Tag: compressed air efficiency

Safety Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

That’s a direct quote that everyone at EXAIR hears at our regularly scheduled safety training meetings. While our machine tool operators & assembly technicians spend a lot more time “up close and personal” with devices that can hurt you if not used properly, we all work in the same building with them. That’s why EVERYONE is required to attend those meetings. I like the people I work with, so I REALLY like the level of confidence we all have that the company is looking out for us like that.

The confidence in safety that we have in working at EXAIR is built into our engineered Compressed Air Products as well. Compressed air is downright dangerous, so it’s imperative that you use it safely.

I spent 6 years & 23 days in the United States Navy, so I know full well that you can’t make anything “sailor proof” (no offense to you veterans of other branches, but I once got a letter of commendation from my Commanding Officer for fixing something that I’d broken myself) but I cannot figure out, for the life of me, how to violate OSHA’s Standard on using compressed air for cleaning, with an EXAIR Super Air Nozzle:

OSHA Standard 1910.242(b) says that if you use a compressed air device for cleaning, the static air pressure at the nozzle or opening must not exceed 30 PSI when dead-ended (blocked). Since the air from a Super Air Nozzle comes out of those holes recessed between those fins, there’s a (dare I say it?) sailor proof relief path to make sure that can’t happen.

In fact, all of our blowoff products comply with that standard:

The same design feature (the cap overhanging the body) makes our Flat Super Air Nozzle (left) and our Super Air Knife (right) OSHA Compliant.

Another danger associated with the use of compressed air is the noise level associated with introducing a high pressure gas to atmospheric pressure. If you use airguns or other blow offs without engineered nozzles, you likely know this already. EXAIR engineered Compressed Air Products solve this safety issue as well. Each of the products in the photos above has a very specific feature that causes the primary flow of compressed airflow to entrain a secondary airflow, which results in a much higher total developed airflow. That makes them EXTREMELY efficient — but it also forms a low velocity boundary layer around the hard-hitting air stream in the center, which attenuates the sound level.

In each of these EXAIR engineered compressed air products, the primary air stream following the curved surface causes entrainment. And efficiency. And sound attenuation.

The effectiveness of that low velocity boundary layer is so good that all of our Super Air Nozzles except the very largest ones are compliant with OSHA Standard 1910.95(a) for maximum allowable noise exposure (that limit is 90dBA, so you know.)

In closing, let me reiterate: compressed air is dangerous, so use it safely, and that starts with using safe compressed air products. Like EXAIR’s…we’re all about safety. If you’d like to find out more, I can talk about it all day, and sometimes I do…give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Noise In The Workplace

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The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially dangerous levels of noise at work every year. That’s “only” about 15% of the total number of people who are employed in the United States, but if you’re one of them, you should absolutely know the risks, and how to protect yourself. Obviously, high noise levels can cause hearing loss, but do you know what else it causes?

  • Cardiovascular disease. Constant noise exposure causes stress, and stress triggers the release of hormones that increase your blood pressure, which can lead to ischemic heart disease, strokes, and arrhythmia.
  • Sleep disruption. Studies show chronic noise exposure during the day can cause difficulty falling asleep, shortened sleep cycles, and frequent wake-ups during the night. All this leads to chronic fatigue and a host of long-term health issues.
  • Immune system suppression. While the exact nature of the relationship is unclear, recent studies have indicated that noise can cause changes in our immune systems.
  • Cognitive impairment: Continued noise exposure causes memory impairment, attention deficits, and reduced concentration.
  • Mental health issues. Not only does continued noise exposure release hormones like cortisol & adrenaline (causing the chronic stress that’ll literally break your heart; see above), it directly influences anxiety, depression, and irritability.
Don’t let this happen to you.

So, how do we protect ourselves? If you said “ear plugs,” you’re not wrong…but did you know that hearing protection in the form of personnel protective equipment (PPE) is considered the LEAST effective method of mitigating noise exposure? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, a sister agency of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA) developed a hierarchy of controls…a “good, better, best” framework, if you will, of methods to address workplace hazards:

Even though hearing protection (the PPE in this case) is least effective, the intent of the hierarchy graphic is not to dismiss it, but to categorize it as a last resort. If all else fails (or, more often, comes up short,) ear plugs are your – and your hearing’s – best friend.

If the source of the noise cannot be eliminated (and let’s face it, an awful lot of industrial processes are necessarily loud), the next best thing to do is to substitute a quieter method or device. That’s where EXAIR comes in: the design of our engineered Air Knives, Air Nozzles, and Air Amplifiers exploits certain principles of fluidics to mitigate the noise levels associated with the rapid depressurization of compressed air when it’s blown for cleaning, drying, cooling, etc. The key to this is 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.

