Tag: dawoerner

3 Keys for Eliminating Static

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Everyone is familiar with static electricity. It is the cause of the shocks we feel during the winter time as we shuffle our socks across a carpet. It is also the driving force behind lightning in the sky. Static electricity can be a nuisance at home, but in an industrial setting it can lead to quality issue, material faults, and hazardous sparks. Though most engineers and maintenance technicians know about static electricity not many of the them understand its intricacies, even fewer understand the best ways to mitigate static and still less understand static eliminators, known as ionizers, that can eliminate static without contacting the surface. Here are 3 keys to know about static.

First, static resides on a surface. Though a part may be charged on one surface. The opposite face of the part may be completely unaffected. Here is an example.

IMG_5038
Toner Cartridge – Static inside the plastic container attracts toner.

Even though the outside of this container is free of static the inside of the container still attracts toner to the inside surface. In order to blow out the toner from the inside of the cartridge, we needed to use a static eliminator inside the plastic container.

The second key to eliminating static is that either polarity can cause a problem. Static will cause problems if it is different between materials. Whether the charge on a surface is positive or negative doesn’t matter. It is the difference between charges that causes the attractive forces and static shock. EXAIR static eliminators utilize alternating current to create both positive and negative ions to eliminate both positive and negative ions.

The third key to properly eliminating static is that ionized air works best the closer you can be to a product. Because we eliminate both positive and negative ions, EXAIR static eliminators work best when they are blown directly on a surface that needs treated. The further the ionizer is moved from a surface the less effective it will be. EXAIR products without air assistance typically need to remain within two inches of the surface they are treating. Products with air assistance can be much farther away. It is the inlet pressure, the value of the static charge and the speed of the surface (if it is moving) which will dictate how far away an EXAIR static eliminator can be positioned.

Eliminating static is a very specialized application, it revels its self in dry conditions. It can lead to problems with webs, rollers, and idlers. If you need help with your static problem, please contact an application engineer.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Video Blog: Meet Application Engineer Dave Woerner

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

This video will allow you to put a face to a name. Below I introduce myself, and add a few details about my background.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

The 4th Step to Compressed Air Savings

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Electronic Flow Controller (EFC) is a stand alone timing and control product for compressed air. The EFC combines a photo electric sensor, solenoid, and timing control to turn off compressed air, when a part is not present. The timing control comes with 8 different settings for delaying the opening of valve, delaying the closing of the valve, setting an interval, continuously operating or some combination of these settings. This flexibility makes it a great option for someone who is looking to control any compressed air device to conserve compressed air. It is a great option for a company that is implementing the Six Steps to Optimizing your Compressed Air System. The EFC is designed to implement the 4th step – turning compressed air off when it is not in use.

EFCp4

The EFC is certainly valuable when controlling EXAIR’s Long Super Air Knife. Here is an example: An automotive company blows off a 55″ tall body panel. A 60 inch Super Air Knife will use 174 SCFM of compressed air at 80 PSIG of inlet pressure. The body panels come by at a rate of two parts every minute, but each body panel is only in the air stream of the air knife for 20 seconds. This means for 20 seconds of every minute the air knife is running without doing any work. To stop wasting compressed air an EFC can be setup to open the solenoid for 20 seconds after the body panel passes the photoelectric sensor. This will save one third of the 174 SCFM or 58 SCFM. Typical industrial cost of compressed air is $0.25 per 1,000 SCF. This automotive plant runs 24 hours per day. The EFC would save 83,520 SCF of compressed air over 24 hours, which costs the automotive company $20.88. Over 250 working days in a year the EFC will save $5,220. This is huge savings for simple fast installation that can be installed in any intermittent compressed air application.

The EFC is a great solution for controlling your compressed air usage.  The ROI for the EFC can be huge depending on the size of your compressed air usage, but in all cases, it is a key step to developing a efficient compressed air system.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

Being a Manufacturer Who Improves Manufacturing Has Benefits – For You

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

On many of occasions EXAIR has benefitted from our own products. One of the fertile areas for testing, product development, and customer feedback are our own manufacturing and assembly processes. Yes, EXAIR is a real factory in Ohio with employees, machinery, and equipment that uses our products everyday. Being a production facility leaves us best suited to understand the abilities, challenges, and opportunities of our customers. Today, I want to point out how two of our products have helped us to make Intelligent Compressed Air products that exceed your expectations. The Ultrasonic Leak Detector and Chip Trapper have both been studied at our facility to measure and understand the real benefits and capabilities of our products for our customers. Below is their story.

Leak Detector
Ultrasonic Leak Detector, Model 9061

 

Famously, one of the original case studies for our Ultrasonic Leak Detector took place at 11510 Goldcoast Dr Cincinnati, OH. (That’s EXAIR Corporation’s address). As the biggest rival against wasted compressed air, having it at EXAIR would be inconsistent with our own philosophy – we just can’t have it. Our President, Bryan Peters wrote about the benefits of the Ultrasonic Leak Detector in a blog “Free Money!…”. In the blog, he details the mystery of the compressed air costs during times when our plant was not running. Compressed air was so expensive that was costing us money while we were closed. Using the ultrasonic leak detector, EXAIR was able to find our leaks and fix them. The leaks in our system were miniscule compared to some old and very large compressed air systems. But even with our relatively small leaks we were able to save ONE MILLION CF per year of compressed air. This lost compressed air results in significant energy consumption as your compressors try to keep up with the demand caused by the leaky air lines. Please stop wasting money and energy on compressed air leaks. Find them today with EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector.

EXAIR's new Chip Trapper
EXAIR’s Chip Trapper

At EXAIR, we also deal with a  variety of metalworking coolants as we manufacture aluminum, brass, and stainless steel parts. Before we started using our Chip Trapper, our water based coolant would last around 2 months. After those six weeks, we would vacuum out the coolant. After the coolant is pumped out, we would then shovel out the chips that had settled in the bottom of the sump. This task is time consuming, and the smell is awful from the rancid coolant. We found that by using a Chip Trapper weekly. We could extend our coolant life to six months. Some may say that cleaning the coolant sumps weekly is adding work. That is an old mentality though because by removing chips from the coolant weekly we save hours of labor we used to consume every two months and clean up our coolant in minutes not hours.  Here is a video to learn more. Our machinists loved our final prototype so much they kept it. You know how machinists are. Don’t mess with their tools.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@EXAIR_DW
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com