Tag: Hot Tap Digital Flowmeter

Using EXAIR Digital Flow Meters

Published on by jasonkirbyLeave a comment

One of the primary contributors to issues with compressed air systems is inefficiency stemming from waste. Common culprits include open pipe blow-offs, air leaks, and malfunctioning nozzles, all of which can hinder the performance of an air compressor, making it difficult to maintain optimal pressure levels. The implementation of Digital Flowmeters offers a solution by enabling precise monitoring of this waste. By temporarily shutting down the compressed air system and isolating specific sections, operators can identify leaks; any flow detected during this isolation indicates the presence of air leaks, which can account for a staggering loss of up to one-third of the system’s compressed air capacity. Additionally, replacing open pipe blow-offs and defective or inferior nozzles with engineered products from EXAIR can significantly mitigate waste. The use of Digital Flowmeters not only provides a clear visual representation of reduced compressed air consumption but also facilitates straightforward calculations of cost savings and return on investment, making it an invaluable tool for enhancing system efficiency.

In facilities that operate around the clock in three shifts, continuous monitoring of the compressed air system is crucial to ensure optimal performance. The implementation of Digital Flowmeters, which offer features such as USB Dataloggers or serial communication, facilitates this monitoring process. For instance, I recently collaborated with a company that experienced frequent machine shutdowns attributed to a low-pressure switch, particularly during the third shift, occurring approximately once a week. To address this issue, they installed a Digital Flowmeter equipped with a USB Datalogger, which enabled them to track the specific day and time of the incidents. Through this data, they discovered that the third shift custodian was regularly emptying the water from the reservoir tank of the compressed air system, inadvertently causing the pressure drop that led to the shutdowns. Without the insights gained from the Digital Flowmeter, identifying the root cause of the problem would have been significantly more challenging.

EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter w/ USB Data Logger

EXAIR offers a comprehensive range of Digital Flowmeters designed for various piping systems, including sizes from ½” to 4” for Schedule 40 black pipe, with the capability to accommodate up to 8” in this category. Additionally, we provide options for ¾” to 4” in copper piping and from 25mm to 101mm in aluminum tubing. For unique requirements, EXAIR is equipped to calibrate flowmeters to meet specific sizes and types. Our product line also includes Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeters, which allow for simultaneous measurement of pressure and flow, as well as Hot-Tap Digital Flowmeters that can be installed on pressurized pipes without interrupting the flow. To enhance user experience, we offer a Summing Remote Display, enabling visualization of flow data in more accessible locations. For effective monitoring, our Digital Flowmeters come with a USB Datalogger that captures data for graphing purposes, alongside a 4-20 mA output for seamless data acquisition, with an optional serial output available for further integration.

If you have any questions about Digital Flowmeters, or anything regarding EXAIR and our products, please do not hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you!

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

Digital Flowmeters: A Benefit for Compressed Air Systems.

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

The compressed air system is the “heart” of most industrial plants.  And just like your heart, monitoring this system is very important.  It is expensive to make compressed air, and if you do not have any controls, you could waste money and give a poor performance to your pneumatic system.  EXAIR has a range of Digital Flowmeters that can help provide information about your system.   

First, let’s look at how the Digital Flowmeter can help to solve problems, monitor anomalies, and determine preventative measures. 

Solving problems: One of the biggest reasons for compressed air problems is waste.  With open pipe blow-offs, air leaks, and broken nozzles, the air compressor cannot keep up.  With the Digital Flowmeters, they can monitor that waste.  For leaks, you can turn the compressed air system off and isolate sections.  If you see a flow measurement during this time, then there are air leaks.  Air leaks are known to waste up to one-third of your compressed air capacity.  Another technique for finding waste is to replace open pipe blow offs, broken or substandard nozzles with EXAIR engineered products.  Digital Flowmeters provide a visual flow measurement of the reduction in compressed air usage, and it is an easy way to calculate cost savings and pay back.

