Tag: hepa shop vacuum

Accessories for Your Compressed Air Products

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

Here at EXAIR we are very proud of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products. We have spent a lot of time discussing their many benefits, including their efficiency, the fact that many have no moving parts, little to no maintenance, meeting or exceeding OSHA safety standards for noise or dead end pressure. One thing we don’t talk as much about is the accessories that go along with and complement our products. Several of these accessory items are the reason why our compressed air products can boast about having little to no maintenance, or reduced noise levels. In this blog I want to cover some of these unsung heroes.

From left to right, a few value-added accessories for your Vortex Tube: Hot Muffler, Cold Muffler, Automatic Drain Filter Separator, Oil Removal Filter, and Solenoid Valve/Thermostat Kit.

Some of the most popular accessories we offer are our compressed air Filters and Regulators. We suggest using these with all our products (or even with ones that aren’t ours).

The Filter Separator is designed to remove moisture, dirt, and rust from your compressed air system. The 5-micron filter element ensures that contaminants don’t clog or harm your compressed air equipment.

An Oil Removal Filter (which should always be installed after our Filter Separator) provides even more precise filtration by getting rid of oil and solid particles with a 0.03-micron element.

Our Pressure Regulators let you choose the operating pressure. At EXAIR, we always advise running at the lowest pressure necessary to complete the task. Pressure Regulators help you achieve that, reducing unnecessary air usage and fine-tuning the performance of EXAIR products for your specific application.

We have some accessories designed specifically for certain products. For our Line Vacs, there’s the Line Vac Hose. You can also find Thermostats and Solenoid Valves that work great with our Cabinet Coolers, and if you’re using Vortex Tubes, we suggest checking out our Mufflers.

When it comes to our Air Knives, we offer a variety of fantastic options:

If you’re looking for a simple and dependable way to mount your Air Knife, our Universal Air Knife Mounting System is just what you need.

If your project needs something longer than our stock Air Knives, or if you want to manage different sections of the air flow separately, our Coupling Bracket Kits are ideal.

And if you want to simplify the plumbing for your Air Knife, don’t miss our Air Knife Plumbing Kits. They’re suitable for all Air Knives that are longer than 24 inches.

If you’re looking for plumbing options, we’ve got a range of compressed air hoses and fittings that will simplify things for you.

Our Coiled Hoses work great with our Safety Air Guns, giving you more freedom of movement while you work.

Our Compressed Air Hoses are often used alongside our Industrial Housekeeping products to provide the necessary reach for the drum and dolly.

Finally, if you’re looking for a way to mount or position your Air Nozzles, check out our Magnetic Bases, Stay Set Hoses, and Swivel Fittings that can help create a complete setup.

No matter what your application requires or the product you need, we’ve got a variety of complementary accessory products that will simplify installation and adjustments. If you have any questions about these or any other EXAIR products, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Filtration Efficiency and the Meaning of HEPA Filtration

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

To become more aware of our Heavy Duty HEPA Vac Systems, I am going to dive into the media and filtration efficiency.  The model 901357 HEPA filter has an efficiency level of 99.97% at 0.3 micron.  What does this mean?

In the simplest of terms, filtration is a method of separation.  With air filters, we are separating particles from air.  Particles, due to their mass and size, behave in certain ways as they pass through a fibrous media.  The three main methods for capturing particles are done by:

  1.  Inertial Impaction – Generally with particles over 2 microns in size.  Large particles that are captured because they cannot pass through the openings of the media.  An example, a fly being captured by a spider web. 
  2. Direct Interception – Generally with particles between 0.2 micron and 2 microns in size.  These medium-sized particles follow the air stream around filter fibers and openings.  Because of the tortuous path, the winding turns and the inertial mass of the particle causes it to contact a fiber and get captured.  An example, a sports car going too fast on a curvy road.  The momentum can push you off the edge of the road and into the trees.    
  3. Diffusion – Generally particles less than 0.2 micron in size.  Small particles with very little mass that are bounced around by the air molecules.  The smaller size and weight, the more movement the particle has.  This will increase the chance of hitting a fiber and getting captured.  An example, walking home drunk and being attacked by bees.  You will randomly run everywhere and end up in the neighbor’s bushes.
Diagram 1: Total filtration curve with individual mechanism by particle size

In Diagram 1 above, you notice how each filtration mechanism is used to capture the particles by size.  When you combine the efficiencies of each mechanism, you will get the total efficiency of a filter.  The particle sizes in Diagram 1 are limited above the vapor range.  This inverted “Bell” curve is a typical characteristic for fibrous filters.   If you look closely, you will notice that the MPPS, (Most Penetrating Particle Size) is between 0.2 and 0.3 micron.  That means that if you go larger than 0.3 micron or smaller than 0.2 micron, the filter is more efficient.  That is correct.  With the examples above, a particle in the range of 0.2 to 0.3 micron has enough mass to resist the “bounce” force from other molecules and is light enough to minimize inertia forces, allowing it to pass by and around the fibers of the filter.

Now let’s apply these variables to our HEPA filter.  With the 901357 HEPA media, the efficiency is 99.97% at 0.3 micron.  Knowing the characteristics of a filter, we can apply the inverted curve analysis like in Diagram 1.  As you can see in Diagram 2, the 901357 HEPA efficiency curve will show the efficiency of capturing particles at different sizes.   

Of course, there are different grades of filtration, and they are classified by ISO and European standards.  The chart above shows the different types and grades.  The EXAIR HEPA filter would fall into the H13 class.  HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air filter, and ULPA stands for Ultra Low Penetrating Air filter.  You can tell by the number of 9s after the decimal to determine the downstream cleanliness.  These standards use the MPPS to test the efficiency and qualify the filtration rating.  For any application that has very fine particles and/or requires very clean exhaust air, the Heavy Duty HEPA Vac System should be recommended. If you have any questions, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.

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

Photo: Reference standard EN 1822 or ISO 29463

Compressed Air Use in the Construction Industry

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

My drive to work involves passing through a growing neighborhood in the northeast suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen a wooded lot get cleared & graded for construction of a new house. A week or so ago, heavy earth-moving equipment was digging the basement foundation…and adding to the traffic as huge dump trucks carried the dirt away. Fast-forward to this morning, when I saw that the 2×4 framing of the walls and the placement of the roof joists were almost complete. The backhoes and dump trucks on the lot have been replaced by a small fleet of carpenter’s work trucks, a ‘porta-potty’ (a real plus, considering the number of workers spending 8–10 hours a day on a site that was the utility equivalent of a primitive campsite)…and an air compressor.

Compressed air has been used in construction since ancient times, when manually operated bellows devices were used to stoke fires to increase the temperature inside furnaces that were used to make metal tools and building materials. The first large scale industrial use of compressed air on a construction project was the building of the Mt. Cenis tunnel in Switzerland. Tunnel construction began in 1857 and was expected to take at least 25 years, with some estimates projecting a timeline of over 70 years. However, technical innovations – like the development of pneumatic drills that replaced steam-operated machinery – allowed them to complete it in only 14 years.

In addition to the pneumatic nail guns and impact drivers being used at the new home site along my daily commute, compressed air has a number of other uses in the construction trades. It’s used for excavation, to power de-watering & sludge pumps, hoists, and even material conveyors. For example, a contractor that was building a large fence on sandy terrain used a Model 150200 2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac to remove sand from the hollow fence posts after using hammer drills (which are also air operated, so you know) to anchor them in place. Another user got a Model 151250 2-1/2 NPT Threaded Heavy Duty Line Vac to remove light dirt & sand from holes they dig to set posts in. Both power their Line Vacs with diesel-fueled 185 CFM tow-behind compressors.

Heavy Duty Line Vac: Hardened Alloy Construction and High Performance

EXAIR Air Knives are also used by construction companies. One of our customers bought a Model 110218 18″ Aluminum Super Air Knife Kit to blow an air curtain onto a conveyor to separate filter fabric out of recycled asphalt. Many lumber & building material manufacturers use them to blow off sawdust and loose debris from plywood, OSB board, roofing shingles, etc.

Top: 108″ Super Air Knife is supported & aimed via an array of Model 9060 Universal Air Knife Mounting Systems.
Bottom: Mounting Systems can be ‘overkill’ for some smaller applications, especially when the user is creative. Yes, that’s a door hinge. No, it wasn’t my idea, but I kind of wish it was.

Another customer uses a Model 6901 Spill Recovery Kit with their Model 6395 55 Gallon Premium High Lift Reversible Drum Vac System for cleaning up spills of hydraulic oil from their equipment at construction job sites. The ability to vacuum it up without dragging an electric cord from a shop vac through the puddles of oil is a real plus for them.

The EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac System converts a drum and dolly into a mobile pumping system.

And back to the Line Vacs, an electrical contractor uses a Model 6086 3″ Aluminum Line Vac to pull wire through stretches of underground conduit that are too long for standard fish tapes. They can pull the fish line through 120 feet of conduit in about 30 seconds. The Line Vac also removes any debris that might have accumulated inside the conduit between installation and wire pulling.

If you’re in the construction industry – or any industry, really – and would like to discuss a potential application for engineered compressed air products, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Heavy Duty Dry Vac System: Overview

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EXAIR manufactures a range of industrial pneumatic drum vacuums geared towards cleaning up the messes you’ll find in just about any environment.  They are safe, quiet, and do not have any moving parts or electric motors to wear.  These are workhorses with a long history of durability and reliability. The Industrial Housekeeping Products offer systems suitable for use with dry materials and wet materials, as well as one capable of handling both.  In this blog, I will cover our Heavy Duty Dry Vac System. 

For dry materials, a common issue generated by the dust is premature electrical motor failure.  In many electrically powered vacuums, the motor bearings will fail and wear out.  Typically, this results in a loud screeching noise.  EXAIR’s Heavy Duty Dry Vac System has NO moving parts to wear out, doesn’t require maintenance, and needs nothing but a source of compressed air to operate.  A static-resistant hose is standard which prevents painful shocks when working with dry, dusty materials.  The Heavy Duty Dry Vac is constructed of hardened alloy steel designed to provide superior abrasion resistance.  It is able to produce a powerful vacuum with a level of -60” H2O (-15 Kpa) at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar).  So, it can be used with sandblasting material, garnet, and steel shot.  The bag filter is efficient and durable to keep the dust inside the drum while allowing the air to escape.

Depending on your application and the volume of material you need to vacuum, we provide three different sizes; 30-gal, 55-gal, and 110-gal drums.  Each drum uses the same Heavy Duty Vacuum which uses only 68 SCFM (1,924 SLPM) of compressed air at 80 psig (5.5 bar).  We offer different packages for each drum to help accommodate your application.  We have the standard package which will include the drum lid with the required hardware, a side latching lever lock, a shutoff valve, a filter bag, 10 feet (3 meters) of static-resistance vacuum hose, hose hanger, 20 feet (6 meters) of compressed air hose, a pressure gauge, and aluminum chip wand.  We then move up to the Deluxe package, which will include everything in the standard package plus a drum dolly, heavy-duty aluminum tools, and a toolholder.  The next package is the Premium package, which includes everything in the Deluxe package plus a steel drum.

From March to May 2025, EXAIR will be giving a complimentary gift for qualified orders when purchasing any of EXAIR’s Industrial Housekeeping Systems, including the Heavy Duty Dry Vac System.  You will receive a model 6492 Vac-U-Gun Kit, a $174.00 value, for free.  The Vac-U-Gun can easily be converted from a blow-off gun into a vacuum gun by simply switching the generator inside.  For U.S. and Canadian customers, EXAIR offers a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try these out.  You will not be disappointed.  If you need more details, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We will be happy to hear from you. 

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