Tag: filter regulator

Undersized Regulators Create Performance Problems with Compressed Air

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

“I have a Cabinet Cooler installed on my panel but it isn’t getting the temperature down cold enough. Can you quote me for a duplicate system to install on this panel?” This was a recent inquiry from a customer regarding an electrical enclosure that they had installed in their plant. The Cabinet Cooler was producing cold air, but not enough to keep the cabinet at their desired temperature. It would seem logical that they need additional capacity, right? While that could be the case, in this instance it most definitely was not.

When we get questions like this, we first want to take a closer look at the current installation. The cooling capacity for each system is published in our catalog. BUT, in order to rate a cooling capacity for any type of cooling system, some assumptions must be made. All Cabinet Coolers are specified with 70°F compressed air fed to the Cabinet Cooler at a pressure of 100 PSIG. In addition, each cooler has a specified volume of air that it must utilize in order to produce that rated cooling capacity. If any one of those parameters change, so does the overall cooling power.

In this particular case, the customer had installed a non-EXAIR pressure regulator just upstream of the cooler. Upon looking at the specifications for this regulator, it was found that the overall volume of air it can deliver was just 10% of the overall volume needed to produce the rated 1700 Btu/hr. They didn’t need another Cabinet Cooler System, they just needed to remove that restriction! Upon learning that it needed 100 PSIG, they removed the regulator and supplied full line pressure. No more heat alarms for that shift!

CC undersized valve

Rather than purchasing and installing an unnecessary system, they were able to get back up and running just by removing the problem upstream. At EXAIR, we want to make sure that you’re getting the most out of our products. Just because you call and inquire about a new purchase doesn’t necessarily mean that you need it. We’re here to help you determine if something is afoul with the current setup and make sure you have all of the knowledge necessary to rectify it.

We’re right in the middle of summer, and boy is it hot out there. If you have panels that are overheating and creating problems for you in your processes, give us a call. With Cabinet Cooler Systems ready to ship same day from stock (with properly sized regulators) you can have it fixed by tomorrow.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

EXAIR Safety Air Gun Accessories Improve Effectiveness and Safety

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment
Safety Air Gun with accessories

EXAIR offers 5 different styles of Safety Air Guns; Precision, VariBlast, Soft Grip, Heavy Duty and Super Blast.   You can read more about the different styles of Safety Air Guns from a previous EXAIR blog “Not All Compressed Air Guns Are The Same” written by Justin Nichol. I will be targeting the accessories that can enhance the features of the EXAIR Safety Air Guns. These additions will make the Safety Air Guns more dynamic without sacrificing safety, efficiency, or durability.

Precision Safety Air Gun with Chip Shield
eg. 1408SS-CS

Chip Shields:

OSHA 1910.242(b) requires chip guarding when compressed air is used for cleaning. EXAIR offers Chip Shields with our Safety Air Guns to meet this requirement. They are made from a polycarbonate disc which is practically unbreakable and protects the operator from any blow back of metal shavings or coolant. They come with a durable rubber grommet that squeezes onto the extensions and can be adjusted to maximize protection. We offer Chip Shields for the Precision, VariBlast, Soft Grip, and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns with or without aluminum extensions.

Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun with extension.
eg. 1350-72

Extension Pipes:

For those far away targets and hard-to-reach areas, EXAIR offers aluminum extension pipes to attach to the Safety Air Guns. They can range from 6” (15 cm) to 72” (183 cm) in length. This light-weight and durable material allows for easy handling to reach high above your head or to span across unsafe areas. With the EXAIR air nozzles at the end, the blowing force is not sacrificed as the back pressure will generate a high velocity air stream. The aluminum extensions are offered with the Variblast, Soft Grip, and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns. The Super Blast Safety Air Guns has the option for two different lengths of extensions, 3 feet (91cm) and 6 feet (183 cm).

