Tag: coolant blowoff

Removing Coolant From Cold Rolling Operations

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

An overseas company had a cold rolling process where they would make metal sheets of different thicknesses and widths.  They were having issues with their machine removing the excess coolant from the surface that was used in the process.  Like with too many applications, they made their own home-made air knives.  They found that they had reduced production rates, increased quality failures, and amplified noise levels.  They contacted EXAIR to help resolve these issues.    

To go into the details of the application, the cold rolling process uses work rolls to “squeeze” the metal to a thinner gauge.  This squeezing creates heat up to 350oF (177oC).  So, before each work roll, they would spray a coolant to help remove the heat.  The amount of coolant is very important to get the proper cooling and metal gauge.  After the work rolls, the coolant has to be removed before the next work roll operation.  Their system was designed for 3,300 ft/min (1000 m/min), but they could only run it at half the speed as they could not remove enough coolant from the surface.  For each work roll, they used three homemade compressed air knives that were made from 54” (1372mm) pipes with drilled holes.  They laid one on top and one on bottom just after the work rolls.  After the trial, they had to add another one on top to try and remove the remaining coolant that was missed by the first one.  Each home-made knife used 440 SCFM (744 M3/hr) of compressed air at 100 PSIG (6.9 bar) during the cold rolling operation.

Super Air Knife

With similar solutions, EXAIR has a great product for non-contact wiping for flat surfaces, the Super Air Knives.  They use compressed air to generate a force at varying degrees.  With the engineered design, we are able to add free ambient air at a rate of 40:1.  For every one part of compressed air, we can entrain 40 parts of ambient air.  By adding this mass to the airstream, we can generate a hard-hitting force.  Generally, with a drilled pipe, they have an entrainment near 4 to 5:1 which requires more compressed air to get that same force.  Also, with the Super Air Knives, we can generate a laminar flow to give an even force across the entire length. 

For this application, I was worried about the setup of their home-made air knives.  With the position of being straight across, the coolant liquid could build up to a heavier amount in front of the knives, which could allow for some of the coolant to bypass.  This would be the reason for the second drilled pipe on top.  The bottom unit worked fine as gravity was helping to remove the coolant from the surface.  But they were using a lot of compressed air with high noise levels.  I was able to help them to create a more effective blow-off design and to save a lot of compressed air. 

Chevron Style

In my discussion, I mentioned that with high-speed operations, the setup is important for great non-contact wiping.  For this customer, I recommend the Chevron style which mounts two Super Air Knives as an inverted “V”.  Now we can cut the amount of coolant in half.  Half of the sheet means half of the weight of coolant.  For the top, I recommend two pieces, model 110036 36” (914mm) Aluminum Super Air Knife, and a single piece, model 110054 54” (1,372mm) Aluminum Super Air Knife, for the bottom.  We were able to solve their issues with their cold rolling process. 

As they started their operation, they were able to increase the production rates, and removed the need for the extra air knife.  With the Super Air Knives, we were able to save them 877 SCFM (1,490 M3/hr) of compressed air at 100 PSIG (6.9 bar), as compared to the total amount of 1,320 SCFM (2,232 M3/hr) for the three home-made air knives.  With a 24-hour operation, the Super Air Knives saved them a lot of money.  The Return on Investment, ROI, was less than 30 days.  As a note, the Super Air Knife only has a noise level of 72 dBA at 100 PSIG. 

If you are looking to improve your blow-off application to increase production rates, reduce waste and improve safety, the EXAIR Super Air Knives can provide that solution.  With the customer above, the development happened immediately with a short ROI.  If you have a similar application and want to discuss it with an Application Engineer at EXAIR, you can contact us directly.  We’d be happy to help you.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Photo: Steel Roll Alignment by Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier.  Creative Commons 2.0

Super Air Knife Provides Engine Block Blowoff

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

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Extra points if you can identify this engine block

My hobby with cars is no secret.  Most people who meet me come to know I’m a total gearhead.  Case in point, on a recent trip to visit with our distributor in Finland, I was asked about the car I was working on when they last visited us just a few months ago.  Since then, the aforementioned car (a blue BMW) has found a new home, and I’m gearing up to sell another.

So, when I received an email from a major auto manufacturer needing a solution to clean the top side of an engine block, I was intrigued.  In addition to the photo above, I received the photo below with a short description of the current state in the application.

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The top deck of this block, where the cylinder head gasket will rest, has a width of approximately 200mm.

As it stands, coolant is accumulating on the top side of the engine block after they are fully cast, decked, and cleaned.  In order to move on to the next step in the process, these engine blocks need to have all residual oil removed from the top side of the block.

The solution?  A 9” (229mm) Super Air Knife installed above the engine blocks as they travel down the production line.  The Super Air Knife will install at a 45° angle of attack, blowing off the residual coolant and allowing these parts to move on in the process without stopping.  This prevents lost throughput due to stoppage of the production line, prevents increased costs due to personnel needing to treat each engine block by hand, and provides a uniform condition for the engine blocks when they arrive in the next step of this production process.

The best part of the interaction was that this auto manufacturer contacted EXAIR for a solution because they were able to solve previous problems with overheating electrical control panels using our Cabinet Coolers.  So, when they needed another compressed air solution, they immediately knew who to call.

If you have an application in need of a compressed air solution, give us a call.  We’ll be happy to help.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

I Love A Good Commercial

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I watch an awful lot of television. I always have. I grew up in the 1970’s, and I can STILL remember the sixth sense that my friends and I seemed to possess, regarding the imminent air time of our favorite shows. We could be engaged in the most epic Friday evening whiffle ball game EVER, but a few minutes before 8pm, we all became acutely aware that The Incredible Hulk was about to come on, followed by The Dukes Of Hazzard. Throughout the week, our games might be called on account of weather or darkness, but on Fridays, they’d be called on account of Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk) and Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke.) It’s entirely likely that this was triggered by the subtle reinforcement of having viewed a short advertisement earlier in the week, shown multiple times, just to make sure it stuck:

For the record, we didn’t watch Dallas an awful lot.  We got sent to bed right about then.  In retrospect, I’m glad.

In the present age of Digital TV and programmable DVR’s, I honestly don’t watch too many shows when they’re actually being aired. And with the fast forward function, I don’t catch too many commercials, except when (much to my wife and sons’ chagrin) I back up to see if I might be interested in. And yes, it’s usually food or vehicle-related. I’m usually in the mood for a cheeseburger, and…don’t tell her…but I may be purchasing a pickup truck very soon.

But I digress. I got to thinking about the effectiveness of commercials when I had the pleasure of discussing a blow off application with a caller recently. He was looking for a way to keep the lens of laser sensors clean…there are three sensors located inside his machine, and they are used to check & control the exact positioning of precision machined parts. As good as they are at doing so, just a little bit of coolant spray on the lens will have a pretty bad effect on their operation. When he started describing the sensor to me, I knew exactly what he was looking for, because I’d seen something just like it in a “commercial”…

These Press Releases can all be found in our Media Center.
These Press Releases can all be found in our Media Center.

OK, a Press Release, actually. Now, this is the Model HP1126SS 1” High Power 316SS Flat Super Air Nozzle, which was needed for the aggressive, high temperature environment in which this photo was taken. He didn’t need all that, so he went with the Model 1126 1” Zinc Aluminum Flat Super Air Nozzle, which has more than enough force & flow to blow off a little coolant mist, and is perfectly suitable for use around water-based solutions.

When I showed it to him, he agreed that it was exactly what he was looking for. I feel bad that I neglected to tell our Marketing folks how easy they made it for me to solve this application until now…but they totally rocked it. Thanks!

Our Application Engineers work with them to publish Press Releases, Newsletters, Case Studies, Application Database entries, and more, on a regular basis. I encourage you to check out our Media Center and Knowledge Base (registration required, but it’s free and easy) to get an idea of the full range of our abilities to solve your compressed air product applications. We can start there, and if you ever have any questions, give us a call. We’re eager to help.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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