Tag: compressed air products

Code Red at 90 PSI: The Cost of Ignoring Compressed Air Safety

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

To the untrained eye, a compressed air line looks like a harmless garden hose. But looks are incredibly deceiving. While a water leak leaves you with a puddle, a compromised compressed air line releases stored energy with explosive force.

Ensuring a safe shop floor requires understanding the primary hazards of compressed air, identifying common regulatory violations, and utilizing engineered solutions—like those from EXAIR—to eliminate risks before an accident occurs.

Most compressed air injuries don’t happen because a tank explodes; they happen during routine daily operations. OSHA and global safety boards continuously track three primary physical threats:

1. Dead-Ending (Embolisms and Skin Penetration)

If an open blow-off pipe or nozzle is pressed directly against a worker’s skin, the air pressure can breach the skin barrier. This introduces air bubbles directly into the bloodstream, creating an air embolism. If those bubbles reach the heart, lungs, or brain, the results can be fatal.

2. Flying Debris (Eye Injuries)

Using compressed air to blow chips, coolant, or dust off machined parts creates a high-velocity debris cloud. Without proper guarding or specialized nozzle design, these particles can ricochet back into an operator’s eyes or pierce the skin of anyone standing nearby.

3. Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

Industrial compressed air is loud. Open-ended pipes and poorly designed cross-drilled nozzles create extreme turbulence, frequently pushing noise levels past 90 to 100 dBA. Prolonged exposure to these frequencies permanently destroys the delicate hair cells in the inner ear, leading to irreversible hearing damage and costly workers’ compensation claims.

Hearing loss is the best known, but not the only, ill effect of harmful noise exposure. It can also cause physical and psychological stress, impair concentration, and contribute to workplace accidents or injuries.

To keep workers safe, OSHA enforces strict regulations regarding how compressed air can be used for cleaning and blow-off operations. Two critical rules dictate compliance on the factory floor:

OSHA RegulationThe RequirementThe Danger of Non-Compliance
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.242(b) (Pressure Rule)Compressed air used for cleaning must be reduced to less than 30 PSI if it becomes “dead-ended” against a surface or skin.High static pressure can force air through the skin, causing severe tissue damage or fatal air embolisms.
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95 (Noise Rule)Limits worker noise exposure to 90 dBA over an 8-hour time-weighted average.Open-pipe blow-offs routinely exceed 100 dBA, causing permanent hearing loss and triggering heavy OSHA fines.

The 30 PSI Misconception: Many facility managers mistakenly believe they must regulate their entire air supply line down to 30 PSI to comply with OSHA. This is a myth. You can feed a line at 100 PSI pressure, if and only if the nozzle or tool is engineered to automatically drop the pressure below 30 PSI the exact moment it is dead-ended.

Many plants try to solve safety issues by installing pressure regulators to manually throttle lines down to 30 PSI. The problem with this is that the tool loses its velocity, the operator can no longer do their job efficiently, and they inevitably sneak back to turn the regulator right back up.

EXAIR Compressed Air Products solve this conflict by using physics to maximize safety without sacrificing blowing power.

 1. Eliminating Dead-Ending with Intelligently Designed Nozzles

Standard open pipes can easily be blocked by a hand or finger, building up dangerous static pressure. EXAIR’s Super Air Nozzles utilize small aerodynamic fins and geometric profiles that prevent the nozzle from ever being completely blocked. If a worker accidentally presses an EXAIR nozzle against their hand, the air safely escapes through the side exhaust slots. The static pressure drops well below the 30 PSI OSHA limit, eliminating the risk of skin penetration.

2. Cutting Sound Levels in Half

Instead of blasting raw air into the atmosphere, EXAIR products use the Coanda effect to amplify airflow. By ejecting a tiny, microscopic layer of compressed air at high velocity along a precise profile, it naturally pulls in large volumes of surrounding ambient air. Because the air shears smoothly rather than colliding violently with the room atmosphere, noise levels drop dramatically—often by up to 10 dBA, which the human ear perceives as cutting the loudness in half.

3. Eradicating Danger Zones with Engineered Air Guns

For manual cleaning tasks, generic air guns often lack sufficient guarding. EXAIR’s Safety Air Guns couple their compliant nozzles with ergonomic extensions and protective chip shields. These clear shields act as a physical barrier, blocking flying chips and liquid blowback from ever reaching the operator’s face.

Compressed air is an incredibly efficient utility, but it demands respect. By trading out crude, open-ended pipes and cheap blow-gun nozzles for engineered solutions, you protect your team from life-altering injuries, insulate your business from costly legal liabilities, and significantly lower your monthly energy bill.

Take a walk through your facility today. If you hear a deafening hiss or spot an unregulated open pipe, it’s time to upgrade your safety fundamentals with EXAIR solutions.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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The True Cost of Downtime: Reliability Pays for Itself

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

When a piece of equipment goes down, the cost isn’t limited to the replacement part.

Production stops. Employees wait. Maintenance gets pulled away from other projects. Orders can fall behind. Scrap and quality issues can increase. And depending on the process, a few minutes of downtime can quickly become a very expensive problem.

That’s why reliability should be considered during the design process, not after equipment begins to fail.

Downtime Costs More Than You Think

A previous EXAIR application provides a great example.

At an aluminum rodding facility, material accumulating underneath conveyors required regular cleaning and contributed to premature conveyor component failures. The problem was costing the facility more than $85,000 per year in cleaning expenses and approximately 7,100 minutes of unscheduled downtime.

EXAIR Super Air Knives were installed to prevent the material from accumulating underneath the conveyors. The total implementation cost was approximately $16,000, with the cleaning-cost savings alone producing a payback of less than three months.

Once downtime and reduced conveyor maintenance were considered, the return was even faster.

That example highlights an important point:

The purchase price of equipment is only one part of its true cost.

What Does an Hour of Downtime Really Cost?

The answer will be different for every facility.

When production stops, consider everything happening around that machine:

  • Lost production and throughput
  • Maintenance labor
  • Operator downtime
  • Overtime required to catch back up
  • Replacement parts
  • Scrap or damaged product
  • Expedited shipping
  • Missed delivery dates
  • Reduced equipment life
  • Customer dissatisfaction

A $500 component failure can easily create thousands of dollars in losses when everything surrounding that failure is considered.

Design the Failure Points Out

One way engineers can improve reliability is by reducing the number of components that can fail in the first place.

Many EXAIR products operate using compressed air with no moving parts.

There are no electric motors at the point of use. No bearings to replace. No belts to break. No gears to lubricate.

This design principle is used throughout products such as Super Air Knives, Air Nozzles, Air Amplifiers, Vortex Tubes, Cabinet Coolers, Line Vacs and E-Vacs.

Fewer moving components mean fewer opportunities for mechanical wear and unexpected failure.

Look Beyond the Purchase Price

The lowest initial purchase price isn’t necessarily the lowest-cost solution.

When evaluating equipment, consider its total cost of ownership:

Purchase Price + Installation + Maintenance + Replacement Parts + Downtime + Lost Production

A solution that costs slightly more initially but operates reliably for years can quickly become the less expensive option.

EXAIR has previously demonstrated this concept when comparing Cabinet Coolers with traditional refrigerant-based enclosure air conditioners. With no moving parts in the cooling device, Cabinet Coolers eliminate many of the motors and mechanical components that require periodic maintenance or replacement.

Reliability Has an ROI

Preventing downtime isn’t simply a maintenance objective.

It’s a productivity strategy.

Every failure point you can eliminate helps protect production, maintenance resources, delivery schedules and ultimately your bottom line.

When evaluating your next blowoff, cooling, conveying or vacuum application, don’t just ask:

“What does this solution cost?”

Ask:

“What could it cost us when this solution stops working?”

Sometimes the best way to reduce the cost of downtime is to design the potential failure out of the process entirely.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
E: JordanShouse@exair.com
O: (513) 671‑3322
F: (513) 671‑3363
A: 11510 Goldcoast Dr Cincinnati OH 45249
www.exair.com

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Compressed Air Safety Fundamentals

Published on by jasonkirbyLeave a comment

Safety in the workplace is of paramount importance, and it is widely recognized that annual safety training is a common practice among organizations. A fundamental message from these training sessions is that safety is a collective responsibility, not limited to a select few. At EXAIR, we prioritize safety in all aspects of our operations. Our product line, particularly our Safety Air Guns, exemplifies this commitment, as they are engineered with safety considerations at the forefront. This emphasis on safety is critical, especially given the potential health hazards associated with the improper use of compressed air.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for enforcing regulations that promote safe and healthy working conditions. This agency possesses the power to levy significant fines for any infractions. Among the frequent violations related to compressed air are those concerning air guns and blow-off devices, specifically detailed in 29CFR 1910.242(b), which addresses dead-end pressure and chip shielding, as well as 29CFR 1910.95(a), which pertains to permissible noise exposure levels.

The regulation 29CFR 1910.242(b) addresses the use of hand-held tools, particularly emphasizing that blow-off devices must not operate at pressures exceeding 30 PSIG when there is a risk of compressed air becoming dead-ended. In situations where there is no escape route for the air, it poses a serious risk of penetrating the skin and causing an air embolism. A potential remedy is to drill a hole to create an alternative escape route. However, this solution may introduce additional safety hazards, which will be discussed later. EXAIR’s air nozzles are engineered with fins that facilitate safe air escape, thereby preventing skin blockage. Consequently, users can operate the EXAIR Super Air Nozzles at pressures exceeding 30 PSIG with confidence.

The regulation 29CFR 1910.95(a) specifies the permissible sound levels for safe human exposure, emphasizing that extended exposure to elevated noise can result in irreversible hearing loss. However, the cross-drilled nozzle falls short in this regard, as it generates significant noise due to turbulent airflow, despite being suitable for dead-end pressure applications. In contrast, EXAIR’s nozzles are engineered to incorporate ambient air, resulting in a significantly quieter laminar flow. For example, the Model 1210 Safety Air Gun, equipped with the Model 1100 Nozzle, operates at a sound level of only 74dBA, which is comfortably below the noise exposure threshold for an eight-hour work shift.

If you have any inquiries about compressed air safety, or any EXAIR products, please feel free to contact us.

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

NEMA 4X Panel Cooling Challenges

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Electronic components don’t like heat, which is kind of ironic, considering they generate so much heat by themselves. Heat causes them to malfunction, and prolonged exposure can shorten their lifespan, or even cause them to fail RIGHT NOW. In any case, it’s important to keep them cool.

The computer that sits on my desk has a little fan in the back. This circulates fairly clean air from our climate-controlled office through the inside, keeping everything working just like it should.

It’d be great if ALL electrical & electronic component enclosures were situated in such ideal environments. Many, though, are subject to HARSH conditions: dust, oil vapor, high humidity, water spray for sanitation, high temperatures, corrosive elements – just to name a few. And EXAIR has panel cooling solutions for ALL of them.

Today, dear reader, we’re going to look at that last one: corrosive elements in the environment. Some of the more popular places where we encounter these are:

  • Paper mills use chemicals that create harsh vapors. If you’ve ever been around a paper mill, you likely know the smell of methyl mercaptan. Whether you know the name or not, it’s the source of that trademark odor that permeates the air for MILES around paper mills, and it’s a byproduct of pulp processing that’s corrosive in wet or humid environments . . .like paper mills.
  • Wastewater treatment plants use highly corrosive chemicals to make clean water out of — let’s just say, not-so-clean water. And, the process releases hydrogen sulfide gas, which is HIGHLY corrosive.
  • Chemical plants: they make corrosive stuff ON PURPOSE. To be fair, those harsh chemicals are used in the production of just about everything in the modern world.
  • Electroplating facilities use some of the strongest acids and bases in their plating solutions, which release harsh & corrosive vapors.
  • Food processing facilities have to wash down entire rooms within their buildings, and some of the sanitizing agents they use create corrosive conditions.

You obviously can’t use fans (like my desktop computer in our clean office environment) for cooling control panels in these environments. Panel air conditioners have filters that can get dirty in a hurry, cooling coils that get fouled and corroded, and electric motors that burn out quicker in harsh environments. These environments are where Cabinet Cooler Systems make the most sense. With no moving parts to wear or electrical components to burn out, they’ll run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free, as long as they’re supplied with clean compressed air. And since 100% of the cold air they make comes from the compressed air supply, when they’re properly installed on a sealed panel, the only thing the components inside are ever exposed to is clean, cold, moisture-free air.

EXAIR NEMA 12 (oil tight, dust tight, indoor duty) and NEMA 4 (splash resistant, indoor/outdoor duty) Cabinet Coolers are made of lightweight and fairly corrosion-resistant aluminum. When harsh corrosive elements are present, though, our NEMA 4X (corrosion resistant, indoor/outdoor duty) Cabinet Coolers are made of type 303 Stainless Steel. When PARTICULARLY corrosive elements are present, we also offer them in type 316 Stainless Steel as well.

EXAIR NEMA 4X Cabinet Coolers are made of Stainless Steel for corrosion resistance in the harshest of conditions.

If you’ve got electric panels in a harsh environment, EXAIR has reliable, durable cooling solutions. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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