EXAIR Adjustable Air Amplifiers used to clean a conveyor railAs the rig moves along the rail the Air Amplifiers move too
The phone rang in the Application Engineering department earlier this week and on the other end of the phone was a user of EXAIR products. They were searching for a way to move a bulk quantity of sand from one location to another, and they recognized our Line Vacs.
After discussing the specifics of the application (the material to be conveyed, material size, bulk density, conveying distance and height, required conveyance rate, and available compressed air supply), we settled on a 3” Stainless Steel Line Vac, model 6066.
However, that wasn’t the intriguing part of the call. What was more interesting is that this particular end user had an installation of EXAIR Adjustable Air Amplifiers keeping a conveyor rail dry and clear of water. An Air Amplifier is an effective means of moving large volumes of air to dry, clean, or cool. However, normally when such a blow off need is required, a Super Air Nozzle will be utilized.
I came to understand that the Air Amplifiers were working wonderfully in keeping the conveyor rain clean and dry, but the water contaminants were spilling off into other processes. The end user was curious if EXAIR made any vacuum systems for industrial clean up, preferably with accessories to possibly use in this application. We discussed the merits of a Reversible Drum Vac, the available accessories, performance specifications, availability from stock, and the cost.
Today we received an order for two Reversible Drum Vac systems and a 6066 Line Vac. It was great to help a repeat user of EXAIR products, but would’ve been just as rewarding for a new customer.
If you have an application with a process disturbance and think an EXAIR solution may help, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.
News broke the other day about an accident at a manufacturing facility not far from us. Two workers’ arms were crushed when a machine malfunctioned. That’s the short story – there is, no doubt, going to be an intensive investigation where the details will be brought to light. For now, the lives of two people who showed up at work to do their jobs have been drastically and permanently changed, and that’s got me thinking (and writing) about safety, compliance, and certifications today.
EXAIR Corporation takes safety very seriously in every sense and every way:
*Production, part I. We have exacting standards and procedures that govern the machining, manufacturing, assembly, and testing of every product that we make. Training, cross-training, and continuing training ensure that our products are the highest quality achievable.
*Production, part II. Speaking of training, our Production Manager conducts regular, all-hands safety training on a variety of topics. In every single training session, regardless of topic, he makes it clear that safety requires us all: from management’s responsibility for training, documentation and equipment, to operators’ attention to detail and compliance with procedures, to everyone’s diligence in watching out for, and reporting, anything that may not look right.
*Specification. Some of our products shouldn’t be used in certain applications:
-Our Static Eliminators use high voltage at a low amperage to ionize air. They can’t be used near flammable materials or gases.
–Line Vacs create a high velocity, turbulent vacuum flow. Don’t use them with any material that can become an explosive mixture. Same goes for our Chip Vac, Heavy Duty Dry Vac, and Heavy Duty HEPA Vac.
-Speaking of Industrial Vacuums, our Reversible Drum Vacs and Chip Trappers operate by pulling a vacuum on the drum. They cannot be used with any material with a low flash point or with flammable liquids such as mineral spirits, gasoline or kerosene.
*Compliance. There are sanctioned regulatory bodies that define what makes…and keeps…products safe for use. EXAIR goes to all lengths necessary to ensure compliance and reporting with the ones pertinent to particular product lines, whether they’re CE marked, RoHS compliant, UL Listed/Recognized, etc. In fact, our products are also certified as Conflict Mineral-Free and REACH Compliant…for the safety of people involved in providing the materials that our products are made of.
We go to every length possible to ensure that our products meet the standards that even the most demanding situations call for.
If you want to talk about safety and compliance, talk to us.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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A machine shop facility contacted me about an issue they were having with metal chips. Their operation used CNC saw machines to cut metal products of various types and sizes to specific lengths. They used belt conveyors that were fitting inside the CNC machines to remove the excess chips to a recycle bin. The cut pieces were then ejected from the CNC machine for the next operation. The issue was when they would cut tubing. For the solid pieces, the conveyors inside the CNC machines would work great to remove the chips. But with hollow stock, the inside of the tube would catch majority of the chips. So, when the part was ejected, chips would accumulate on the outside of the CNC saw machine.
To solve this problem, I recommended a model 151150 Threaded Heavy Duty Line Vac with a model 9034 solenoid. The reason for the Heavy Duty Line Vac is because it is made of a hardened alloy that is resistant to the abrasion of the metal chips. The 1 ½” NPT threaded ends made it easy to attach rigid pipe to both ends. The vacuum end would remove the chips from inside the tube, and the transfer end would send the chips to the recycle bin. Also, with the controls on the CNC machine, the user could send a signal to the solenoid valve to only operate during cutting operations. (An added benefit to save on compressed air.) In his setup, we attached the Heavy Duty Line Vac to the CNC saw machine. It would ride along with the motion of the saw. As the saw was cutting, the Heavy Duty Line Vac vacuumed the chips from inside of the tube. As the saw blade retracted, the Heavy Duty Line Vac would retract as well. This opened the area for the part to be ejected except now there were no chips accumulating outside of the machine.
Heavy Duty Line Vac
Keeping work areas clean and recovering debris as it is produced results in a more efficient process and a safer environment. If you every need to bounce some ideas for solving problems like with the customer above, you can always contact an Application Engineer to see if we can help you resolve the issue.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
1-800-903-9247
Twitter: @EXAIR_JB
I mentioned in one of my last blogs about how having a camera phone can come in handy when discussing applications. If there is anything unclear about a description, a quick photo and email can clear things up.
Thankfully, a potential end-user of EXAIR products was proactive and took the liberty to send the video above and the photos below along with a description of their problem.
Tea bagging machineInternal components of the machineInternal components. Note the existing vacuum hose.Another image of the machine internals.
This is a tea bag making and filling machine. Inside of the machine, as the tea bags are made and filled with tea, a small amount of dust is created with each bag. Over time, this dust becomes substantial and collects, and must be removed to prevent disruptions in quality and processing.
The difficulty for this end user, in addition to needing to vacuum the material with something that could withstand this high dust concentration, was that the dust adhered to the machine components due to a static charge.
Tea dust statically adhered to the machineStatically charged tea dust
With the strong static attraction in place, only vacuuming the material could not remove the fine dust sticking to the machine parts. What they needed was a way to neutralize the static charge so that the dust could be released from the machine components.
We recommended a two-tiered approach. During one portion of the solution, an Ion Air Jet would provide ionized (static eliminating) air onto a deliberate area while an operator used a Heavy Duty HEPA Vac to vacuum the dust from the same location. We were, in effect, freeing the dust from the static cling and immediately vacuuming it away.
This was great, except the solution needed to function during machine operation, which meant having an operator standing by was not an option. So, we had to go back to the drawing board.
In re-examining the application, we noted the existing vacuum lines in place, and considered a way to add addition vacuum. What we determined was that a pair of Line Vacs could remove the tea dust, but we had to ionize the air in the the chamber in order to remove the static.
The problem with a more permanent installation to remove the static is that the dust present within the machine could pose a problem for the longevity of an ionizer. Our only option would be to generate the ionized air externally and feed it into the machine, though such an arrangement is not highly desirable because when ducting an ionized airflow, the static eliminating ability of the air is reduced.
This meant that we needed a one-way entrance for the ionized air which did not induce turbulence and deteriorate the static eliminating abilities of the solution. We came to a proposal to use a 12” Super Ion Air Knife mounted at the top of the machine used in conjunction with an actuated door approximately 12” x 2”.
With everything controlled via the same ladder rung in a PLC, the door actuator and compressed air supply to the Super Ion Air Knife and Line Vacs will engage simultaneously. The door will open, the knife will blow ionized air, and the Line Vacs will provide additional vacuum for the airborne tea dust. The vacuumed tea dust will be fed into the existing dust collection system.
The solution is currently being presented to the key stakeholders involved with this application. If any questions arise, we will be here to help provide any answers we can. If you have a similarly unique application and need a solution, or just need to brainstorm, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.
