Tag: calcs

Overheating Cabinets Are Bad. Cabinet Cooler Systems on Promotion Are Good!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In southwest Ohio we are currently experiencing 88°F. And we have begun to see increased numbers of inquiries for Cabinet Cooler Systems to keep control cabinets cool. This comes with the territory of approaching summer here in the northern hemisphere, and elsewhere it is due to new machines going into areas of a facility where it is constantly hot and dirty. It seems like the perfect time to offer up some free stuff with our Cabinet Cooler Promotion.

That’s right, order any of the Cabinet Cooler® Systems listed and receive a free A/C Sensor Pen. This pen has saved me from getting shocked many of times around my home.   Without it of course, I find myself guessing I turned the correct breaker off and, as soon as I touch the outlet I am working on I get hit with 110V. This sensor is helpful to locate the presence of voltage and avoid getting shocked.

We are here to assist your choice of Cabinet Cooler system and to provide a very fast solution to the downtime you are experiencing. We manufacture Cabinet Cooler systems from 275 Btu/Hr through 5600 Btu/Hr with NEMA 12, 4 and 4X integrity as well as Hazardous Location. If you don’t know what Cabinet Cooler System you need, take a look at our new Cabinet Cooler Calculator or the form below. It can be found on our site, get the information and call, fax, e-mail or live chat with an Application Engineer to get a quick and accurate response on what amount of cooling your system will need.

Sizing Guide

Over our thirty years in business we have also seen many companies who only experience a short span of seasonal heat and have found that 2000 Btu/Hr is enough refrigeration to offset summertime heat load, in most cases. Choosing a model with a thermostat control will turn the cooler on and off as needed and minimize compressed air use. Cabinet Cooler systems are in STOCK and ship same day for domestic and Canadian orders received by 3:00 pm EDT. We can get your cabinet cooled FAST and eliminate your heat related problems. Cabinet Cooler systems are shipped ready to install through a standard electrical knockout. There is no waiting for oil to settle back into the compressor motor, no mounting templates required or huge holes to cut into your cabinet. Cabinet Cooler systems have no moving parts to wear, making them rugged and lasting in your hot environment.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Cabinet Cooler® System Calculator – EXAIR’s Latest Do-It-Yourself Tool!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

At EXAIR we are constantly moving, changing, growing, and building products and tools to help anyone that comes into contact with us or our products. Evidence of this includes our continued launches of new product and tools that you can see in our Press Releases. Our newest tool provides a do-it-yourself solution to determine which Cabinet Cooler System model number your electrical or control panel will need. This easiest way to reach this new tool is to follow our websites Resource’s button to the Calculator Library. We have made the selection process easier and faster with this new calculator.

Historically, the Cabinet Cooler sizing guide was the fastest way to receive a recommendation – But now, the calculator provides a do-it-yourself solution with instant feedback!

While we have always offered the ability to fill out a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide (above) and email, call, chat or fax the information to us. With the right amount of information provided, an e-mail will provide you an answer within 24 hours. With a phone call or online chat, we can get you an answer in 5-10 minutes. But now you can receive instant feedback as to which Cabinet Cooler System is needed to combat an overheating cabinet by using the Cabinet Cooler Calculator. We have poured our knowledge and experience from over the years into the tool to best fit to our standards of correctly calculating and compensating for diverse environments and demands of electrical panels.

With some basic information on the panel, environment, and compressed air available, the calculator will calculate the internal heat load, external heat load, compensate for non-optimal compressed air temperature or pressure, and solar heat load(where applicable) then show the exact model number needed to reach the desired temperature for the panel. You can then immediately learn more about that specific model or order that model online. Of course you can also reach out to anyone here at EXAIR and receive answers to additional questions and or place the order with an actual person.

If you want to discuss your overheating panels or if you have some questions on why we are asking for certain variables on the Cabinet Cooler Calculator, feel free to contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Don’t Fall Victim To Undersized Piping

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Pressure drops, incorrect plumbing, undersized piping, insufficient flow; if you hear these terms from tech support of your point of use compressed air products or from your maintenance staff when explaining why a process isn’t working then you may be a victim of improper compressed air piping selection.
Often time this is due to a continued expansion of an existing system that was designed around a decade old plan. It could also come from a simple misunderstanding of what size of piping is needed and so to save some costs, smaller was used. Nonetheless, if you can understand a small number of variables and what your system is going to be used for, you can ensure the correct piping is used. The variables that you will want to consider when selecting a piping size that will suit your need and give the ability to expand if needed are shown below.

