There are so many uses for compressed air in industry that it would be difficult to list every one of them as the list would be exhaustive. Some of the uses are the tools used in production lines, assembly & robotic cells, painting, chemical processing, hospitals, construction, woodworking and aerospace.
It is considered as important as water, electricity, petroleum based fuels and often referred to as the fourth utility in industry. The great advantage of compressed air is the high ratio of power to weight or power to volume. In comparison to an electric motor compressed air powered equipment is smoother. Also compressed air powered equipment generally requires less maintenance, is more reliable and economical than electric motor powered tools. In addition they are considered on the whole as safer than electric powered devices.
Even amusement parks have used compressed air in some capacity in the operation of thrill rides like roller coasters or to enhance the “wow factor” of certain attractions. Compressed air can be found in your dentist’s office where it is used to operate drills and other equipment. You will find compressed air in the tires on your car, motorcycle and bicycles. Essentially, if you think about it, compressed air is being used nearly everywhere.
Here at EXAIR, we manufacture Intelligent Compressed Air Products to help improve the efficiency in a wide variety of industrial operations. Whether you are looking to coat a surface with an atomized mist of liquid, conserve compressed air use and energy, cool an electrical enclosure, convey parts or bulk material from one location to another or clean a conveyor belt or web, chances are we have a product that will fit your specific need.
Atomizing Nozzles Can Apply Even CoatingsAir Amplifiers pull in a large volume of ambient air to increase air flow volume and are great for cooling applications!For conveying heavy or abrasive products the Heavy Duty Threaded Line Vacs have male NPT Threads to make permanent and rigid installation into a piping system a breeze.
If you would like to discuss quiet, efficient compressed air products, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call.
For properly designed compressed air systems, air compressors will use primary storage tanks, or receivers. They are necessary to accommodate for fluctuations in airflow demand and to help prevent rapid cycling of the air compressor. (Reference: Advanced Management of Compressed Air – Storage and Capacitance) There are two types of primary receivers, a wet receiver tank and a dry receiver tank. The wet receiver is located between the air compressor and the compressed air dryer where humid air and water will be stored. The dry receiver is located after the compressed air dryer. In this blog, I will be reviewing the wet receivers and their requirements as a storage tank.
Air compressors discharge hot humid air created by the internal compression. A byproduct of this compression is water. By placing a wet receiver on the discharge side of the air compressor, this will create a low velocity area to allow the excess water to fall out. It will also give the hot air time to cool, allowing the compressed air dryers to be more effective. With wet receivers, it will reduce cycle rates of your air compressors for less wear and store compressed air to accommodate for flow fluctuations in your pneumatic system.
But, there are some disadvantages with a wet receiver. For compressed air dryers, it is possible to exceed the specified flow ratings. If the demand side draws a large volume of air from the supply side, the efficiency of the compressed air dryers will be sacrificed, allowing moisture to go downstream. Another issue with the wet receiver is the amount of water that the air compressor is pumping into it. As an example, a 60 HP air compressor can produce as much as 17 gallons of water per day. As you can see, it would not take long to fill a wet receiver. So, a condensate drain is required to get rid of the excess water.
Condensate drains come in different types and styles. They are connected to a port at the bottom of the wet receiver where the water will collect. I will cover the most common condensate drains and explain the pros and cons of each one.
Manual Drain – A ball valve or twist drain are the least efficient and the least expensive of all the condensate drains. The idea of having personnel draining the receiver tanks periodically is not the most reliable. In some cases, people will “crack” the valve open to continuously drain the tank. This is very inefficient and costly as compressed air is being wasted.
Timer Drain Valves – These valves have an electric timer on a solenoid to open and close a two-way valve or a ball valve. The issue comes in trying to set the correct time for the open and close intervals. During seasonal changes, the amount of water going into the wet receiver will change. If the timer is not set frequent enough, water can build up inside the receiver. If too frequent, then compressed air is wasted. Compared to the manual valve, they are more reliable and efficient; but there is still potential for compressed air waste.
Timer Relay
No-waste Drains – Just like the name, these drains are the most efficient. They are designed with a float inside to open and close a drain vent. What is unique about the float mechanism is that the drain vent is always under water. So, when the no-waste drain is operating, no compressed air is being lost or wasted; only water is being drained. The most common problem comes with rust, sludge, and debris that can plug the drain vent.
All wet receivers require a condensate drain to remove liquid water. But, the importance for removing water without wasting compressed air is significant for saving money and compressed air. EXAIR also has a line of Intelligent Compressed Air® products that can reduce your compressed air waste and save you money. You can contact an Application Engineer for more details.
My colleague, Lee Evans, wrote a blog about calculating the size of receiver tanks within a compressor air system. (You can read it here: Receiver Tank Principle and Calculations). But, what if you want to use them in remote areas or in emergency cases? During these situations, the air compressor is not putting any additional compressed air into the tank. But, we still have potential energy stored inside the tanks similar to a capacitor that has stored voltage in an electrical system. In this blog, I will show how you can calculate the size of receiver tanks for applications that are remote or for emergency systems.
From Lee Evans’ blog, Equation 1 can be adjusted to remove the input capacity from an air compressor. This value is Cap below. During air compressor shutdowns or after being filled and removed, this value becomes zero.
Receiver tank capacity formula (Equation 1)
V = T * (C – Cap) * (Pa) / (P1-P2)
V – Volume of receiver tank (cubic feet)
T – Time interval (minutes)
C – Air requirement of demand (cubic feet per minute)
Cap – Compressor capacity (cubic feet per minute)
Pa – Absolute atmospheric pressure (PSIA)
P1 – Tank pressure (PSIG)
P2 = minimum tank pressure (PSIG)
Making Cap = 0, the new equation for this type of receiver tank now becomes Equation 2.
Receiver tank capacity formula (Equation 2)
V = T * C * (Pa) / (P1-P2)
With Equation 2, we can calculate the required volume of a receiver tank after it has been pre-charged. For example, EXAIR created a special Air Amplifier to remove toxic fumes from an oven. The Air Amplifier was positioned in the exhaust stack and would only operate during power failures. In this situation, product was being baked in an oven. The material had toxic chemicals that had to cross-link to harden. If the power would go out, then the product in the oven would be discarded, but the toxic fumes had to be removed. What also doesn’t work during power outages is the air compressor. So, they needed to have a receiver tank with enough volume to store compressed air. From the volume of the oven, we calculated that they need the special Air Amplifier to operate for 6 minutes. The compressed air system was operating at 110 PSIG, and the Air Amplifier required an average air flow of 10 cubic feet per minute from the range of 110 PSIG to 0 PSIG. We are able to calculate the required receiver volume to ensure that the toxic fumes are evacuated from the oven in Equation 2.
Receiver tank capacity formula (Equation 2)
V = T * C * Pa / (P1 – P2)
V = 6 minutes * 10 cubic feet per minute * 14.7 PSIA / (110 PSIG – 0 PSIG)
V = 8 cubic feet.
Receiver tanks are more commonly sized in gallons. In converting 8 cubic feet to gallons, we get a 60-Gallon Receiver Tank. EXAIR recommended the model 9500-60 to be used near the oven to operate the special Air Amplifier during power outage.
Another way to look at Equation 2 is to create a timing equation. If the volume of the tank is known, we can calculate how long a system will last. In this example for scuba diving, we can use this information to configure the amount of time that a tank will last. The diver has a 0.39 cubic feet tank at a pressure of 3,000 PSIG. I will use a standard Surface Consumption Rate, SCR, at 0.8 cubic feet per minute. If we stop the test when the tank reaches a pressure of 1,000 PSIG, we can calculate the time by using Equation 3.
Receiver tank timing formula (Equation 3):
T = V * (P1 – P2) / (C * Pa)
T – Time interval (minutes)
V – Volume of receiver tank (cubic feet)
C – Air demand (cubic feet per minute)
Pa – Absolute atmospheric pressure (PSIA)
P1 – Initial tank pressure (PSIG)
P2 – Ending tank pressure (PSIG)
By placing the values in the Equation 3, we can calculate the time to go from 3,000 PSIG to 1,000 PSIG by breathing normal at the surface.
T = 0.39 cubic feet * (3,000 PSIG – 1,000 PSIG) / (0.8 cubic feet per minute * 14.7 PSIA)
T = 66 minutes.
What happens if the diver goes into deeper water? The atmospheric pressure, Pa, changes. If the diver goes to 100 feet below the surface, this is roughly 3 atmospheres or (3 * 14.7) = 44.1 PSIA. If we use the same conditions above except at 100 feet below, the time will change by a third, or in looking at Equation 3:
T = 0.39 cubic feet * (3,000 PSIG – 1,000 PSIG) / (0.8 cubic feet per minute * 44.1 PSIA)
T = 22 minutes.
If you have any questions about using a receiver tank in your application, you can contact an EXAIR Application Engineer. We will be happy to solve for the proper volume or time needed for your application.
Recently, I worked with a production engineer at a Tier 1 supplier for the auto industry. An upcoming project was in the works to install a new line to produce headlight lenses. As a part of the process, there was to be a “De-static / Blow-off” station, where a shuttle system would bring a pair of the parts to a station where they would be blown off and any static removed prior to being transferred to a painting fixture and sent off for painting. For best results, the lenses were to be dust and lint free and have no static charge, ensuring a perfect paint result.
The customer installed a pair of 18″ Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives, to provide coverage of the widest 16″ lens assembly, that were staged in pairs.
The Super Ion Air Knife Kit, and Everything that is Included.
The customer was limited in compressed air supply volume in the area of the plant where this process was to occur. 50 SCFM of 80 PSIG was the expected air availability at peak use times, which posed a problem – the Super Ion Air Knives would need up to 105 SCFM if operated at 80 PSIG. A further review of the design parameters for the process revealed that the system needed to blow air for only 4 seconds and would be off for 25 seconds to meet the target throughput.
This scenario lends itself perfectly to the use of a Receiver Tank. Running all of the design numbers into the calculations, showed that the 60 Gallon Receiver Tank we offer, would allow for a 20 second run-time, and require 13.1 seconds to refill. These figures were well within the requires times, and would allow for the system to work as needed, without having to do anything to the compressed air supply system.
60 Gallon Receiver Tank
The moral of the story is – if you have a process that is intermittent, and the times for and between blow-off, drying, or cooling allows, a Receiver Tank can be used to allow you to get the most of your available compressed air system.
Note – Lee Evans wrote an easy to follow blog that details the principle and calculations of Receiver Tanks, and it is worth your time to read here.
If you would like to talk about any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