Monitor Anomalies: With facilities that operate three shifts, it is important to monitor the compressed air system for 24 hours.  The Digital Flowmeters have options like a USB Datalogger or serial communication to monitor.  I recently worked with a company that had system shutdowns on their machines due to a low-pressure switch.  This event would happen about once a week on the third shift.   They determined the reason for the shutdown was by installing a Digital Flowmeter with a USB Datalogger.  They were able to determine the day and time when the problem occurred.  What they found was the third shift custodian would empty the water from the reservoir tank in their compressed air system.  They would not have been able to pinpoint their problem otherwise. 

Preventive Measures: A blow molding facility used the Digital Flowmeters to monitor the amount of air required to run each size of plastic bottle.  If the amount of air flow was too high or too low, he knew that there was either a set-up issue or the machine needed to be reconditioned.  With pneumatic equipment like valves and cylinders, the seals wear overtime.  Using Digital Flowmeters, he could create a Preventive Maintenance schedule to repair the machine instead of waiting for a failure to occur and stop its operation. 

EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter w/ USB Data Logger

EXAIR stocks Digital Flowmeters from ½” to 4” for Schedule 40 black pipe.  We can get them up to 8” Schedule 40 black pipe.  We also have them for ¾” to 4” in copper pipe and from 25mm to 101mm in aluminum tubing.  If you have a special size or type, EXAIR can calibrate them for these sizes.  We can supply an option to measure pressure and flow with our Pressure Sensing Digital Flowmeters, and we can offer a Hot-Tap Digital Flowmeter to mount onto a pressurized pipe.  For an additional item, we do have a Summing Remote Display to visualize the flow in more convenient areas.  For monitoring, the Digital Flowmeter has a USB Datalogger which stores the information for graphing.  It also has a 4 – 20 mA output for data acquisition, and an optional serial output. 

Getting more information can help paint a broader picture of the health of your compressed air system.  The Digital Flowmeter can give you some key information.  Instead of a mystery black box in the backroom, the Digital Flowmeter can measure, monitor, and store the flow information which can be vital.  If you wish to discuss more, an Application Engineer at EXAIR will be happy to assist you.  Optimizing your compressed air system will help eliminate it from having a “coronary”.   

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Picture: Electrocardiogram by Clker-Free-Vector-Images.  Pixabay content license.

Compressed Air Digital Flow Meters Monitor Your System Demand

Published on by bdwagesLeave a comment

In the times we live in, efficiency is key. To offset the rising costs of goods, services, and energy we must be purposeful in lowering costs wherever we can. Every company has large utility expenses such as electricity, water, gas, sewer, waste, and recycling. Many companies have policies and systems in place to help control these expenses. One major utility that gets overlooked is your compressed air. Many companies just loop this expense into the gas and or electricity funnel and move on. But that can be a costly mistake. Assuming you utilize compressed air in your facility, it is most likely your 3rd-4th highest utility expense. The good news is there are many ways to make this utility much more efficient.

We have several EXAIR blogs on how to improve your compressed air efficiency from mitigating leaks, sizing pipe properly, flow control, pressure regulators, engineered nozzles and tools, and even receiver tanks. These are all very effective ways to reduce this expense. There is another tool that I would like to share with you; our Digital Flow Meters. What they are, how they work, and how they can save you money…

With a rough cost of $0.25 per 1000 SCFM, wouldn’t it be nice to know how many SCFM you are using? (Please click here for a great blog on how to calculate your SCFM cost) More importantly how much air are you wasting… Your compressor information already tells you how much air it is producing and with EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter, you will know the exact amount of compressed air that is being used, making it very easy to identify loss. These losses are primarily found in leaks or inefficient air products. A best practice is to install one of these on each leg of the air distribution system and monitor and and benchmark the compressed air usage.

EXAIR Digital Flowmeter

The EXAIR Flowmeters work by measuring the temperature differential between two probes that are inserted into the compressed air pipes. One probe is kept warmer than the other, and the mass flow rate is determined by the amount of heat required to maintain the temperature differential. The flow rate, or SCFM is displayed on the large digital display

To install the Flowmeters, you will drill 2 holes into your pipe for the probes. Included with the meter is the drill bit and the Drill Guide to quickly install the meter. We have these available in many sizes from 1/2″ to 4″ iron pipe, We also offer these for Copper Pipes, and can make / calibrate them for many others, we will just need the information.

