Tag: compressed air product applications

Protecting Electrical Enclosures Safely and Reliably with Cabinet Cooler Systems

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

As summer temperatures increase, so does the volume of calls we get about Cabinet Cooler Systems. A typical call goes something like this:

“One of our control panels has a drive in it that’s overheating. If it goes down, so does the whole line. How soon can I get a Cabinet Cooler System?”

All of our Cabinet Cooler Systems — including the UL Classified HazLoc and ATEX models — are in stock and available for same day shipment.

“Great! How do I get one?”

With just a few key pieces of information, I can quickly and accurately calculate the heat load of your panel, and specify the right Cabinet Cooler System. You can input that information into our Sizing Guide online, or you can call me. It only takes a minute to do the calculations, and we do it over the phone all the time. Here’s what we need to know:

  • Panel dimensions: Grab your favorite tape measure & write down the height, width, and depth of the panel. We’ll calculate the heat transfer surface area from that.
  • Current internal & external air temperatures: Take a thermometer to where the panel is. Write down what it reads when you get there — that’ll be the ‘external’. Then, put it inside the panel, and write down what it reads after a few minutes — that’ll be the ‘internal.’ We use those to calculate the internal heat load — how much heat is being generated by the components inside the panel.
    • Optional: if you have accurate heat dissipation data for the housed components, we can use that instead of the temperatures. This is how we do it if the panel isn’t currently in operation.
    • Important note: if we ARE using temperatures, it’s important to measure the AIR temperatures, as opposed to using a heat gun to ‘shoot’ the surface temperature of a component. The formulas we use are based on tried-and-true HVAC formulas, and we’ve been proving their accuracy for decades.
  • Maximum external air temperature: How hot does it get on the hottest day of summer? We’ll use that to calculate the external heat load — how much heat the panel absorbs from the environment.
  • Desired internal air temperature: Many electrical/electronic component manufacturers specify a maximum operating temperature of 104°F (40°F), so the ‘industry standard’ in panel cooling is to maintain an internal air temperature of 95°F (35°C), so that’s where we pre-set our Thermostats. If you know for a fact that the components inside your panel need a cooler environment to operate in, the Thermostats can be reset. Keep in mind, we may need to provide a Cabinet Cooler System with a higher cooling capacity in those cases. Or, if you know for a fact that your equipment can handle a higher operating temperature, the Thermostats can be adjusted…and you can save on your compressed air usage.

If there are fans circulating outside air through the panel, we’ll need to know about them too. They’re providing a finite (sometimes substantial) amount of cooling, and they’ll have to be removed, and their holes covered, for proper operation of the Cabinet Cooler System. If not, that’s like running your air conditioner with a fan in the window.

The other considerations are all about where the panel is, and what it’s exposed to:

  • NEMA ratings are all about keeping the environment out of the panel:
    • NEMA 12: Oil tight, dust tight, indoor duty
    • NEMA 4: All that, and splash resistant, indoor/outdoor duty
    • NEMA 4X: All that, and stainless steel construction for corrosion resistance.
  • If it’s a UL or ATEX Classified area, we have systems for that:
    • HazLoc systems are UL Class I Div 1, Class II Div 1, and Class III rated.
    • ATEX systems are rated for use in ATEX Zones 2 & 22.

If you have an electrical or electronic panel that needs reliable, durable heat protection, you might need an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System. To find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

Compressed Air Problems? Ask An Application Engineer If An EXAIR Super Air Nozzle Is Right For You.

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

A few years back, I had the pleasure of working with a machine shop manager who wanted to reduce the compressed air consumption in their facility. They had ten lathes, machining high-tech plastic products, and used crimped copper tubing to blow off chips and shavings as the parts were turned. They ran continuously — as did the air compressor — which occasionally caused header pressure to drop below the level required for operation of the pneumatic chucks & tool changers.

These cheap and easy blow offs were making things expensive and difficult for the company.

After some discussion and an Efficiency Lab test of one of their crimped tubes, I recommended our Model 1100 1/4 NPT Zinc Aluminum Super Air Nozzles. They’re our most popular engineered Air Nozzle for typical industrial blow-off applications. They generate a forceful, focused blast of air that’s ideal for chip removal on machine tools, and they’re ideally suited for a number of other uses as well. They bought ten (one for each machine) and installed them one afternoon, right before close of business, by cutting the crimps off the copper tubes and fitting them with simple compression fittings. The whole operation took about five minutes. When the machine shop manager arrived the next morning, he was at first alarmed because there was so little noise coming from the shop (he thought something was wrong with the machines) and then impressed when he found all the lathes were running, and the Super Air Nozzles were so much quieter than the crimped tubes.

The copper tube used to have a crimped end that was aimed at the part in the chuck. They simply cut it off and used a compression fitting to install the Super Air Nozzle.

While our Model 1100 Super Air Nozzle is our most popular one, EXAIR makes a wide range of engineered Air Nozzles to meet the needs of almost any blow-off application. If you’re replacing something else, we can test your current device(s) in our Efficiency Lab (like we did the crimped copper tubing here) and determine the Air Nozzle that most closely matches the performance required for your application.

If it’s a new application, we have tools at our disposal for proper product selection too:

  • The Catalog: Our Air Nozzles & Jets catalog section lists them all, from smallest to largest, with performance data, dimensions, and airflow patterns. I actually like to start with the airflow pattern: once we know the size & shape of the needed/desired flow, we can narrow down our selection.
  • Application Database: At last count, we had over 200 blow-off applications written up. Now, that includes Air Nozzles as well as Air Knives, Air Amplifiers, and Safety Air Guns (which have Air Nozzles on them), but keep in mind what I said about picking the size & shape of the airflow.
  • Engineering Assistance: If you’re short on time, find yourself completely stumped, or just want a 2nd opinion on the best product for your application, we’re here from 7am to 4pm Eastern Time to help you over the phone, in a Live Chat, or at an Engineering Consultation web meeting. You can also email techelp@exair.com, 24/7, with details about what you’re after.

At EXAIR, we want to help you get the most out of your compressed air use. If you want to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

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
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

Noise In The Workplace

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

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
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook