Tag: blowgun

Soft Grip Safety Air Gun Reduces Sound Level To Gain OSHA Compliance

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

A few weeks ago I was working with a manufacturing company that was looking to reduce the noise exposure in their shop by replacing several loud and inefficient air guns. They were looking to maintain a sound level of less than 85 dBA to stay within OSHA guidelines for allowable noise exposure levels . Excessive noise levels in the work place can lead to serious illness/injury, irritability, increased stress, reduced production and ultimately very costly OSHA fines.

OSHA Noise Level
85dBA is well within the acceptable range per OSHA requirements

During normal operation, their Industrial Hygienist used a calibrated sound level meter and was taking readings of 101+ dBA at a distance of 1′ away from the exit of the nozzle. A sound level that high would mean the operators would be limited to 1-2 hours of total exposure for the day per OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.95(a) referenced in the chart above. With their continuous machining operations running on 8 hour shifts, their need to replace the guns to increase personnel safety had become vital.

After discussing the application and safety requirement, I recommended the customer order our Model # 1299 Soft Grip Safety Air Gun with 1103 Mini Super Air Nozzle and a Model # 1299-12 (the same but adds a 12″ extension) and test them under our Unconditional 30 Day Guarantee. The unit with the 12″ extension would provide the same blowoff, but allow the operator to maintain a safe distance from the machine tooling during operation.

1299
Model # 1299 Soft Grip Safety Air Gun with Model # 1103 Mini Super Air Nozzle (installed)

Completing their internal tests with the EXAIR solution, the customer was able to reduce the sound level to 81 dBA @ 40 PSIG, meeting the internal requirement of less than 85 dBA while also gaining OSHA compliance. They are now in the process of replacing all of their unsafe units with (8) of the Model # 1299 and (5) of the Model # 1299-12.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

 

 

Air Gun Extensions Provide Reach and Flexibility

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

My youngest son started crawling a few weeks back which quickly reminded us how the game changes at this stage. He has been motoring all around the living room building his confidence and is now ready to tackle standing with the aid of the coffee table, couch, chair, well pretty much any elevated surface that he can easily grab and pull himself up. This is my one of my favorite time of a baby’s development stage but also one of the most stressful. Gone are the days of leaving anything within arms reach because all too soon it will be “strategically relocated”, usually inside someone’s mouth. Just this past weekend I’ve had to search for the TV remote, video game controller and a picture – yes a picture! Even when we think we are smart and have put things out of reach, you’d think this kid was Stretch Armstrong because just like that, “poof”, the search is on.

stretch
Stretch Armstrong doll

Sometimes having some extra reach can actually be quite beneficial. For example, maybe you need to blow out debris from under a machine or you’re needing to blow dust off of an area overhead, EXAIR has you covered. We offer Aluminum Extension Pipes from 6″ up to 72″ lengths for our Soft Grip and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns. Coupled with the comfortable, ergonomic design of our Safety Air Guns , extensions provide a reliable option for those hard to reach industrial areas.

Aluminum Extension
Aluminum Extension on the Soft Grip Safety Air Gun

 

In addition to Aluminum Extension Pipes, we also have our Flexible Stay Set Hose Extensions. The Stay Set Hose allows for a an easy way to direct the airflow to the critical areas, while holding it position. The hose will remain in position until an operator has physically repositioned it for the next process. One of our customers manufactures toilets and they use this feature to blowout any dust or debris under the rim before the product ships. These hoses are offered in lengths from 6″ up to 36″ lengths, factory assembled on our Soft Grip Safety Air Guns.

Stay Set Hose
Flexible Stay Set Hose Extension on the Soft Grip Safety Air Gun

All of EXAIR Guns are equipped with engineered, OSHA safe, nozzles to minimize air consumption and noise. If you need any help, “reach” out to one of our Application Engineers at 800-903-9247.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Stretch image courtesy of Alex Beattie via Creative Commons License

 

The Only Constant Around Here Is Growth

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

But if there’s a second constant around here, it’s excellence. And if there was a third, it was this guy…right up until the day he retired:

Joe Panfalone, Application Engineer extraordinaire, holding our bounty of product awards from 2013. He's retired since, but he's not...EVER...forgotten.
Joe Panfalone, Application Engineer extraordinaire, holding our bounty of product awards from 2013. He’s retired since, but he’s not…EVER…forgotten.

Another thing we don’t want to forget – in fact, I’m writing this as a reminder to YOU, dear reader, is that EXAIR products are up for ANOTHER four Plant Engineering Product of the Year Awards this year.  If you haven’t familiarized yourself with this year’s entries yet, there are some VERY cool products to choose from, and I highly encourage you to check them out.  (Disclaimer: I was an engineer BEFORE I came to EXAIR, and as such, I fully recognize the value that our esteemed colleagues bring to the table with THEIR entries, but I remain convinced that OURS are the clear winners here, as I’m sure you will too.)

Voting ends this Friday, January 8th 2016, so please hurry.  We’re honored to have gotten the nod in four categories this year:

ETC Dual CC SystemsAutomation and Controls: The competition is pretty stiff in this category…I’m sure you’ll recognize the names of some major players.  But, considering the wide range of applications, the potential cost savings by regulating the use of compressed air, and the convenience afforded by the ETC Dual Cabinet Cooler Systems, it’s a real contender.

HLRDVEnvironmental Health: With the ability to vacuum heavier tramp oils, thicker sludge, more viscous fluids, and “in the floor” cisterns, the High Lift Reversible Drum Vac makes fluid transfer and spill cleanup quick & easy.  They’re in stock for 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums. If you want a drum dolly, additional vacuum tools, or even the drum itself, check out our Deluxe and Premium Kits.  With all due respect to the other entries, it’s the clear winner in this category.

Compressed Air1006ss: This has been a long-awaited addition to our already broad selection of engineered air nozzles: the Back Blow Air Nozzles, available in two sizes, can handle blowing out pipe, tube, etc. with inside diameters from 7/8″ to 16″.  You can get one installed on one of our Safety Air Guns, and they’re available with Chip Shields, and extension pipes up to 6 feet in length.  This is the most innovative product being introduced in this category this year, for sure.

Fluid HandlingNo Drip Atomizing Nozzle: The patented design of the EXAIR No-Drip Atomizing Spray Nozzle offers a stand-alone nozzle capable of controlling liquid flow without requiring a liquid control solenoid.  When the air supply pressure is shut off, so is the liquid flow…just like that.

This feature is available on any of our Atomizing Spray Nozzles.  For safety, efficiency, cleanliness, it can’t be beat.

Remember, voting ends this Friday.  I know there are some great products to choose from, but all of us at EXAIR would genuinely appreciate your vote for our products.  Of course, if you ever have any questions about how these – or any of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products – can make life easier, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
Find us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

A Perfect Fit for Primary Metal Manufacturing

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

Primary metal manufacturing and processing plants tend to have a variety of applications using compressed air, some of which can be quite large.  Our Finnish distributor found just such an application, using a high volume of compressed air under unsafe conditions.

20151111_122132
Homemade air gun at a metal manufacturing plant in Finland

In the photo above you can see a homemade air gun used to provide a high force blow off.  This unit has a welded cone on the end of a metal pipe using a ¼ turn ball valve to control the compressed air.  When the ball valve is turned the airflow remains constant until the operator returns the valve to the closed position.  This means that if the operator were to let go of the unit for any reason, the air gun would continue to blow, creating a safety hazard.

In addition to this concern, the welded cone at the end of the pipe provides no protection for high dead end pressures, creating a potential source of an air embolism if contacting human skin.  This can lead to difficulty breathing, chest pain, low blood pressure, or even a stroke (Source: MedScape; Venous Air Embolism; Updated December 8th, 2015).

The end user had accepted the risks associated with this homemade device because they were unaware of anything in the market capable of meeting the volume and force necessary to meet their application needs.  That is, until they were shown the EXAIR Super Blast Safety Air Gun model 1218.

Feeding the compressed air through an automatically closing ball valve, the 1218 removed the threat of unwanted flow from such a high force air gun.  The model 1218 also provides more than enough force and flow – the existing setup uses a 1-1/4” diameter orifice with a flow rate of 1986 SCFM (56,233 SLPM) with an unknown entrainment ratio; the 1218 has a flow rate of 460 SCFM (13,026 SLPM) with an entrainment ratio of 25:1, making the total directed flow equal to 11,500 SCFM (325,650 SLPM)!  This means the application can produce better or equal performance at a fraction of the compressed air consumption, thanks to the engineered design of EXAIR nozzles.  (See below for operational cost comparison.)

By converting to an EXAIR Super Blast Safety Air Gun this customer was able to add safety, increase performance, and lower operating costs.  If you have an application you think could benefit from better safety, performance, or operating cost, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

 

Compressed air costs are calculated as follows:

Previous setup:

1,986 SCFM compressed air consumption.  At a cost of $0.25/1000 SCF this equates to:

1,986 * ($0.25/1000) = $0.4965 for every minute of use

EXAIR model 1218:

460 SCFM compressed air consumption.  At the same cost of $0.25/1000 SCF this equates to:

460 * ($0.25/1000) = $0.115 for every minute of use

When comparing the two, the EXAIR model 1218 will provide an operational cost savings of almost 77%!

And, if you’re wondering how we determined the airflow through the existing setup, we used the charts below.

air calcs
Air calcs for the flow through a 1-1/4″ orifice