Tag: Coanda effect

EXAIR Standard Air Knife: Engineered For Performance

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In 1983, EXAIR Corporation was founded with the goal of engineering & manufacturing quiet, safe, and efficient compressed air products for industry.  By 1988, the EXAIR-Knife (now known as the Standard Air Knife) was quickly becoming the preferred choice for replacing loud and inefficient drilled pipes, long nozzle manifolds…anywhere an even, high velocity curtain of air was required.

The EXAIR Standard Air Knife’s design takes advantage of a fascinating principle of fluidics to achieve quiet and efficient operation: the Coanda Effect, which is the tendency of a fluid jet to stay attached to a convex surface.  If you want to see it for yourself, hold the back of a spoon, handle up, under the kitchen faucet.  Those who haven’t seen it before may assume that gravity will take over and the water will fall from the bottom of the spoon’s ‘bowl’ – but it doesn’t:

Likewise, the air flow (which is just another example of a fluid jet) exiting the Standard Air Knife’s shim gap follows a convex surface (which we call the “Coanda profile”) causing it to entrain large amounts of air from the surrounding environment:

Compressed air flows through the inlet (1) to the Standard Air Knife, into the internal plenum. It then discharges through a thin gap (2), adhering to the Coanda profile (3) which directs it down the face of the Air Knife. The precision engineered & finished surfaces optimize entrainment of air (4) from the surrounding environment.

This entrainment does two things for us:

  • First, because we’ve engineered the design for maximum entrainment, it’s very efficient – creating a high flow rate, while minimizing air consumption.  In the case of the Standard Air Knife, the entrainment ratio is 30:1.
  • Secondly, this entrainment forms an attenuating boundary layer for the air flow, resulting in a high velocity, high volume airflow that is also incredibly quiet.

The EXAIR Standard Air Knife comes in lengths from 3″ to 48″, and in aluminum or 303SS construction.  All sizes, in both materials, are on the shelf and available for immediate shipment.  For most applications, we recommend the Kit, which includes a Shim Set (to make gross changes to flow & force,) an Automatic Drain Filter Separator (keeps the air clean & moisture free,) and a Pressure Regulator (to dial in the performance.)  Deluxe Kits add our Universal Air Knife Mounting System and EFC Electronic Flow Control.

(From left to right) Aluminum Standard Air Knife Kit, SS Standard Air Knife Kit, Deluxe Aluminum Standard Air Knife Kit, Deluxe SS Standard Air Knife Kit.

If you need a hard hitting curtain of air for blow off, drying, cleaning, cooling, environmental separation, etc., the EXAIR Standard Air Knife is an easy and economical solution.  If you’d like to discuss your application and/or product selection, give me a call.

Russ Bowman

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Air Entrainment & EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air Products

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Air entrainment is a term that we bring up quite often here at EXAIR. It’s this concept that allows many of our products to dramatically reduce compressed air consumption. The energy costs associated with producing compressed air make it an expensive utility for manufacturers. Utilizing engineered compressed air products that will entrain ambient air from the environment allow you to reduce the compressed air consumption without sacrificing force or flow.

Entrainment
EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products such as (left to right) the Air Wipe, Super Air Knife, Super Air Nozzle, and Air Amplifier are engineered to entrain enormous amounts of air from the surrounding environment.

Products such as the Super Air Knife, Super Air Nozzle, Air Amplifier, and Super Air Wipe all take advantage of “free” air that is entrained into the primary supplied airstream. This air entrainment occurs due to what is known as the Coanda effect. Named after renowned Romanian physicist, Henri Coanda, the Coanda effect is used in the design of airplane wings to produce lift. As air comes across the convex surface on the top, it slows down creating a higher pressure on the underside of the wing. This creates lift and is what allows an airplane to fly.

nozzle_anim_twit800x320
EXAIR Super Air Nozzle entrainment

This is also the same principle which is allowing us to entrain ambient air. As the compressed air is ejected through a small orifice, a low-pressure area is created that draws in additional air. Our products are engineered to maximize this entrained air, creating greater force and flow without additional compressed air. Super Air Amplifiers and Super Air Nozzles are capable of up to a 25:1 air entrainment ratio, with just 1 part being the supplied air and up to 25 times entrained air for free!! The greatest air entrainment is achieved with the Super Air Knife at an incredible ratio of 40:1!

This air entrainment principle allows you to utilize any of these products efficiently for a wide variety of cooling, drying, cleaning, or general blowoff applications. In addition to reducing your compressed air consumption, replacing inefficient devices with engineered products will also dramatically lower your sound level in the plant. Sound level in some applications can even be reduced down to a point that would eliminate the need for hearing protection with the OSHA maximum allowable exposure limits set at 90 dBA for an 8-hour shift.

If you have inefficient blowoff devices in your facility, give us a call. An Application Engineer will be happy to help you select a product that will “quietly” reduce your compressed air consumption!

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

Henri Coanda: June 7, 1886 – November 25, 1972

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Henri Coanda was a Romanian aeronautical engineer best known for his work on the fluid dynamic principle with his namesake, the Coanda effect. Before this, Henri patented what he labeled as a jet engine.

Jet Engine 1
Jet Engine

Henri’s patent (French patent No. 416,54, dated October 22, 1910) gives more information into how he envisioned the motor working. When air entered the front, it passed through different cavities that caused the air stream to first contract and then expand. In Henri’s opinion this contraction and expansion converted the air’s kinetic energy into potential energy.  The air ultimately was channeled to a diffuser where it was discharged.

Henri stated that the efficiency of this engine could be improved by heating the air in the cavities, Henri’s logic was that this would increase the pressure of the air passing through.

What is obviously lacking in the patent (including identical ones taken out in England and the United States) is any mention of injecting fuel, which in a true jet engine would combust with the incoming air. Judging only by Henri’s patent, it was little more than a large ducted fan and it could not have flown.  Throughout Henri’s career he changed his story many times on whether this plane actually flew or not.

Not to cast too much shade on Henri’s accomplishments he did discover the Coanda effect.  The Coanda effect states that a fluid will adhere to the surface of a curved shape that it is flowing over.  One might think that a stream of fluid would continue in a straight line as it flows over a surface, however the opposite is true.  A moving stream of fluid will follow the curvature of the surface it is flowing over and not continue in a straight line. This effect is what causes an airplane wing to produce lift, and enhance lift when the ailerons are extended while at lower air speeds such as occurs during takeoff and landing.

plane-1043635_1920
Ailerons positioned for cruising speed

EXAIR uses the Coanda effect to offer you highly engineered, intelligent and very efficient compressed air products.  Our designs take a small amount of compressed air and actually entrain the surrounding ambient air with the high velocity exiting compressed air stream to amplify the volume of air hitting a surface.

nozzle_anim_twit800x320
Surrounding Air Captured (Entrained) In Exiting Compressed Air Stream
How Air Knife Works
1). Compressed Air Inlet, 2). Compressed Air Exiting EXAIR Super Air Knife 3). Surrounding Air Being Entrained With Exiting Compressed Air Stream
Super Air Amplifier
EXAIR Super Air Amplifier Entraiment

When you are looking for expert advice on safe, quiet and efficient point of use compressed air products give us a call.   We would enjoy hearing from you.

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer
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Great Stuff About Jets

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

There are a number of fascinating facts about jets…both the aircraft engines and the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products:

  • Because they don’t require dense air to engage spinning blades (like their propeller driven counterparts,) they can operate at much higher altitudes. (Jet aircraft engines only)
  • They provide a high thrust, directed airstream, which makes them great for part ejection, chip removal, and part drying. (EXAIR Air Jets only)
  • With few or no moving parts, they are extremely reliable, durable, and safe. (Both jet aircraft engines and EXAIR Air Jets)
  • They use the Coanda effect (a principle of fluidics whereby a fluid flow tends to attach itself to a nearby surface, and follow that surface regardless of the flow’s initial direction) to do what they do.
    • EXAIR Air Jets use this principle to generate a vacuum in their throat, pulling in a large amount of “free” air from the surround environment, making their use of compressed air very, very efficient.
    • Jet (and propeller driven) aircraft wings employ the Coanda effect to create aerodynamic lift, enabling the plane to fly.

Now, since I’m not a pilot, nor do I particularly like to fly, but I AM a fluid dynamics nerd, the rest of this blog will be about the Air Jets that EXAIR makes.

All of our Air Jet products operate on the same principle…using the Coanda effect (as described above) to generate a high volume air flow while minimizing compressed air consumption:

(1) Compressed air enters and is distributed through an annular ring, and directed towards the discharge via the Coanda effect.
(2) This causes entrainment of surrounding air, both through the throat, and at the discharge.
(3) The total developed flow has tremendous force and velocity, for a minimal consumption of valuable compressed air.(1) Compressed air enters and is distributed through an annular ring, and directed towards the discharge via the Coanda effect.
(2) This causes entrainment of surrounding air, both through the throat, and at the discharge.
(3) The total developed flow has tremendous force and velocity, for a minimal consumption of valuable compressed air.

There are four distinct models of the EXAIR Air Jet:

  • Model 6013 High Velocity Air Jet is made of brass for economy and durability.  The annular ring gap (see 1, above) is fixed by a 0.015″ thick shim.  Performance can be modified by changing to a 0.006″ or 0.009″ thick shim, which come in the Model 6313 Shim Set.
  • Model 6013SS is a Type 303 Stainless Steel version, for higher temperatures – good to 400°F (204°C) – and superior corrosion resistance.
  • Model 6019 Adjustable Air Jet is brass construction, and dimensionally identical to the Model 6103.  Instead of a shim that sets the annular ring gap, though, it has a threaded plug, with a micrometer-style indicator, to “fine tune” the gap.
  • Model 6019SS is the Type 303 Stainless Steel version…fine tuning adjustability, good for high heat and/or corrosive elements.
Four distinct models to meet the needs of your air blowing application.

If you’d like to find out more about EXAIR’s quiet, efficient, and safe Air Jets, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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