In addition to our standard version we offer several upgrades. One is a Data Logging version. You can download our software and then set the data logging to record from once a second for about 9 hours of data to twice a day for over 2 years worth of data. You simply plug the Data Log Stick this into your computer, download and repeat.

We also offer a wireless option that will run through a ZigBee mesh Network. A radio module within each meter transmits data to an ethernet connected gateway. You can also piggyback meter to meter to extend the range for this wireless solution. Each meter has a range of about 100 feet.

Many people ask if they have to shut down their system to install the Flowmeters. Understanding that this could cause systemic issues, we have a Hot Tap option that will allow you to install while the pipe is still under pressure. It incorporates 2 valves that the probes pass through as well as a muffler that collects the chips from the drilling process. This is only available on the 2″ or larger units.

Speaking of pressure, we also offer a Pressure Sensing Digital flow meter. On this, there is a pressure sensor that is mounted between the two flow sensor probes. The pressure is sent via a second milliamp output. The display can be configured to show either pressure or flow. You can set this to send alarms if the pressure falls under 50 psi. Also only available on 2″ pipes and above.

Finally, we also offer Block Off Rings. These are simply rings to block off holes where the flowmeter was, in case you need to use the same one in a different location.

Please fee free to reach out with any questions, or for more information. Let us help you save air and money…

Thank you for stopping by,

Brian Wages

Application Engineer

EXAIR Corporation
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Digital Flowmeters: Converting Them to Serial Communication

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Model 9090-DAT

An international customer purchased three Digital Flowmeters, model 9090-DAT in yr2018.  This model number refers to the EXAIR Rev3 Digital Flowmeter with a Datalogger (photo above) for ½” Schedule 40 black pipe.  They used the Datalogger to log flowrates for their blow-molding machines.  A new engineering manager joined their team and was looking for a more “real time” reading of the flowrates.  They could compare flow data results from prior setups to monitor the program for their current blow-molded products with certain materials and sizes.  It was important for quality control to measure and compare the results to verify the proper machine set points.  They contacted EXAIR to see what we could offer.

EXAIR offers a variety of Digital Flowmeters for black pipe, aluminum tubes, and copper pipes.  They can accurately measure compressed air and nitrogen flow by measuring the temperature difference between the two probes.  The display is large for easy reading, and it can be programed for different units like SCFM, M3/hr, and M3/min.  For software data collection, we have the Wireless communication, USB Datalogger, and wire communication.  We also have Hot Tap versions, Pressure measuring, and Remote Display. 

In describing their current programming system, they were using a Modbus RS485 network.  This type of network system uses a “master” device to communicate with multiple “slave” devices.  In this instance, they were going to use a computer as the “master” device to communicate with the Digital Flowmeters.  With this type of serial communication, each Digital Flowmeter would have a particular and exclusive node address.  The master device can “open” the serial communication with that particular Digital Flowmeter and transfer data points of flow measurements.  The serial boards that EXAIR uses can connect to over 100 meters with a total length of 4,000 feet (1,212 meters).

Now, for our customer above, they did not need to purchase different Digital Flowmeters.  EXAIR offers a model 901785 serial communication board to convert the standard Rev3 Digital Flowmeter to connect to Modbus RS485.  They purchased three of them and converted each unit that they had without removing them from the compressed air system.  Since they were using the serial communication to connect to a computer, they requested an Ethernet connection.  EXAIR is able to convert serial communication to either Ethernet or USB connection with a converter.  With the Ethernet converter, they were able to connect directly to their computer.  They downloaded a software program at no charge to start monitoring and collecting flow information from all the digital flowmeters.  This improved the setup times for each machine.  As an extra bonus, they could also determine if they had some pneumatic issues with valves, cylinders, or leaks with the readings from the Digital Flowmeters. 

EXAIR Digital Flowmeters for large pipe

When you need to analyze your pneumatic components, flow is an important point.  The EXAIR Digital Flowmeter can give you that important data point.  You can cut energy consumption, improve pneumatic efficiencies, reduce setup times, and save yourself money.  If you are missing that detail with your pneumatic system, an Application Engineer at EXAIR can help you select the best Digital Flowmeter.  And if in the future you wish to upgrade, we may have a simple solution for you as seen with our international customer above. 

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