While this entrainment makes EXAIR products EXTREMELY efficient (the compressed air consumption ends up being a fraction of the total developed flow), it also creates a low velocity boundary layer around the primary high velocity & forceful airflow. This layer attenuates the sound level of that high velocity flow.

Compressed air use can be loud, wasteful, and dangerous, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re looking for a quiet, safe, and efficient solution for your use of compressed air, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Care and Feeding Of Your Reversible Drum Vac

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EXAIR’s Reversible Drum Vac couldn’t be easier to operate. Thread it in to the 3/4 NPT vent connection on your drum lid, install the Standpipe & Hose on the 2 NPT bung, hook up a compressed air line to it, and you’re in business. As long as your compressed air is clean & moisture free, your Reversible Drum Vac will run like new for a long, long time.

Should you start to see a decrease in performance, though, the first thing you’ll want to do is verify the compressed air supply, especially if something’s changed:

  • Did you get a new hose? The Reversible Drum Vac uses 19 SCFM @80psig for rated performance. That’ll require a 3/8″ ID hose, assuming a length of no more than about 20ft.
  • Are there any restrictions in the line? The usual suspects are clogged filters, partially closed valves, or push-to-connect quick-connect fittings.
  • Are there any vacuum leaks in the hose, its cuffs, the drum, or either threaded connection? If the lid’s removable, is that gasket intact?
Pro tip: a pressure gauge, right at the inlet, will give you instant indication of an air supply issue with your RDV (or any compressed air-operated product.)

If you’ve eliminated all of those potential problems, it’s time to take a look at the Reversible Drum Vac itself. The Reversible Drum Vac has tight internal passages that contamination from even the cleanest compressed air systems can build up in, over time. Good news is, we made it super easy to disassemble & clean, and better news: this almost always restores it to as-new performance. We even have a video that walks you through it:

You may be surprised not at how much, but how little contamination you find inside the Reversible Drum Vac. We offer factory refurbishment service for them as well…the procedure in the video is step-by-step what that service consists of, except we also replace the Shim, O-Rings, & Float, and when we reassemble it, we verify performance on the same fixture that every single new Reversible Drum Vac that we build gets tested on. Recently, a customer sent a Reversible Drum Vac in for refurbishment services after we’d spent some time talking on the phone, exchanging emails, and even a brief Engineering Consultation web meeting, troubleshooting their loss of vacuum. I was particularly curious about this one, so when it came in, I tested it (on our calibrated test fixture) for performance, and found it was only generating about 22% of rated vacuum, and only 17% of rated flow. I figured it was clogged (with a capital CLOGGED) so I match marked the body & plug (just like we show in the video) and took it apart:

I was frankly surprised at how little contamination (which appeared to be rust from the customer’s compressed air piping system) caused such a dramatic loss of vacuum.

We then completed the Refurbishment Service and tested it again. Performance was verified to be within specification for a new High Lift Reversible Drum Vac.

I offer to share the Cleaning & Refurbishing video with just about anyone who calls to discuss performance (or lack thereof) of their Reversible Drum Vac. Some still want to send theirs in for Refurbishment Service, and that’s fine. If you have a Reversible Drum Vac that’s not working properly, I’m here to help you get the most out of our products — any of them — give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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The All-Around (Literally) Best Answer For Static Elimination: EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

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Static charge is a surface phenomenon, which means it has to be addressed on the entire surface that it’s causing a problem on. For sheets, plates, films — anything that’s flat and stacked or rolled, really — EXAIR Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives are a popular solution. They generate a laminar, even curtain of ionized air that’ll dissipate the static charge on a surface up to 9 feet wide quietly, effectively…and quickly. For smaller pieces & parts, we’ve got Ion Air Jets and Ion Air Cannons that create a more focused stream of ionized air. For portability, the Gen4 Ion Air Gun is essentially a handheld version of the Ion Air Jet.

For pipe, hose, tube, wire, cable, extruded or molded continuous strands…anything that needs static elimination on all sides, really…EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipes are a great fit. They generate a uniform 360° ionized airflow to eliminate static on the surface of those kinds of products. They come in two sizes: one with a 2″ inside diameter, and one with a 4″ inside diameter. The split clamp design means you don’t have to ‘thread’ the material through…you simply undo the latch on one side and fit it back around the material or part. 

360° blow off AND fast, efficient static dissipation: EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipe.
Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

Both of the photos above show Super Ion Air Wipes used for plastic hose — and that is indeed a VERY popular application for them. They’re also successfully used for tubing, wire, pipe, extrusions, anything that can pass through the 2″ or 4″ inside diameter & needs to have static charge removed from it.

If you have problems with static charge, EXAIR has solutions. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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