Soft Grip Safety Air Gun with Stay Set Hose.
eg. 1210-6SSH

Stay Set Hose:

In certain situations, you may need a way to blow air around a corner or in a tight space. The Stay Set Hose gives you that possibility of manually adjusting or re-adjusting the nozzles to target the correct areas. The hose has a “memory” function, and it will not creep or droop until you physically move it again. They come in lengths from 6” (15cm) to 36” (91cm), and they are offered with the Soft Grip and the Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns.

Coiled Hose

Coiled Hoses:

To get the proper amount of compressed air from the piping system to the Safety Air Guns, EXAIR offers a series of Coiled Hoses. They are made of a durable abrasion-resistant nylon material that is 12 feet long (3.6 meters). They have swivel fittings to allow for easy uncoiling, and a spring strain relief to keep the hose from kinking at the ends. The coiled design makes it easy to reach around the work area and retract back to the substation. This will help to keep the hose off the ground where potential dangers could occur. We offer 3 different connection sizes of 1/8” NPT, ¼” NPT, and 3/8” NPT. They can be used with our Precision, VariBlast, Soft Grip, and Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns. With the proper size, the Coiled Hoses can connect easily to the Safety Air Guns and supply the required amount of air with a minimal amount of pressure drop.

Regulator and Filter

Filter Separators/Regulators:

To improve the use of the Safety Air Guns, EXAIR offers a series of filters and regulators. The filters will remove dirty particles and liquid water from the compressed air that can affect the performance of the Safety Air Gun as well as contaminate the surface that you are cleaning. The regulators can control the amount of air pressure used for the Safety Air Gun; making them even more efficient. The idea for compressed air savings is to use the least amount of compressed air to do the job. If you only need 40 PSIG (2.8 Bar) to blow off an area, then you can save almost 40% of your compressed air as compared to doing that same job at 80 PSIG (5.5 Bar). The combination of a filter and regulator will allow you to control the proper amount of clean dry air to be used.

 

All of our Safety Air Guns are fitted with our engineered Air Nozzles  which make them OSHA compliant for noise and dead-end pressure. With the accessories, you can optimize the use of the Safety Air Guns to better fit your application. If you need help in determine the correct Safety Air Guns and accessory items, you can contact an Application Engineer for help. If you are within the U.S. or Canada, you can take advantage of our 30-day unconditional guarantee to trial any of our stocked Safety Air Guns.

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

Typical Compressed Air Plumbing Mistakes

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

As a manufacturer of Intelligent Compressed Air Products, we like to address one of the most common problems with installation, proper plumbing.  A picture is worth a 1,000 words, and knowledge is power.  I will show both to help eliminate any pitfalls when installing our products.

A customer purchased a model 110072 Super Air Knife.  It is a powerful and efficient air knife that is 72 inches (1.8 meter) long.  He mounted it across his sheet to blow debris off from the surface of his product.  After installing the Super Air Knife, he was having issues in getting a strong even force along the entire knife.  He would only get compressed air blowing on the ends of the Super Air Knife.  The center did not have anything coming out.  He needed our help to solve.  In detailing my forensics, I asked him for pictures of his installation as I went over some basic questions.  Here is what we found:

Question 1: What is the pressure at the entrance of the Super Air Knife?

Answer 1: 95 psig (6.5 bar)

Picture: The gage reading is at the regulator.

Solution: There should also be a pressure gage right at the entrance of the Super Air Knife. It helps to define any issues in the system by comparing line pressure at the regulator to inlet pressure at the Super Air Knife.  This customer would see a very low air pressure at the Super Air Knife caused by all the restrictions (reference below).

Issue 1
Issue 1

Question 2: What size is your compressed air line that is supplying the Super Air Knife?

Answer 2: 1 ½” NPT pipe. (From the installation manual, this is the correct size pipe to supply the air required for the Super Air Knife when it is 150′ from the compressor.)

Picture: The compressed air line is reduced from 1 ½” NPT to ¼” NPT pipe.  Yes, there is a 1-1/2″ pipe bringing air close to the Super Air Knife, but it is actually a 1/4″ NPT pipe fitting on a small coiled hose that is supplying the knife. Due to a lack of air vlume, the pressure drop is huge and it is performance of the Super Air Knife.

Solution: They will need to run 1 ½” NPT pipe to the Super Air Knife.  Then uses Pipe Tees and/or Crosses to branch into the feed lines to the Super Air Knife.

Issue 2
Issue 2

Question 3: Do you have any restrictions in the compressed air line?

Answer 3: I don’t know.

Picture: We have multiple issues.

  1. The ¼” NPT compressed air line is too small (huge restriction).
  2. The red filter in photo above is too small (huge restriction). The black filter and black regulator are sized correctly to supply the Super Air Knife, but the red filter is too small causing a large pressure drop.
  3. One of the biggest culprits in choking compressed air flow to a pneumatic product are Quick Disconnect fittings. The picture below is a quick disconnect on the inlet port to the Super Air Knife (huge restriction)
  4. The yellow compressed air line is also way too small. I only bring this up because there is a difference in diameters from Schedule 40 pipe to air hose and tubing. Make sure that the inner diameters match or are larger than the recommended pipe size.

Solution: In order to have the Super Air Knife properly working, we have to make sure that it can get enough compressed air.  I had the customer remove all the small fittings, yellow tubing, quick disconnects, and the small filter.

Issue 3
Issue 3

Question 4: How many ports on the Super Air Knife are you using to supply the compressed air?

Answer 4: 2 ports.

Picture: With this length of the Super Air Knife, it requires 4 ports to supply compressed air (reference the Installation Manual). They should be evenly spaced from one end of the Super Air Knife to the other.  This is another reason that he only had compressed air coming out at the ends of the Super Air Knife.

Solution: EXAIR offers a Plumbing Kit to make sure the entire knife is supplied correctly.  The plumbing kit contains all the proper size fittings and hose to plumb the correct number of Air Knife inlets. These kits prevent you from hunting for the right fittings and from using undersized parts, which will not be able to supply the knife with enough air.

Model 9078 PKI Kit
Model 9078 Plumbing Kit

With proper installation at the beginning, it will save you time and headaches, and you will be able to utilize the EXAIR products properly. If you have additional questions about your setup, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR at 1-800-903-9247.

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

Pressure Profile: Where to Measure Your Air Pressure

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment
Generic Layout drawing of compressed air piping system.

In order to fully understand how efficient your compressed air system may be, you will need to generate a system pressure profile at some point.   This is a list or diagram of what pressures you have in your compressed air system at specific locations, as well as the pressure required by all the demand devices on your compressed air system.

One of the reasons for the pressure profile is that you may have an application that is far away from the compressor but also highly dependent on a specific operating pressure.   You may also find an application that, due to pressure losses within the system, causes an artificially high pressure demand.

The list below gives the critical points for measuring your compressed air system profile.

  1. At the air compressor discharge. (If using multiple compressors, measure at each.)
  2. If dryers of any type are being used after the compressor measure downstream from the dryer.
  3. Downstream of each filter. (If a particulate filter and oil removal filter are being used it is best to measure downstream of each individual device.   This is to tell when you have more than a 5 psig pressure drop or a clogged filter.)
  4. After each intermediate storage device, such as receiver tanks.
  5. At the point just before the main line from your compressor room branches off to distribution.
  6. The furthest point of each header line you have installed.
  7. On both sides of every filter/regulator units that are at high pressure point of use applications.

To give you an idea of why it is so important to measure these locations, take a look at the blogs we have posted on pressure drop. (Link Here)  As you can tell by the list of blogs that comes up, pressure drop through piping can really cause a lot of wasted energy in your compressed air system.   If you can get a good base line measurement by utilizing a pressure profile then you can start the process to optimizing your compressed air system.

6 steps
The EXAIR Six Steps To Optimizing Your Compressed Air System.

 

If you would like to discuss this or any of the other 6 steps to compressed air optimization, feel free to contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF