As you might expect, a LOT of things have changed at EXAIR Corporation since 1983. Most of our current senior management had yet to graduate high school, and a fair number of current employees had yet to BE BORN. According to our computer system (another BIG change since 1983), our first ten customers were here in southwest Ohio (#11 was in Michigan), and now, we sell direct across the US & Canada, and our worldwide distributor network offers representation on six continents. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is our founder’s vision of manufacturing quiet, safe, & efficient compressed air products for process improvement in just about any industry that uses compressed air. And THAT, dear reader, continues to gain high profile attention. The photo above shows the seven awards that our products have recently won, which were announced in 2021 or early 2022. Here’s a rundown:
Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Fluid Handling) GOLD AWARD:
1/2 NPT No Drip External Mix Air Atomizing Spray Nozzles
The 1/2 NPT models are the latest addition to our newest product line. The External Mix version offers the highest liquid flow rate, and largest pattern coverage. Among the applications where they’ve excelled so far are:
- Snack food provider – applying flavoring to bulk snack materials.
- Commercial bakery – spraying cooking oil onto pans used in a conveyor oven.
- Sporting goods manufacturer – applying adhesive to the tops of skateboard decks to glue the grip tape on.
Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Material Handling Systems) GOLD AWARD:
2-1/2 NPT 303SS Threaded Line Vac™
For bulk material conveyance, it really doesn’t get any simpler than EXAIR Air Operated Conveyors. Stainless Steel models are especially popular when the environment – or the product – is corrosive, or hot…they’re good to 400F (204C), and can even be modified with High Temperature components for exposure up to 900F (482C). The Threaded versions have been successfully used to:
- Recycle sprinkles applied to wafers into a return hopper in a candy production facility.
- Replacing an auger conveyor to allow for homogenous mixing of grains & supplements in feed stock at an agricultural mill.
- Providing a low cost solution to convey product into a hopper at a grain processing plant.
Plant Engineering 2020 Product of the Year (Maintenance Tools & Equipment) SILVER AWARD
Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Industrial Hygiene-Dust Control) WINNER
Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Health & Safety/Cleanup) PLATINUM
EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac
Like our Spray Nozzles product line, our Industrial Housekeeping Products line has also grown considerably over the years. The Deep Hole Vac-u-Gun and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac were real game changers when they came along, and the EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac Systems are likewise making an impact. Switching from wet to dry operation is, as advertised in the name itself, INCREDIBLY easy. Among our satisfied customers are:
- The owner of a woodworking shop called to order a Heavy Duty HEPA Vac for critical dust containment during cleanup, but “switched” to a Model 6103 55 Gallon HEPA EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac System for the added ability to rapidly empty the water from their dust collector system.
- A lumber yard uses an empty drum with a Model 6201 55 Gallon Deluxe EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac System for general cleanup of sawdust & chips, and also to suction wastewater from various pits & sumps, in and around their facility.
- A fastener manufacturer replaced an electric wet-dry vacuum with a Model 6301 55 Gallon Premium EasySwitch® Wet-Dry Vac System for maintenance & spill cleanup in & around their washers, and for just about everything else they used the electric vacs for.
Occupational Health & Safety 2021 New Product of the Year (Lab Safety) WINNER
Intellistat® Ion Air Gun™
The newest innovation in a long line of EXAIR static elimination solutions, the Model 8500 Intellistat® Ion Air Gun is made for laboratories, clean rooms, medical & electronic applications, and carries an ISO 14644-1 Class 5 rating for clean room use. Because of their rapid decay rates and lightweight construction, they’re used in a diverse range of applications and areas, including:
- A supplier of fiberoptic parts uses an Intellistat® to remove dust and static charge from product prior to packaging.
- A medical device manufacturer has one in a Class 7 clean room for silicone parts cleanliness.
- A nutritional supplements maker uses their Intellistat® to remove static charge & powder residue from the tops of plastic bags before sealing them. The excess/residual powder causes them not to seal correctly.
Machine Design 2021 Big Idea! (Electrical Components) BRONZE AWARD
Gen4® Static Eliminator Power Supply
EXAIR Static Eliminators produce ionized air via a Corona discharge, which requires high voltage, low current electricity. The Gen4® Static Eliminator Products feature armored & shielded cables with an internal ground, for safety and reliability. The ground path is completed through the cable and the Power Supply port, eliminating the need for an external ground connection. Faults in external ground connections result in the majority of the problems with those devices, so the internal ground is a “Big Idea!” indeed. The Gen4® Static Eliminator Power Supplies are switchable for 115VAC or 230VAC voltages, and are offered in 2, or 4 outlet designs, which can power any 2, or 4 EXAIR Static Eliminator Products. Like most EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products, they’re used for a wide range of applications, in a wide range of industries:
- Operators at a building products manufacturer have to handle styrene sheets on a constant basis. They use Model 8493 Gen4® Ion Air Guns at each station to prevent nuisance shocks, and to blow away any debris prior to printing & handling.
- A major supplier of machinery to the glass industry incorporates Model 8192 Gen4® Ion Air Cannons to clean the glass being produced by the machine.
- A custom wood cabinet maker uses Model 112260PKI 60″ Gen4® Super Ion Air Knives (with Plumbing Kits installed) to blow off the sawdust produced during cutting & routing of their panels.
If you’d like to find out more about these, or any of our other engineered compressed air products (we’re pretty proud of them all), give me a call. I can talk about them all day long…and sometimes I do!
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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