  • Minimum Operating Pressure Allowed (psig) – Lowest pressure permitted by any demand side point of use product.
  • System Pressure (psig) – Safe operating pressure that will account for pressure drops.
  • Flow Rate (SCFM) of demand side (products needing the supplied compressed air)
  • Total Length of Piping System (feet)
  • Piping Cost ($)
  • Installation Cost ($)
  • Operational Hours ( hr.)
  • Electical Costs ($/kwh)
  • Project Life (years) – Is there a planned expansion?

An equation can be used to calculate the diameter of pipe required for a known flow rate and allowable pressure drop. The equation is shown below.

A = (144 x Q x Pa) / (V x 60 x (Pd + Pa)
Where:
A = Cross-Sectional are of the pipe bore. (sq. in.).
Q = Flow rate (cubic ft. / min of free air)
Pa = Prevailing atmospheric absolute pressure (psia)
Pd  = Compressor discharge gauge pressure (psig)
V = Design pipe velocity ( ft/sec)

If all of these variables are not known, there are also reference charts which will eliminate the variables needed to total flow rate required for the system, as well as the total length of the piping. The chart shown below was taken from EXAIR’s Knowledge Base.

Once the piping size is selected to meet the needs of the system the future potential of expansion should be taken into account and anticipated for. If no expansion is planned, simply take your length of pipe and start looking at your cost per foot and installation costs. If expansions are planned and known, consider supplying the equipment now and accounting for it if the additional capital expenditure is acceptable at this point.

The benefits to having properly sized compressed air lines for the entire facility and for the long-term expansion goals makes life easier. When production is increased, or when new machinery is added there is not a need to re-engineer the entire system in order to get enough capacity to that last machine. If the main compressed air system is undersized then optimal performance for the facility will never be achieved. By not taking the above variables into consideration or just using what is cheapest is simply setting the system up for failure and inefficiencies. All of these considerations lead to an optimized compressed air system which leads to a sustainable utility.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Tools Of The Trade: The Rotameter

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EXAIR’s Free Efficiency Lab

One of the free services we offer to customers here at EXAIR is our Efficiency Lab. In case you are not familiar here is a brief synopsis. Speak with an Application Engineer about your existing compressed air blowoff/point of use product and that you would like to know how much air it consumes. Fill out the brief survey and send the product you use in to our facility. Let us perform tests on calibrated test equipment to determine the force, flow, and noise level. We will then issue you a report that states what the EXAIR model would best be suited (if applicable) as well as how much compressed air you will be able to save. Order the recommendation and start saving money.

To do these evaluations, we have to have calibrated equipment that is reliable and capable of handling vast range of products we may receive in. For this, we could use a Digital Flowmeter, in some cases that is what has to be done due to large flow rates. For the majority of these though we go old school. We utilize a piece of equipment called a rotameter.

A rotameter pairs nicely with a calibrated pressure gauge as well.

The float can be seen with graduated marks for readings. The taper of the chamber is not easily seen with the naked eye.

This is a device that is designed to measure the flow rate of a fluid within a closed tube. The inside diameter of the tube is varied which causes the float within the meter to raise or lower.  They are calibrated for a specific gas at a given pressure and temperature, most are calibrated for atmospheric conditions, 14.7 psi (1.014 Bar). The meter must be mounted vertically and this is not always best suited for industrial environments.

When testing products the compressed air within the meter is pressurized which means we have to correct the reading for the given pressure, if the temperature is outside of the calibration temp then we must also perform that correction. We do this using a table provided by the manufacturer of the meter or by using the calculations shown to get exact values that may be in between the pressures in the table.

Pressure Correction Table

 

This will allow us to then multiply the Correction Factor by the meter reading and calculate our corrected flow for the point of use device at a given operating pressure and temperature.

Temperature correction table

Knowing where the values that are measured and calculated come from add validity to the reports and understanding all of the variables that go into reading like this helps to better validate the cost savings that can be seen.

In a pinch, for a field estimation, we can also use these Correction Factors and determine an approximate consumption rate of a device that has been measured at a pressure such as our cataloged 80 psig (5.5 Bar). This can often be done on the fly to help determine the flowrates currently on a system. This can be helpful when troubleshooting, giving estimated simple ROIs, and help justify results and reasons for future purchases of engineered solutions.

If you want to discuss the Efficiency Lab or any of the math behind our calculations, contact any Application Engineer, we can all help out.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF