Tag: bdfarno

Super Air Wipes Bring It Full Circle

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

The Super Air Wipes literally bring a full circle of converging airflow onto the surface of whatever is passed through it. That airflow can blow off, cool, clean, or dry products. A Coanda profile is designed into the body of the unit to maximize entrainment of ambient air from the upstream side as well as give the precision angle for the air to exit from and impact the target. This gives the air stream moving the target zone a 30° angle to the surface to provide a substantial shear force for debris removal. This also ensures the large volume of ambient air entrained will all travel in the correct direction and not become turbulent before impinging on the surface.

Implementing a Super Air Wipe salvaged a $30,000 job for this customer. Read all about it in our Case Study Library (registration required)

To provide ease of installation, a unique clam-shell design was engineered to provide clamp-over installation rather than traditional threading methods. This also permits quick changes in size when needed in rapid product change environments.

Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

To meet all the tasks at hand, the Super Air Wipes are offered in two main materials of construction. Aluminum body with brass air fittings, connected with stainless steel hardware, shim, and connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm). As well as 303 stainless steel body with stainless steel bolts, shim, the connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm) and fittings. The stainless-steel components give the units better corrosion resistance, higher temperature ratings, and more durability in harsh industrial environments.

Super Air Wipe Family Photo

EXAIR stocks the aluminum Super Air Wipes with inner diameters from 3/8” (10 mm) for wire and cables up to 11” (279mm) for large pipes and hoses. The aluminum models have a temperature rating of up to 400oF (204oC). We also stock stainless-steel models from ½” (13mm) to 4” (102mm) inner diameters, and they have a temperature range of up to 800oF (427oC). If you require different diameters or materials, we can do that as well easily.

Super Air Wipe Kit

The Super Air Wipe kits help get the most out of the air wipes. A kit will include the Super Air Wipe, a filter, a regulator, and a shim set. The filter will remove bulk liquids and debris from the compressed air to keep the performance optimal. The regulator is used to fine-tune the force provided by the Super Air Wipe. This helps to not over-use the amount of compressed air required for the job.

With a regulator, you can make fine adjustments to get the proper amount of air. For coarse adjustments, you can add shims to increase the airflow and force. They are easy to install on the Super Air Wipes to allow for applications to have more cooling, faster drying, and better removal of tough debris. For cleanliness and control, the Super Air Wipe Kits would be recommended for your application.

Robotic Welder fitted with EXAIR Super Air Wipe

With the creation of the Super Air Wipe, uniform cleaning, cooling, and blowing around the outside of parts is a simple task. You don’t have to worry about a variety of nozzles to target the circumference or a fabricated blow-off device that will waste air and take much time out of your day. A simple Super Air Wipe Kit purchase will solve the problem and keep production going. If you need help selecting the proper size or want to know what material we would recommend for your application, contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Atto Air Nozzle Saves Dental Crown Manufacturer

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This blog may get a little uncomfortable for some of us. It revolves around a subject that can strike fear into the hearts of many and just the thought of it can make sounds or smells come back from memory. For me, the sound of the high-pitched drill is precisely what comes to mind when I think of the Dentist….

That’s right, today we are talking about the Dentist. Well, more so a vendor for dentists that still deals with teeth. This manufacturer came to me looking for a way to improve their compressed air consumption on a tooling blowoff for the machining of dental crowns. They used custom-made blowoffs to try and remove the residual material on their cutting tools before contacting a new part and during the machining of a crown. The customer didn’t have a ton of room, and they did not want to redesign the entire blowoff. The blowoff was essentially an open pipe that had a .085″ diameter. Each machine station had three blowoffs, there are 20 machining stations per production line, with five total production lines. So any savings will add up quickly over 300 blowoff points.

BEFORE: A .085″ diameter open blowoff at each spindle to remove debris.

They were able to cut back and thread the end of the open blowoff for one of our 1108SS Atto Super Air Nozzles. The open blowoff was consuming 6 SCFM when operating at 80 psig inlet pressure for each blowoff point. For a single machining center that equates to 18 SCFM per center. 18 SCFM times 20 machining centers equals 360 SCFM of consumption per production line. Implementing the 1108SS reduced the consumption to 2.5 SCFM @ 80 psig per nozzle and gave a more defined blowoff pattern. 2.5 SCFM times 3 nozzles per center equates to 7.5 SCFM. 7.5 SCFM times 20 machining centers per production line totals 165 SCFM per production line. 360 SCFM minus 165 SCFM equates to 195 SCFM of compressed air savings by installing the further engineered solution.

AFTER: Three 1108SS Atto Super Air Nozzles provide adequate blowoff of debris.

Per nozzle, they can save up 72 cents per twelve-hour shift. While this does not seem like much, multiply that across 300 nozzles installed. You end up with $216.00 saved per twelve-hour shift. Some other breakdowns are shown below.

If you would like to discuss just how much a “little” open pipe blowoff is costing you, contact an Application Engineer today!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Certification Upgrades for EXAIR NEMA Type 4 Cabinet Cooler Systems

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

EXAIR NEMA Type 4 Cabinet Cooler Systems aren’t new to certifications and standards, and they have recently been re-certified for the latest CE standards in line with an evolving industry’s needs. These tests were performed by an independent laboratory to ensure we are providing products that meet the highest standards and continue to pursue a path of continuous improvement.

The Cabinet Cooler Systems also carry UL and CUL Listing which is testing performed by the Underwriters Laboratory to ensure they meet strict requirements to ensure the integrity of electrical enclosures are maintained to a standard. This not only tests for the NEMA Type integrity but also the component construction and materials. This is yet another standard that we keep our products aligned with to ensure our customers can continue to safely operate their production lines.

The installation of a NEMA Type 4 Cabinet cooler System is easy as shown in the video below. These systems are designed to be a low-cost alternative to traditional refrigerant air conditioners or heat exchangers. They are also backed by a five-year built-to-last warranty.

If you would like help determining which Cabinet Cooler system is correct for your panel, check out our Cabinet Cooler Calculator or contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

BELIEVE

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Okay, in case you haven’t been around the past year or two, and you have no clue where that simple word/statement comes from, then let me be the first to tell you that Ted Lasso is a great show, and you should check it out. So what does that have to do with EXAIR? Well, I like to think that sometimes the Application Engineers here are a lot like the coaching staff on the show. Sometimes we are strategic, we want to assert our experience and knowledge, and others, we are like Ted where we just ensure the thoughts and ideas you have already had.

That’s the fun part of being an Application Engineer here at EXAIR. I get to speak, chat, or email with both existing customers and potential new customers, resellers, and even catalog houses who all are trying to do one thing, improve a process or help someone out. Recently I was working with a manufacturing company trying to determine how fast they can cool a slab of steel with a Super Air Knife. Now, I by no means have a background in thermo like Russ Bowman, but he was busy preparing for our Spring Webinar to share some knowledge on Compressed Air System Storage. (If you haven’t checked a webinar out, most are available on our website in our knowledge base. ) So, I took the time to try and remember some of the tools I learned while at the University of Cincinnati. Thermodynamics was by far one of the hardest classes for me, The Algebra was always easy, I just always looked at the problems sideways I guess, and worried about too many variables. The truth of it is, if you keep it simple you can generally get somewhere close. so I took that approach. First I looked at what heat load would be generated by the steel slab.

\K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid – Not always my forte!

I looked at the basic Heat Transfer equation – Q=c x m x ΔT where:

Q = Heat
c = specific heat capacity
m = mass
ΔT = Change in temperature

I was able to locate the mass of the carbon steel plate with 1/2″ thickness. So I calculated the mass of the sheet. Then looked up the specific heat of the same plate, and took the change in temperature from what the customer stated the plate started at and finished at.

This resulted in a heat load. Then to calculate how much cooling a Super Air Knife could provide I utilized another calculation that gives the BTU constant of a cubic foot of air moving and I did decrease the efficiency of the knife due to some assumptions on space and temperature constraints. The resulting factor was the customer would need 6 Super Air Knives to blow the sheet down as it travels 5 feet per minute on a 60′ long conveyor.

This again had several assumptions and I made that very clear to the customer. To convert the amount of air a Super Air Knife puts out and how much cooling it can use, I did make some clear assumptions on the temperature of their atmosphere and the amount of entrainment then I used a calculation that we adapt for Vortex Tubes and Cabinet coolers to determine what cooling load will be achieved if the air pressure or temperature is less than optimal on one of those products.

In the end, the customer received an educated estimation or calculated answer with listed assumptions, to solve their issue with cooling a steel slab before it is stacked together. I really only used two calculations and manipulated some variables to try and make sense of what I knew and what the customer needed. The best part is, this whole process is backed by our 30-day guarantee on stock products which our 48″ Super Air Knife is. So this customer can take my basic math, use my suggestions, place an order, and test it out in their facility for a factual performance test to then proceed with a permanent solution.

If you would like to discuss any point of use or potential application for compressed air in your facility, please contact an Application Engineer today!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF