Tag: Bengals

Static Season is Here

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Here in Cincinnati we have officially hit static season. Highs in the low 30ies and lows in the teens mean the AC has been turned off and the furnaces are operating at full power. You can tell the air has a bit of a dryness to it. In fact, at home I just switched on the whole home humidifier as my RH was dropping and I was even shocked by a potato I was peeling for Thanksgiving Day mashed potatoes.

Just like our lips and hands can become dry and cracked, the moisture level in the air is also linked to static electricity. Cold air lacks the moisture that warm air contains. As winter temperatures drop, the air becomes drier, leading to a sensation of increased dryness. This moisture in the air is referred to as water vapor. Water vapor helps to dissipate electrical charges. When there’s less of it, your body retains a higher electrical charge. A higher charge results in more significant discharges. Therefore, it’s no surprise that during the winter months, you may experience more frequent static shocks, which can be a bit jarring when you touch a doorknob, your pet, or even, in my case, some potatoes.

Now, of course, you see this in your home life, but it also carries over to every manufacturing facility, as many processes tend to create static, so the dry air will only worsen the issues.

Static tends to propagate.  The more contact, detachment, and friction that occurs, the higher the static charges.  Even when the static is removed from the surface, static charges can still regenerate by the mechanisms above.  So, controlling the static can be determined by the treatment process as well as the location.

Regardless of the nature of the application, if you’ve got a static problem, EXAIR has a solution!

To combat static electricity in your processes, EXAIR manufactures a complete line of Static Eliminators. Any of them are available to ship on the same day from stock to customers in the U.S. with an order placed by 2:00 ET (1:00 ET for same day shipments to Canada). We’re all tired now of receiving extremely long lead times for seemingly everything we try to order. That’s not the case here at EXAIR, if you need a solution and FAST give us a call!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Life’s Full of Hazards – Make Sure Your Electrical Panels Don’t Become One

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
Not my crutches… but let’s just say I have a few sets of these in the garage ready for the next one!

All of my life I’ve been known as injury-prone. From early on it was apparent that my life was going to be wrought with random hazards and injuries and into adulthood we’ve maintained that sentiment. Just in my time here at EXAIR , I’ve had the pleasure of breaking an ankle running to 1st base in a softball game, being concussed from another softball game (I’ve since retired from softball might I add), as well as tearing both my hamstrings while racing a colleague on the field at Paycor Stadium during a tour. In my childhood, I had to be transported to what has recently been named the #1 children’s hospital in the USA, Cincinnati Children’s, to remove a section of fence that impaled my ankle during a failed attempt at jumping said fence. This is not the full list, far from it actually, but I think you get the idea.

Life is always going to be full of hazards and safety is incredibly important. When it comes to Hazardous Locations in an industrial facility, we’re talking about some very serious repercussions to both people and property if strict guidelines aren’t adhered to. In an area where you have control panels operating near combustible vapors or particles, it’s critical that these panels are constructed in a manner consistent with the regulations put forth by UL. One critical component of these panels are EXAIR’s Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers.

EXAIR HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are rated for Class I Div 1 & 2, Class II Div 1 & 2, and Class III environments.

EXAIR’s Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers are engineered for use with purged (not included) electrical enclosures. The HazLoc Cabinet Coolers are not purged and pressurized control systems and should not be relied upon nor used in place of a purged and pressurized controller. They are a cooling solution meant to be used in conjunction with a purged and pressurized control system. These systems have been approved and tested by UL for use in the following areas:

Class I Div 1&2 – Groups A, B, C, and D

  • Class I Areas refer to the presence of flammable gases or vapors in quantities sufficient to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures. Class I Div 1 will have ignitable concentrations of flammable gases present during the course of normal operations. This is level of approval is one that differentiates the EXAIR Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers from much of the competition. Class 1 Div 2 areas will have flammable gasses or vapors present only in the event of an accident or during unusual operating conditions.

Class II Div 1&2 – Groups E, F, and G

  • Class II areas are locations in which combustible dust may exist. The end user shall avoid installation of the device in a Class II environment where dust may be readily disturbed from the exhausts of the Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler. Any dust formed in the vicinity of the cooler must be cleaned regularly.

Class III

  • Class III areas are locations that will have ignitable fibers or flyings present. This is common within the textile industry.

The Cabinet Cooler also carries a temperature rating of T3C, meaning it cannot be installed near any materials that could auto-ignite at temperatures in excess of 320°F. For a comprehensive list and description of all the various Classified areas, check out the UL website.

The Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler is available in (8) different cooling capacities ranging from 1,000 Btu/hr – 5,600 Btu/hr. The Cabinet Cooler is the best solution for protecting your sensitive electronics from heat, dirt, and moisture. With Nema 4/4X systems available, the Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers will keep the cabinet cool without compromising the integrity of the enclosure.

If you’ve got an electrical cabinet installed within a hazardous location, fill out the Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide and allow an EXAIR Application Engineer to determine the most suitable model for you.

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

Crutches photo courtesy of Anthony Crider via Flickr Creative Commons License

6 Steps to Optimizing Compressed Air: Turn it Down!!!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

TURN IT DOWN!!! My wife screamed at 6:00am the morning of our first NFL Sunday. As a lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan, it’s been a tradition in our house for me to wake everyone up while blaring Guns N’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” first thing in the morning each and every week 1. After 13 years together you’d think she would be prepared for this by now, but I still get her every time.

You may also hear your maintenance manager screaming to turn it down while out in the shop. They’re not talking about music volume. They’re more concerned about the compressed air pressure you’re using.

In any application necessitating the use of compressed air, pressure should be controlled to minimize the air consumption at the point of use. Pressure regulators are available to control the air pressure within the system and throttle the appropriate supply of air to any pneumatic device. As the last of the six steps to optimizing your compressed air system, controlling air at the point of use can often be overlooked.

Pressure Regulators “dial in” performance to get the job done without using more air than necessary.

Pressure regulators utilize a control knob that is turned to either increase/decrease tension on a spring. The spring puts a load on the diaphragm which separates internal air pressure from the ambient pressure. Typically made of a flexible rubber material, these diaphragms react very quickly to changes in the air supply. By either increasing or decreasing the flow of air based on the load on the diaphragm, downstream pressure remains fairly constant.

While one advantage of a pressure regulator is certainly maintaining consistent pressure to your compressed air devices, using them to minimize your pressure can result in dramatic savings to your costs of compressed air. As pressure and flow are directly related, lowering the pressure supplied results in less compressed air usage. EXAIR recommends operating your Intelligent Compressed Air Products at the minimum pressure necessary to achieve a successful application. If you notice a desirable result at a pressure of 60 PSIG, or even less, there’s no need to run full line pressure. In-line point of use pressure regulators are the simplest and most reliable way to allow you to dial down to the pressure to any compressed air operated product.

When selecting a pressure regulator for your application, it’s critical that it is appropriately sized to supply adequate volume to the point of use devices downstream. Doing so, minimizes the risk of experiencing “droop”. Droop is a decrease in outlet pressure from the specified setting due to an increase in flow rate.  Droop occurs when the demand at the point of use exceeds the volume of air that the regulator can supply. By ensuring the pressure regulator is rated to deliver sufficient volume of air, you’ll reduce the chances of experiencing droop. EXAIR offers pressure regulators in kits along with many of our products, we’ve done the hard part for you and made sure they’re properly sized!

If you’re looking for ways to help lessen the demand on your compressor, EXAIR’s team of Application Engineers will be happy to help. Reach out to us via phone, chat, or e-mail and see for yourself just how easy it can be to start saving compressed air!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

YouTube. (2009). YouTube. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg.

The NFL (USA Football) and Static Electricity: What Do They Have in Common?

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Just this week we embarked on the dreaded end of summer task of closing our pool. While it isn’t as nice to look at once the winter cover comes on, it sure beats skimming leaves out for an hour every day when the water temperature drops below a comfortable swimming temperature. However, as an avid Cincinnati Bengals fan and love for all things football-related, this time of year also brings with it excitement and optimism as we gear up for another NFL season. Times have been rough for Bengals fans (and all Cincinnati sports for that matter), but things are looking up for us in the football world with the arrival of the newfound hope that comes with a 3-1 record.

So, what do Cincinnati Bengals football and static have in common? Both share the same seasons, fall and winter. This time of the year it is not uncommon to feel a slight shock after walking across a carpeted surface and touching a door knob. This little “jolt” is a result of fast-moving electrons leaping from your body to the door knob, or vice versa. As your feet shuffle across the surface of a rug or carpet, your body will either gain or lose electrons. Touching a conductive surface then causes these electrons to leap from one place to another.

If you notice, this happens to occur much more often during colder winter months. The reason that you experience static shocks more frequently during winter is due to the relative humidity. At colder temperatures, air does not hold as much moisture as it does when it’s warm. Even though you’re heating your house to a similar temperature, the air that is being drawn into your home and heated is still the dry cold air containing less moisture.

The amount of moisture in the air is expressed as relative humidity. This value is given as a percentage of water vapor in the air, compared to how much it could hold at that temperature. In conditions of lower relative humidity, static charges build up much easier. When the relative humidity is high, there’s a higher concentration of water molecules present in the air. These water molecules “coat” the surface of the material, allowing electrons to move more freely and form a layer over the material. This layer of water molecules acts like a lubricant, reducing the forces that cause static to generate. There are many applications that static may only pose an issue once the climate changes. 

Regardless of the nature of the application, if you’ve got a static problem, EXAIR has a solution!

To combat static electricity in your processes, EXAIR manufactures a complete line of Static Eliminators. Any of them are available to ship same day from stock to customers in the U.S. with an order placed by 2:00 ET (1:00 ET for same day shipments to Canada). We’re all tired by now of receiving the extremely long lead times for seemingly everything we try to order. That’s not the case here at EXAIR, if you need a solution and FAST give us a call!

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD