Tag: energy

Save Money With Engineered Products, Then Save More Money With Rebates

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

One morning last summer, I turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to warm up. And waited…and waited. It was clear something was wrong, so I checked the water heater to find it emptying its contents into the floor drain, through the bottom of the tank, which I found later had rusted away. Between my better-than-average plumbing skills, having a son home from college, and finding out I could keep about $800 in my pocket if I bought a new one and replaced it myself, I woke the boy up (which turned out to be one of the more difficult tasks in the process), drove to my friendly neighborhood home improvement center, and bought myself a new water heater, and we had hot water by the time my wife got home from work that afternoon. Considering the way it started, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Not only was it more efficient (and therefore cheaper to run) than the one I replaced, the water heater I bought also qualified for a rebate, which increased my savings on the project to almost $900. That was some FANTASTIC icing on an already pretty decent cake.

Rewards like this for being energy conscious have been routinely offered by utility companies for years now. One time, I got a box of LED light bulbs, enough weather stripping for TWO houses the size of mine, and water-conserving shower heads, for free, from my electric company as part of a home energy audit. That was a pretty good day too.

Many utility companies across the country have similar programs for residential customers, and commercial ones too. Duke Energy (my free light bulb folks), for example, has a program they call Smart$aver that offers rebates and other incentives to companies for making energy-efficient improvements. Equipment that qualifies for these incentives includes process pumping systems, insulation for injection molding machinery & pellet dryer ducts, low friction v-belts for rotating machinery, and compressed air equipment.

That last one is what I wanted to write about today. It includes improvements to the supply side:

  • Receiver tanks
  • Cycling air dryers
  • Zero-loss condensate drains
  • Compressed air system audits

And the demand side:

EXAIR can help you out with the ones on the demand side. Consider:

Ultrasonic Leak Detector: this handheld device allows you to quickly & easily find leaks in your compressed air system.

EXAIR Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector filters out audible sound waves and focuses on the ultrasonic sound generated when compressed air finds its way out of a loose fitting, crack, etc. The parabolic disc (left) lets you find the area of the leak(s) and the tube extension (right) directs you to the precise location.
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.

Super Air Nozzles: not only will these products get you a rebate, they’ll cost less to operate and will ensure OSHA compliance with regard to your use of compressed air. And they’ll do it quieter, to boot.

Replacing open-ended blow offs with Super Air Nozzles is oftentimes quick and easy. Compression fittings can be used to install them directly onto the ends of existing copper tubing. Stay Set Hoses can replace modular hose, which is great for machine tool coolant delivery but often misapplied for air blowing.

And frankly, I think the engineered products just look better too.

The Duke Energy Smart$aver program is for their customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. If that’s not you, though, North Carolina State University’s NC Clean Energy Technology Center has a comprehensive Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency – DSIRE – that’ll help you find what’s available in your area.

Compressed air isn’t free. Heck, it isn’t even cheap. If you want to find out how much you can save by optimizing your compressed air system in Six Steps, give me a call. And if you want to sweeten the deal with rebates and incentives, contact your local utility company.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Environmental Impacts: Be Efficient. 

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

Since the establishment of EXAIR in 1983, customer satisfaction has always been the cornerstone of our business model.   This may seem like common practice, but here at EXAIR, we like to go the extra mile.  We have over a 99.9% on-time delivery with thousands of products in stock.  We offer free expert technical help from our Application Engineers, as well as within EXAIR Blog writings and application search library.  We have an Efficiency Lab to report on comparison results with safety and compressed air saving.  We also offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee on our cataloged products for you to try.   So, what more can EXAIR do for you?

Compressors use large amounts of electricity to produce compressed air and are considered the fourth utility in most manufacturing plants.  EXAIR manufactures engineered products that can save compressed air and increase energy savings.  With that, EXAIR was able to partner with Energy Star.  “Energy Star is a government-backed symbol of energy efficiency, helping to save money and to protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.” This commitment by EXAIR to reducing energy, increasing safety for workers, and protecting the environment for future generations are effective ways to sustain a business value.

When large amounts of energy can be saved, electricity-producing companies take notice.  Electrical suppliers started a rebate program for using engineered nozzles in their facilities.  Similar to other energy-saving rebates, like LED light bulbs and high-efficiency furnaces, the EXAIR engineered nozzles now fall into that same category.  If your electrical provider supports this program, the total cost to purchase and implement the EXAIR Super Air Nozzles is greatly reduced.  Even if a rebate program has not yet been implemented in your area, the idea of saving energy makes it very practical and environmentally sound.

The NC Clean Energy Technology Center created a website to consolidate all the electrical companies that offer rebates for efficient products and programs.  The website is www.dsireusa.org.  “DSIRE is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewable and energy efficiency in the United States.”  EXAIR engineered products fall into this category, so if a rebate can be applied to our products, it will be located on that site.

Another energy-saving tip from Energy Star refers to waste from leaks.  They recommend a leak prevention program to help improve energy savings.  As part of that program, EXAIR does offer an Ultrasonic Leak Detector.  To tell a common success story about the Ultrasonic Leak Detector, an EXAIR customer had a 50-horsepower air compressor.  It started to overwork, overheat, and occasionally shut down.  They thought that they would need to buy a larger air compressor to keep the plant running.  In discussing that a company without a leak prevention program could have as much as 30% waste, they decided to purchase an Ultrasonic Leak Detector.  They checked every fitting and connection in the facility.  When they finished checking the compressed air system, they found a total of 91 leaks.  Not only did this save on energy waste, but it also saved money by fixing the leaks and not expanding the capital expenses in the company.

With EXAIR being backed by Energy Star, EPA, and rebate programs, together, we can save energy, improve the environment, and reduce compressed air usage.  If you would like to discuss how EXAIR can work for you, you can contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

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

Photo: Lightbulb by TheDigitalArtist.  Pixabay Content License

Heat Transfer (Conduction, Convection, Radiation)

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Thermal energy moves from warmer regions to cooler ones through conduction, convection, and radiation. Objects continuously lose heat until they achieve thermal equilibrium, meaning they reach the same temperature as their environment. For instance, a steaming mug of tea will gradually cool until it matches the temperature of the room.

But how that mug looses that heat is what this blog is all about.

CONDUCTION:

Thermal energy moves through solids mainly via conduction. This phenomenon happens when two solid items with varying temperatures come into contact, enabling heat to transfer from the warmer object to the cooler one. For instance, in the scenario of a hot coffee mug resting on a cold table, the thermal energy shifts from the mug to the table beneath it.

CONVECTION:

Convection refers to the movement of fluids, whether they are liquids or gases, and can occur naturally or be induced by external forces. Fluids can either absorb or release heat, depending on their temperature. Natural convection happens due to variations in density; for instance, steam rises from the top of the mug as the steam rises, colder air is cycled in.

RADIATION:

While the coffee emits infrared radiation as it loses heat, this process is generally less significant compared to conduction and convection in the context of a cup of coffee. This type of heat loss can be felt by holding your hand near a warm coffee cup as shown.

No matter how the heat is transferred to an object, if it needs to be cooled there is a good chance that one of our Application Engineers has approached a similar issue and can help. To discuss, contact us, and we will walk through the best method to eliminate the heat from within your application.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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It’s Getting Hot In Here!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Okay, if you did not finish the song lyrics when reading the title, it’s okay, we can still be friends. In all actuality, the temps are warming up here in the MidWest as we prepare for our false Spring as indicated by the freezing temps and snow we received earlier this week. There is one thing that has stayed constant and that is the methods of heat generation.

1 – Kettle-convection-conduction-radiation

Heat generation is a result of energy conversion. The conversion of energy to do work, whether it is actual voltage going through a transformer that operates a neon sign to light up the roadside sky or energy from a hydraulic ram that is compacting recycled paper into a bundle and the hydraulic fluid is being pressed in and out of cylinders from a pump, all of it will have some form of a heat byproduct. This heat then gets transferred and how it is transferred can be helpful to know.

2 – Energy Transfer – Heat

At the molecular level, atoms store the energy that will cause electrons to enter into an excited state and rapidly switch between shells. When the electron returns to a lower shell (closer to the nucleus), energy is released; the energy released is then absorbed by atoms at a lower energy state and will continue until the thermal energy is equal between the two objects. Heat has four fundamental modes of transferring energy from surface to surface, and they are as follows:

Advection
Advection is the physical transport of fluid from point A to point B, which includes all internal thermal energy stored inside. Advection can be seen as one of the simpler ways of heat transfer.

Radiation
Radiation is the transfer of thermal energy through empty space and does require a material between the two objects. Going back to how thermal energy is released from atoms when the electron returns to a lower energy shell, the energy is released in the form of light ranging from infrared light to UV light. Energy in the form of light can then be absorbed by an object in the form of heat. Everyone experiences radiation transfer every day when you walk outside; the light from the sun’s radiation is what keeps this planet habitable.

Conduction
Conduction can also be referred to as diffusion and is the transfer of energy between two objects that have made physical contact. When the two objects come into contact with each other, thermal energy will flow from the object at the higher temp to the object at the lower temp. A good example of this is placing ice in a glass of water. The temperature is much lower than the room temperature. Therefore, thermal energy will flow from the water to the ice.

Convection
Convection is the thermal energy transfer between an object and a fluid in motion. The faster the fluid moves, the faster heat is transferred. This relies on the specific heat property of a molecule to determine the rate at which heat will be transferred. When a molecule has a lower specific heat, it takes faster motion and larger volumes to achieve the full effect of convection transfer. Convection is used in modern ovens to get a more even heat throughout the food while cooking.

No matter how the heat is transferred to an object, if it needs to be cooled there is a good chance that one of our Application Engineers has approached a similar issue and can help. To discuss, contact us, and we will walk through the best method to eliminate the heat you need to.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – “Kettle-convection-conduction-radiation” by P.wormer is licensed under CC SA 3.0
2– “Energy Transfer – Heat” by Siyavula Education is licensed under CC BY 2.0