EXAIR’s Research & Development Engineers continue to set a high bar on new product introductions, and our Marketing team continues to keep pace with them to get information about those new products to users who will benefit most from using them. To that end, a Press Release was issued on February 22, 2023 (coincidentally, a day we call Founder’s Day) to announce our newest video:
With 142 (so far) distinct models, odds are that no matter what you’re spraying, or what you’re spraying it onto (or into), EXAIR has an Air Atomizing Spray Nozzle (or Liquid Atomizing Spray Nozzle, which adds another 35 distinct models to our liquid spraying nozzle offerings) to meet your needs.
If you’d like to find out more about a particular Spray Nozzle, or any of our engineered compressed air products, for that matter, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
It’s not difficult to spray a liquid – oftentimes, you just need to pressurize it and force it out a small(ish) hole, or array of holes, in a nozzle-type device. If your application calls for small droplet size, a consistent & repeatable spray pattern, precise control of the flow rate, pattern size & shape, or the ability to turn the flow on & off, you might be looking for an engineered solution like EXAIR’s Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles.
With 142 distinct models, we can accommodate liquid flow rates as low as 0.14 gallons per hour, to as high as 303 gallons per hour, and patterns as small as 2″ round (at 6″ from the nozzle), and as large as a 13 foot hollow circular pattern.
From Round Patterns (left), to Flat Fan Patterns (middle), to Hollow Circular Patterns (right), EXAIR has Spray Nozzles to suit your liquid spraying needs.
Internal Mix Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles mix the air & liquid internally (just like the name implies), which means that both the air supply pressure, and the liquid supply pressure, will affect the liquid flow rate, and the pattern size. This makes for an incredibly wide range of adjustability. Consider our Model AN1010SS Internal Mix Narrow Angle Round Pattern 1/4 NPT Air Atomizing Spray Nozzle. Let’s say we want to spray about 1-1/2 gallons per hour…that’s about 3 fluid ounces a minute, which is a pretty light mist, comparable to what you might get from a typical trigger spray bottle of kitchen or bath cleaner in your home. We can do that (or thereabouts) at several different combinations of liquid & air supply pressures, highlighted in different colors below:
GREEN: With liquid at 10PSI, and air at 10psig, we can spray this amount with a fairly tight 2.3″ to 5″ diameter, when we get 6 – 15″ (respectively) away from the nozzle tip.
BLUE: If we wanted to widen that out a bit, increasing to 20PSI liquid & 24psig air, the flowrate increases slightly to 1.7 gph (an extra half ounce a minute) but the diameter of the spray pattern increases to a 2.8″ to 6″ diameter.
YELLOW: Increasing the liquid to 30PSI and air to 36psig increases the spray pattern to a 3.0″ to 6.5″ diameter, while keeping the flow rate in the same neighborhood.
ORANGE: At 40PSI liquid & 48psig air, we can get a spray pattern diameter of 3.5″ to 6″ diameter.
We can get a 4″ to 7″ diameter with a little more air & liquid pressure, but that starts to increase the flow rate as well. If we want to keep the flow rate lower and still get a larger pattern, we’ll consider Model AW1010SS Internal Mix Wide Angle Round Pattern 1/4 NPT Air Atomizing Spray Nozzle:
GREEN: Regulating the liquid to 10PSI and air to 10psig, this Wide Angle Round Pattern model now gives us a 7″ to 14″ round pattern…about three times as big as the AN1010SS under the same conditions, with the same liquid flow rate.
BLUE: 20PSI liquid pressure and 20psig air pressure increase the flow pattern to 9″ – 15″ in diameter.
YELLOW: At 30PSI liquid pressure and40psig air pressure, we’re going to ‘max out’ with a 10″ – 16″ diameter round pattern. Further increases in either liquid or air supply pressure will increase the liquid flow rate without appreciably changing the pattern size.
EXAIR has a comprehensive line of Spray Nozzles, engineered for efficiency & ease of operation. If you have a liquid spraying application you’d like to discuss, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
New to EXAIR’s line of Atomizing Nozzles are the FullStream and HollowStream Liquid Only Atomizing Nozzles. This family of nozzles does not require any source of compressed air to operate, just a supply of pressurized liquid.
They produce droplets by spinning the liquid and breaking its surface tension through a precise orifice or by impacting the liquid onto the surface of the nozzle. Compared to EXAIR’s Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles, these nozzles generate more liquid volume and produce a coarser spray pattern. This higher liquid volume is beneficial for industrial applications including cleaning, cooling, rinsing, dust suppression, and washing. Constructed of Type 303 stainless steel, these durable and rugged nozzles are ideal for industrial applications. They’re available in three sizes: ¼ NPT, 3/8 NPT, and ½ NPT for the Fullstream and ¼ NPT & 3/8 NPT for the HollowStream. These nozzles can achieve flowrates ranging from 0.06 GPM and up to 17.64 GPM with the largest ½” NPT FullStream.
This style of nozzle is a good fit for general-purpose applications in industry and will commonly be used to spray inexpensive liquids such as water, rinse aids, or detergents. They’re also effective for spraying a variety of chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides.
Adjustments to the nozzle’s liquid flow rate can be achieved by regulating the liquid pressure supplied to the nozzles. As we increase the liquid pressure, the flow through the nozzle will increase. As the pressure increases, not only do we increase the overall liquid flow rate but also the size of the spray pattern. If tighter control of liquid flow rate is needed, EXAIR’s Air Atomizing Nozzles will provide such level of control over the application of fluids.
The FullStream Cone Nozzles produce a full cone spray pattern and are among the most common style of spray nozzle available on the market today. They produce a uniform distribution of liquid in a cone shaped round pattern. Their tangential flow is vaneless, creating open internal features that are resistant to clogging for liquids with suspended particles.
The HollowStream Cone Nozzles produce a ring of liquid rather than a full cone. As such, their overall liquid flow volume will generally be less than that of the FullStream coutnerparts. Both the FullStream and HollowStream nozzles work very well with liquids containing particulates.
The nozzles are manufactured out of Type 303 stainless steel for durable and rugged applications up to a maximum temperature of 800°F. With absolutely no moving parts, these nozzles are Built to Last. All sizes are available in stock to ship today with an order in by 2:00 EDT.
Once upon a time, there was a process engineer that needed to solve a production issue on a rinsing line. They had used a spray nozzle that had too large of a spray pattern, with too much volume. And used a hollow cone pattern with not enough heat removal…Okay, so maybe I took this a little too far into the fairytales. I have legitimately had a very similar discussion with customers that are trying to find a spray pattern that is “Just Right” for their needs – the Goldilocks discussion of spray patterns. The best part of Atomizing Spray Nozzles from EXAIR is that we do help you find the nozzle that fits your needs. The shape of the spray pattern is one of the key variables that is decided first.
When determining what spray pattern is needed we need to take into account the purpose of the spray, whether it be to coat, rinse, cool, or add humidity. To go along with the purpose we need to understand the geometry of the part/target and whether the part is stationary, is the part moving, or is the nozzle moving. Once those variable are determined then we can select one of the three main spray patterns to drill down the final selection.
FullStream – Round Pattern Liquid Atomizing Nozzle rinsing parts after coating.
Round Pattern – These are found in air atomizing and liquid atomizing. The air atomizing are available in both siphon fed liquid or pressure fed liquid. These are also broken into narrow angle or wide angle round. The diameter of the full cone spray of liquid will expand on both styles however the narrow angle tends stay more concentrated and can often be seen in rinsing, washing or heavy coating applications. Distance from the target that the nozzle can be will also help with whether a wide angle or narrow angle will be needed.
Flat Fan Spray Pattern rinsing parts after a chemical wash.
Flat Fan Pattern – These are currently offered in the air atomizing spray nozzles and both siphon fed or pressure fed options. They are also offered in narrow angle flat fan, wide angle flat fan, and deflected flat fan. These options will all be dictated by the target area needing covered and the distance to the target area. Flat fan pattern nozzles are often used with fine surface finish coatings that are being applied to either moving parts, or with nozzles that move around stationary parts.
Model AT5010SS 1/2 NPT 360° Hollow Circular Pattern Atomizing Spray Nozzles are ideal for smooth, even coatings in large pipe or duct ID’s, or for a mist or fog over a large area.
Hollow Cone – This pattern is available in both liquid atomizing and air atomizing. The liquid atomized hollow stream nozzle is great for rinsing, or washing parts. The center of the cone being hollow can help to conserve liquid where it is not needed. The air atomizing hollow cone 360° nozzle can spray so wide it has been used for inside pipe wall cleaning / coating as well as for dust suppression in large areas.
No matter the application, there is a combination of spray nozzles that should fit “just right”. The Application Engineer team here at EXAIR are all equipped with knowledge and experience to help determine what is needed or at the very least some methods to get to a final solution. If you would like to discuss the needs within your facility, contact us.
