Canned food has been around since the early 1800s, when the French government offered 12,000 francs (I don’t know how much that is in today’s currency, but it sounds like a LOT) to the first person to come up with a way to effectively and affordably preserve food, so the French army could take it with them during Napoleon’s planned conquest of Europe. Nicolas Appert, a candy maker and chef to the rich and famous, had been experimenting with cooking food inside sealed containers and noticed that it didn’t spoil if the seals didn’t leak. So he demonstrated his technique to the powers that be, and walked away with the 12,000 franc prize. It didn’t really pan out for the army because the process was slow & expensive, but canned food became something of a novelty among the aforementioned rich & famous of the day. This WAS the heyday of the Industrial Revolution, though, and food companies quickly advanced the technology for mass production. Today, there are very few food products that you won’t find a canned or jarred version of. In the early days, you had to use a can opener, but today you can find pull tabs on many cans, especially beverages.
Ever since Jimmy Buffett cut his heel on the one on the left in “Margaritaville”, we’ve been drinking from cans with ‘pop tops’ like the one on the right.
A more recent innovation is a peel-off foil seal on the lid that seals the product for freshness, immediately after packaging. It’s then removed by the consumer after purchase, and the container is commonly supplied with a plastic lid that snaps onto the rim.
A container manufacturer uses Model 3925 Adjustable Spot Cooler Systems with Dual Outlet Cold Air Hoses to rapidly cool the freshly heated sealed foil onto metal lids like those that are used for coffee cans. This allows them to move the lids from the heat sealing station to the next process faster.
From left to right: EXAIR Mini Coolers, Cold Guns, and Adjustable Spot Coolers come with Magnetic Bases for instant installation.
Because they generate cold air flow on demand, this is a very common application for EXAIR Vortex Tube Spot Cooler products. With no moving parts to wear or electrical components to burn out, they’re reliable & durable. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
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Manufacturers in semiconductor assembly and PCB production face strict cleanliness, throughput, and thermal-control requirements. EXAIRs compressed-air products, specifically our Air Knives and Vortex Tubes, and air amplifiers are proven, compact, and energy-efficient tools for precise blow-off, controlled cooling and heating for spot thermal conditioning and fume extraction. This Blog explains how EXAIR Super Air Knives and Vortex Tubes and Air Amplifiers address three common production needs:
Drying and particulate removal during lead frame processing with air knives.
Localized cooling/heating for functional PCB testing using Vortex Tubes.
Fume extraction during etching, cleaning and plating processes
I’ll cover technical fit, typical performance characteristics, and measurement/ROI considerations so engineers and plant managers can evaluate and implement these solutions.
Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle in clean room, cleaning microchip parts before installation.
Super Air Knife and Success in the semiconductor lead frame manufacturing process.
Typical use cases
Removing rinse water or flux residues after cleaning
Blowing off foreign matter, over spray, or machining debris prior to plating or die bonding.
Drying prior to molding or coating operations.
Static-assisted blow-off when combined with static eliminating product for electrostatically attracted particles.
Uniform Laminar Sheet of air: delivers consistent, even blow-off across the width of a lead frame, reducing localized hot spots or mechanical damage.
Adjustable force and flow: adjusting air pressure and shim size allow you to control force and volume so fragile wires or plated surfaces aren’t damaged.
Entrainment & Efficiency: The knives are engineered so they entrain ambient air, increasing total developed flow and reducing compressed-air consumption compared to open pipes.
Vortex Tubes for functional PCB testing / burn-in and thermal cycling
During in-line or bench functional testing, specific components or integrated circuits may overheat or require temperature conditioning to verify performance at the full range of the rated temperature specifications. Vortex Tubes give fast, localized cooling (or heating) without coolant loops, chillers, or plumbing intricacy. Subjecting devices to burn-in and thermal cycling stress helps products enter the field with confidence there will not be any preventable failures. Normally, environmental chambers are used for burn-in processes, but vortex tubes can help facilitate localized thermal ramps, corner stressing, or temporary additional cooling/heating when size, cost or availability of a full environmental chamber isn’t feasible.
Instant cold/hot air from regular compressed air: no refrigeration system or refrigeration cycle; instantaneous on/off.
No moving parts: high reliability and low maintenance for test fixtures.
Local spot conditioning: focus cooling on integrated circuits or other small areas without cooling the entire board or fixture.
Adjustable cold fraction: Vortex tubes can be tuned via the control valve to trade flow vs. temperature drop to meet testing conditions.
Cooling or Heating with the Vortex Tube
Air Amplifiers for fume extraction and partial heat control during etching, cleaning and plating processes.
In semiconductor lead frame manufacturing, maintaining clean, particle-free environments is essential to ensure consistent product quality and process reliability. Processes such as flux cleaning, plating, molding, and soldering generate vapors, fumes, and fine particulates that can contaminate delicate components or compromise yields. EXAIR’s Super Air Amplifier provides an efficient, quiet, and maintenance-free solution for capturing and removing fumes, vapors, and airborne contaminants from sensitive production areas.
Compressed-air energy reduction (compared to previous blow-offs) = kW savings (U.S. Department of Energy offers a benchmark of $0.25 per 1,000 SCF).
Tangible benefits: throughput improvement, energy savings, reduced capital cost (vs. chillers/chambers), lower maintenance and smaller footprint.
Conclusion
EXAIR Super Air Knives, Vortex Tubes and air amplifiers are compact, reliable, and flexible products that can improve cleanliness, thermal testing, and throughput in semiconductor processes.
Select a process you think could be helped with an air knife, Vortex Tube or an air amplifier and take advantage of our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Validate throughput and quality improvements and calculate ROI.
Rollout with appropriate controls, filtration, and operator training.
If you think any of our products can help you in your process, please reach out. We have a team of application engineers here M-F to answer your questions!
In industrial manufacturing, compressed air is the unsung hero powering tools, machinery, and processes across manufacturing, painting, blasting, and beyond. But here’s the catch: moisture. That sneaky water vapor lurking in your compressed air lines can wreak havoc, causing corrosion, freezing, and contaminating sensitive equipment. Deliquescent driers are low-maintenance systems designed to tackle humidity head-on. In this blog, we’ll dive into what makes these driers tick, their pros and cons.
What Are Deliquescent Driers, Anyway?
Picture this: a simple tank packed with hygroscopic (water-loving) salt tablets that dissolve into a brine as they absorb moisture from compressed air. That’s the 1000-foot view of a deliquescent drier. Unlike refrigerated or desiccant dryers that rely on complex refrigeration cycles or regeneration, deliquescent driers use chemistry to do the heavy lifting. The process is elegantly straightforward:
Incoming air enters the bottom of the vessel, preheated from compression and loaded with water vapor.
It flows upward through a bed of deliquescent desiccant—typically formulated from salts like calcium chloride, lithium chloride, or potassium chloride.
The salts “deliquesce” (hence the name), attracting and dissolving water vapor into a liquid brine that collects at the base.
Dry air exits the top, with a pressure dew point suppressed by about 15-20°F below the inlet temperature, depending on conditions.
No electricity, no moving parts—just pure, passive drying. These driers have been a staple since the 1940s, especially in rugged settings like petrochemical plants, outdoor blasting ops, or mobile equipment where reliability is the largest concern.
Why Choose Deliquescent Driers? The Pros (and a Few Cons)
Deliquescent driers aren’t for every scenario, but when they fit, they’re a game-changer. Let’s break it down:
The Advantages:
Zero Energy Consumption: No power required means lower operating costs and no electrical hazards in wet or explosive environments. Ideal for remote sites or intermittent use.
Rugged and Portable: Mount them indoors or outdoors—they thrive in extreme temps, even subzero conditions, with the right setup. Perfect for mobile contractors in painting or abrasive blasting.
Low Maintenance: Just drain the brine every 8-hour shift and top up the desiccant a few times a year. A sight glass lets you monitor levels at a glance.
Cost-Effective Upfront: Cheaper to buy and install than high-tech alternatives, with no filters or separators to fuss over.
The Drawbacks:
Limited Dew Point Control: They suppress dew point by a fixed amount (e.g., 20°F), so hot inlet air means warmer outlet air—fine for many apps but not ultra-dry needs.
Corrosion Potential: The brine is salty and corrosive, so vessels need robust coatings, and downstream lines require after filters to catch salt carryover.
Pre-filtration Required: Oil from compressors can foul the desiccant, so a coalescing pre-filter is a must.
In short, if you’re blasting in humid conditions, painting in the field, or running air tools in cold weather, deliquescent driers deliver freeze-proof, reliable performance without the fuss.
At EXAIR Corporation, we’re keen on compressed air efficiency. The attention to detail we pay to our products – from design, to manufacturing & assembly, to availability, and right on through to technical support – bears out our commitment to helping you get the most out of your compressed air system. If you’ve got questions, Give me a call.
