Engineered Compressed Air Products = Less Noise & Money Saved

Everyone dislikes loud noises for the most part. Here in Ohio we just got done surviving the constant buzz and swarming of cicadas. We all deal with noise on a daily basis, some of it enjoyable and some of it not so much. Noise is an inescapable fact of life and all we can do is try to reduce noise level to save our sanity. But, did you know that cutting down on the noise produced by compressed air blow offs can actually save you money? Your loud homemade blow off system is not only way too loud, but it is most likely also costing you more money than you need to spend.

EXAIR’s engineered compressed air products are designed to operate quietly and efficiently. The reduction in noise they produce is only one of the benefits – another is the reduction in money by reducing compressed air use.

EXAIR Super Air Knife Promotion
EXAIR’s SUPER AIR KNIFE

But how does one calculate out the ROI? It is very simple to calculate out your potential savings of using one of EXAIR’s Intelligent Engineered Compressed Air Products. If you would rather not do the calculations out yourself then we can do it for you by sending the item in question to our Efficiency Lab Testing. The Efficiency Lab Testing is a free service that we offer to show you the possible savings by switching to one of our products.

The following is a typical ROI preformed and replaced with a corresponding EXAIR Super Air Nozzle:

  • ¼” drilled pipe with (3) 3/32” Holes which uses 9.4 SCFM per hole at 80 psig (denoted as DP)
  • A Model 110003 3” Super Air Knife can be used to replace and only uses 8.7 SCFM at 80 psig (denoted below as SAK)

Calculation:

(DP air consumption) * (60 min/hr) * (8 hr/day) * (5 days/week) * (52 weeks/year) = SCF used per year for Copper Pipe 

(28.2) * (60) * (8) * (5) * (52) = 3,519,360 SCF

(SAK air consumption) * (60 min/hr) * (8 hr/day) * (5 days/week) * (52 weeks/year) = SCF used per year for EXAIR Product 

 (8.7) * (60) * (8) * (5) * (52) = 1,085,760 SCF

Air Savings:

SCF used per year for DP – SCF used per year for SAK = SCF Savings

               3,519,360 SCF – 1,085,760 SCF = 2,433,600 SCF in savings

If you know the facilities cost to generate 1,000 SCF of compressed air you can calculate out how much this will cost you would save. If not, you can us $0.25 to generate 1,000 SCF which is the value used by the U.S. Department of Energy to estimate costs.

Yearly Savings:

                (SCF Saved) * (Cost / 1000 SCF) = Yearly Savings

                                (2,433,600 SCF) * ($0.25 */ 1000 SCF) = $608.40 annual Savings

With the simple investment of $216 (as of date published) you can calculate out the time it will take to pay off the unit.

Time Until payoff:

                (Yearly Savings) / (5 days/week * 52 weeks/year) = Daily Savings

                                ($608.40/year) / (5 days/week * 52 weeks/year) = $2.34 per day

                (Cost of EXAIR Unit) / (Daily Savings) = Days until unit has been paid off

                                ($216) / ($2.34/day) = 92.3 days 

As you can see it doesn’t take long for the air knife to pay for itself. You also get better overall performance as the Super Air Knife will provide a solid curtain of air. In the end you get to breathe a sigh of relief as no more jump scares and a loud hiss when you turn your air on. Who doesn’t like to save a little money and sanity, especially in these crazy times?

If you have any questions or want more information on EXAIR’s Air Knifes or like products. Give us a call, we have a team of application engineers ready to answer your questions and recommend a solution for your applications.

Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Don’t Forget About Operating Cost: How To Calculate Return On Investment

If you have a stock portfolio, or even a retirement account, you’ve likely heard the term “return on investment.” It basically tells you how hard your money is working for you, and, the higher, the better.

The term is also used to determine the financial benefits associated with the use of more efficient products than you’re using right now:

  • The cost of operating industrial pumps, air compressors, and a variety of industrial rotating equipment, can be greatly reduced by using variable frequency drive systems that sense the demand and change the motor’s speed (and hence power consumption) accordingly.  These systems are not cheap, but the reduction in operating costs is often quite noticeable.
  • At home, installing energy efficient windows (spoiler alert: your builder probably used the cheapest ones he could find…mine sure did) or upgrading appliances & HVAC can cost a pretty penny, but you’ll also see your electric bill go down.

EXAIR Corporation has a worldwide reputation for providing highly efficient compressed air products for industry.  Our Engineering Department has a company-wide reputation for being data fanatics…which is key to allowing us to provide our customers with ample information to make the best choices to optimize your use of your compressed air.

It’s not hard at all to calculate your potential savings from the use of an engineered compressed air product, assuming you know how much air your current device is using.  If not, we can tell you if you can send it in for Efficiency Lab testing (free and fast; call me to find out more.)  Here’s an example for a VERY typical situation: replacing an open copper tube blow off with an EXAIR Super Air Nozzle:

  • A 1/4″ copper tube uses 33 SCFM @80psig
  • A Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle uses 14 SCFM @80psig

33 SCFM X 60 min/hour X 8 hours/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year = 4,118,400 SCF

14 SCFM X 60 min/hour X 8 hours/day X 5 days/week X 52 weeks/year = 1,747,200 SCF

4,118,400 – 1,747,200 = 2,371,200 Standard Cubic Feet of compressed air savings

If you know your facility’s cost of compressed air generation, you can calculate the monetary savings.  If not, we can get a good estimate via a thumbrule used by the U.S. Department of Energy that says it typically costs $0.25 to generate 1,000 SCF of compressed air:

2,371,200 SCF X $0.25 ÷ 1,000 SCF = $592.80 annual monetary savings

In 2019, the cost of a Model 1100 Zinc Aluminum Super Air Nozzle is $41.00.  Daily savings (not counting weekends) is:

$592.80 ÷ 260 days (5 days/week X 52 weeks/year) = $2.28 daily savings

Meaning the payoff time for the $41.00 investment in the Model 1100 is:

$41.00 ÷ $2.28 = 17.9 days

Or…just over three weeks.  Now that I’ve shown you the math, I’d like to introduce you to the EXAIR Cost Savings Calculator.  Just enter the data, and it’ll check your math (because I know you’re going to do the math anyway, just like I would.)  It even does the ROI for you too.

Engineered solutions (like EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products) are the efficient, quiet, and safe choice. Does the one on the right look familiar?  It’s literally the example I used for the above calculations.

If you’d like to find out more about how – and how fast – EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products can pay off for you, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Video Blog: How To Calculate Air Consumption At A Pressure Other Than Published Values

The below video shows how to calculate the air consumption when operating at any pressure.

If you want to discuss efficient compressed air use or any of EXAIR’s engineered compressed air products, give us a call or email.  We would enjoy hearing from you!

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer
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How to Calculate SCFM (Volume) When Operating at Any Pressure

If you need to operate at a different pressure because you require less or more force or simply operate at a different line pressure, this formula will allow you to determine the volume of air being consumed by any device.

Volume Formula

Using the EXAIR 1100 Super Air Nozzle as our example:

1100

Lets first consider the volume of the 1100 Super Air Nozzle at a higher than published pressure.  As shown in the formula and calculations it is simply the ratio of gauge pressure + atmospheric divided by the published pressure + atmospheric and then multiply the dividend by the published volume.  So as we do the math we solve for 17.69 SCFM @ 105 PSIG from a device that was  shown consume 14 SCFM @ 80 PSIG.

higher

Now lets consider the volume at a lower than published pressure.  As shown it is simply the ratio of gauge pressure + atmospheric divided by the published pressure + atmospheric and then multiply the dividend by the published volume.  So as we do the math we solve for 11.04 SCFM @ 60 PSIG from a device that was shown to consume 14 SCFM @ 80 PSIG.

lower

When you are looking for expert advice on safe, quiet and efficient point of use compressed air products give us a call.  Experience the EXAIR difference first hand and receive the great customer service, products and attention you deserve!  We would enjoy hearing from you.

Application Engineer
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