with all our products (or even with ones that aren’t ours).

The Filter Separator is designed to remove moisture, dirt, and rust from your compressed air system. The 5-micron filter element ensures that contaminants don’t clog or harm your compressed air equipment.

An Oil Removal Filter (which should always be installed after our Filter Separator) provides even more precise filtration by getting rid of oil and solid particles with a 0.03-micron element.

Our Pressure Regulators let you choose the operating pressure. At EXAIR, we always advise running at the lowest pressure necessary to complete the task. Pressure Regulators help you achieve that, reducing unnecessary air usage and fine-tuning the performance of EXAIR products for your specific application.

We have some accessories designed specifically for certain products. For our Line Vacs, there’s the Line Vac Hose. You can also find Thermostats and Solenoid Valves that work great with our Cabinet Coolers, and if you’re using Vortex Tubes, we suggest checking out our Mufflers.

When it comes to our Air Knives, we offer a variety of fantastic options:

If you’re looking for a simple and dependable way to mount your Air Knife, our Universal Air Knife Mounting System is just what you need.

If your project needs something longer than our stock Air Knives, or if you want to manage different sections of the air flow separately, our Coupling Bracket Kits are ideal.

And if you want to simplify the plumbing for your Air Knife, don’t miss our Air Knife Plumbing Kits. They’re suitable for all Air Knives that are longer than 24 inches.

If you’re looking for plumbing options, we’ve got a range of compressed air hoses and fittings that will simplify things for you.

Our Coiled Hoses work great with our Safety Air Guns, giving you more freedom of movement while you work.

Our Compressed Air Hoses are often used alongside our Industrial Housekeeping products to provide the necessary reach for the drum and dolly.

Finally, if you’re looking for a way to mount or position your Air Nozzles, check out our Magnetic Bases, Stay Set Hoses, and Swivel Fittings that can help create a complete setup.

No matter what your application requires or the product you need, we’ve got a variety of complementary accessory products that will simplify installation and adjustments. If you have any questions about these or any other EXAIR products, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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What’s So Awful About A Drilled Pipe For A Conveyor Blowoff?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

A technician from a company that performs comprehensive audits of compressed air systems called me with a sad, sad story. A client had just installed a brand-new state-of-the-art rotary scroll compressor with a variable speed drive…they were going all-out on efficiency, which is great. During the technician’s walk-through, however, he noticed a blowoff on a conveyor belt — they actually heard it before they could see it — a black iron pipe with a series of holes drilled along the length, plumbed with compressed air being supplied, unregulated, from a 100psig header.

The pipe was 18″ long and had 30 holes, 1/8″ diameter each, drilled along the length. From the table below, we can presume that this drilled pipe was consuming as much as 475.8 SCFM:

I say “as much as 475.8 SCFM” because the technician noted the holes were simply drilled through, they weren’t rounded, so I calculated the flow from a 1/8″ orifice at 100psig (26.0 CFM) with a 0.61 multiplier for sharp edges orifices. Also, the inlet pressure of the drilled pipe is not known. With a 1″ pipe supplying it, the flow could be limited to around 350 SCFM, due to line loss in the pipe.

The technician first asked about installing Air Nozzles in the drilled pipe. That’d mean drilling those holes out and tapping them individually. This COULD be done, and the drilled pipe could be fitted with 30 Model 1110-PEEK Nano Super Air Nozzles, with an air consumption of 8.3 SCFM @80psig each, for a total of 249 SCFM. That’s a significant reduction, but also a lot of work on the drilled pipe. I recommended replacing it entirely with a Super Air Knife.

A Model 110018 18″ Aluminum Super Air Knife consumes only 52.2 SCFM @80psig — almost an order of magnitude reduction! Let’s do the math on the costs:

First, the drilled pipe: Let’s give all the benefit of the doubt here and assume that the line loss had indeed limited the air consumption to 350 SCFM. Operating 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, and using the US Department of Energy’s estimate that compressed air costs $0.25 per 1,000 Standard Cubic Feet used, the annual operating cost of the drilled pipe was $10,920.00:

350 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 8 hrs/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $10,920.00

Drilling & tapping those holes for EXAIR Nano Super Air Nozzles (8.3 SCFM ea X 30 = 249 SCFM total) would result in an annual operating cost of $7,768.80:

249 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 8 hrs/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $7,768.80

Replacing the drilled pipe with an EXAIR 18″ Super Air Knife (52.2 SCFM) drops the annual operating cost even further, to $1,628.64:

52.2 SCFM X 60 min/hr X 8 hrs/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year X $0.25/1,000 SCF = $1,628.64

To put that further into perspective, the 2025 List Price for an 18″ Aluminum Super Air Knife is $533.00. It costs almost $9,300.00 per year LESS to operate than the drilled pipe. That means the Air Knife will have paid for itself in operating costs in just under 21 days.

To put that even FURTHER into perspective, the ~300 SCFM reduction in compressed air consumption is approximately 75HP worth of a typical industrial air compressor load. It’s not uncommon for a mid-to-large sized company to have more than one air compressor, and 50HP is a common size for a backup compressor. If that was the case in the facility that my technician caller was auditing, he’d be letting them know that this $533.00 investment that’s going to save them over $9,000.00 a year is ALSO going to allow them to shut down one of their air compressors. Completely.

So, THAT’S what’s so awful about a drilled pipe. If you have any in your facility, we should talk.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Have It Your Way: Custom Super Air Knives

Published on by jasonkirbyLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Super Air Knife harnesses compressed air to produce a streamlined sheet of high-velocity air, effectively enhancing various industrial processes. This compressed air interacts with surrounding ambient air, resulting in a significant entrainment ratio of 40:1, which greatly amplifies its efficiency in applications such as drying, cleaning, and cooling. The Super Air Knife is available in lengths from 3 inches to 108 inches and is offered in a range of materials, ensuring that there is a suitable option for nearly any operational requirement. It is particularly advantageous for use in scenarios where products on a conveyor system require cleaning, drying, or cooling, making the Super Air Knife an optimal solution for enhancing productivity and maintaining product quality in diverse manufacturing environments.

EXAIR’s Air Knives are an efficient and highly effective tool for blowoff, cooling, cleaning and drying in a myriad of manufacturing processes. To accommodate the wide variety of unique problems manufacturers face, EXAIR has the ability to customize and tailor Air Knives to different specifications. These Air Knife customizations can range from size, to shape, to material, custom mounting holes and dimensions. They are created to solve distinct manufacturing problems not already solved by the industry’s largest selection of Air Knives. For customers with space limitations, smaller lengths or skinnier profiles can be created. In situations where the knife may need to be installed in a very defined spot, special mounting brackets, or additional/custom sized air inlets can be provided to fit a current system. For applications where stock aluminum, stainless steel or PVDF won’t work, other material options such as CPVC or glass-filled PEEK thermoplastic have been used. Special marking requirements for tying knives to specific machines or critical processes can be accommodated. Unique shapes and profiles, such as double-sided or curved Air Knives, can also be the solution to certain specialized processes. Air Knives are available in Super, Standard and Full-Flow styles, and all versions are customizable to a customer’s specific needs. For help solving any specific blowoff problems, please contact an Application Engineer. All Air Knives are CE compliant, and prices start at $141.

The Super Air Knife is offered in a variety of materials, including aluminum, Type 303 and Type 316 stainless steel, as well as PVDF featuring Hastelloy bolts, making it suitable for highly corrosive environments. While there is a wide selection of off-the-shelf options that can be shipped the same day, not every application can be adequately addressed with standard products. EXAIR, which manages the entire manufacturing process at its facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, maintains significant oversight and flexibility in production. For applications that require more than what is available in stock, we are continuously crafting specialized, customized air knives designed to meet a diverse range of specifications and needs.

Our knives can be custom-manufactured to specific lengths if the standard sizes do not meet your application requirements. We will maintain the same design and size profile while tailoring the knife to the exact length you need, ensuring a perfect fit for your machinery. Additionally, if the dimensional profile of an existing knife is not appropriate for your needs, we have the ability to modify it accordingly. For instance, the Super Air Knife illustrated below features an exceptionally slim design that has been thoroughly optimized to achieve the smallest overall profile possible, demonstrating our commitment to precision and adaptability in our products.

All Super Air Knives are equipped with standard ¼ NPT air inlets and feature ¼-20 tapped holes along the bottom for mounting purposes. However, we recognize that this configuration may not be suitable for every specific application. To address this, we offer customized options that include tailored air inlets and additional mounting holes, allowing for seamless integration with any bespoke bracket. The accompanying image illustrates a modified stainless steel Super Air Knife, showcasing the extra mounting holes that have been precisely machined onto both ends, demonstrating our commitment to meeting diverse customer needs.

We provide a diverse range of knives not only in various shapes and sizes as part of our special offerings but also in stock lengths crafted from a variety of materials. Featured below are two unique knives made from materials that are not typically available on our shelves. On the left, you will find a knife constructed from PVDF, while on the right is a knife made from glass-filled PEEK, complemented by brass hardware and a PTFE shim. This particular application arose when a customer experienced ground interference attributed to the aluminum knife design. In response to their specifications, we successfully machined a knife tailored specifically to meet the requirements of their application, showcasing our commitment to customization and material innovation.

 If you have any questions about the Super Air Knife, or anything regarding EXAIR and our products, please do not hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you!

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

Common Steps for Troubleshooting Underperformance

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

One of my favorite things to do is tackle problems and troubleshoot. Problem-solving is a key skill when working with compressed air, and is something we do daily at EXAIR.

Most of our products are simple to set up and install, requiring minimal maintenance. Still, there are times when various factors can affect performance. The ability to pinpoint these issues and carefully work through each one will yield better outcomes and help them last longer.

One of the first and most crucial things to check is the air pressure that you are operating the device. When we ask users what pressure they’re using, we often hear about the pressure coming from the compressor. However, this is usually not the pressure you’ll find at the point of use. A great way to confirm this is by placing a pressure gauge along with a pipe-tee at the inlet. There are several reasons you might notice pressure drops, such as restrictive fittings, undersized lines, or lack of proper maintenance. If the pressure you see at the inlet is lower than the header pressure, that’s a clear indication that the product is not getting enough compressed air.

If you’ve figured out that there’s a problem with your compressed air supply, the next thing to do is find and fix those restrictions. Common culprits are restrictive fittings like quick connects or push-to-connects. Our 24″ Super Air Knife uses 69.6 SCFM at 80 psig. A 1/2″ quick connect might look big enough, but its smaller ID can throttle the airflow down to 50 SCFM, which would starve the Knife and hurt its performance. Switching this out with a straight fitting would fix this.

Once you’ve taken care of any restrictive fittings, the next step is to replace any undersized lines. Sticking with our 24″ Super Air Knife example, the minimum size for the in feed pipe is 1/2″ for runs of 10′ or less. If the run is longer than 10′ but shorter than 50′, you’ll need to upgrade to a 3/4″ pipe, and for runs up to 100′, you should double the initial pipe size to 1″ to achieve the same results.

The final best practice would be to make sure the compressed air is clean and moisture free. Even the cleanest compressed air systems will accumulate contaminants over time, which can build up and clog the precisely machined EXAIR product. Ensuring that you have point of use filtration with a Filter Separator will keep your products running maintenance free for longer.

If you would like to discuss your application, and see if we can identify any problems that may be impacting your product’s performance, then give us a call at 1-800-903-9247. We’d love to help you get the best out of our products. 

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Banner image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay