The following short video explains the differences between the three styles of Air Knives offered by EXAIR – The Super, Standard and Full-Flow.
Please reach out to myself or one of our application engineers if you need help figuring which Air knife suits your application best!
Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
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When I am working on a project around my home, my wife often starts with a guess as to how many trips to the home improvement or plumbing supply store this project is going to take. (The Gif above is me trying to determine how many choice words will be used.) I try to foil her plans by either already having the first trip done before I start the project, or by buying a surplus of anything and everything I could possibly need on that first trip then returning what I don’t use.
In all actuality, the problem normally comes from working on a house that was built in 1951 and building codes were not the same back then. Whenever it is a new project, say installing a garden fence or building a trampoline platform, I can plan everything out and know all of the variables ahead of time. This results in a single trip to the store per project and more often than not a project that is on budget. That’s why we strive to help our customers here at EXAIR to be prepared for their upcoming projects.
When you are trying to implement a new Super Air Knife into your process, whether it be to cool, clean, or dry a process or product off, we don’t want you to have to go to another vendor, or even have to run back and forth to the tool crib 15 times just to get the knife hooked up to compressed air. To help simplify this, we offer Super Air Knives w/ Plumbing Kit Installed. Whenever a Super Air Knife is 24″ or longer is installed, the compressed air should be supplied to both ends of the knife. When lengths reach 48″ and higher even more ports will need to be plumbed along the length of the knife. This ensures even distribution of compressed air for the full length of the knife. While EXAIR does offer all the information on supplying air to the proper inlets for every given length of Super Air Knife, we also offer to simplify it even further by offering an installed plumbing kit to further simplify installation in the field.
This feature leaves the installation team with minimal points to plumb compressed air once the knife is in your facility. The Aluminum Super Air Knife uses general duty air hose with brass fittings and the 303 and 316 Stainless Steel Super Air Knives use 316SS tube and fittings. An additional pressure gauge is included with longer lengths to install at halfway points in the plumbing kit to verify the operating pressure of the knife.
Even when purchasing the Plumbing Kit Installed option we still offer detailed CAD models as well as PDF and 2D drawings of the knives to make it possible for an installation to be planned out and facilitate an easy, quick, and efficient installation.
If you would like to discuss what Super Air Knife w/ Plumbing Kit Installed would best suit your application, contact us.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
1 – Calculate Figure It Out GIF – https://giphy.com/gifs/math-3tEFVAbfzzcwo
Okay, I will admit, the title may be a tad bit leading. The fact is, it can be done. I speak to customers almost daily who are struggling with the noise levels produced from open pipe blowoffs. With Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) a significant problem among manufacturing workers, reducing the noise form compressed air can be a simple solution and contribute toward reducing overall noise exposure levels. Many of these calls and emails revolve around reducing these exact noise levels, sometimes the open pipes have existing threads on them to install the solution immediately.
To reduce these noise levels, we need to simply reduce the amount of energy that is being expelled through the pipe. How do we do this you might ask? The use of an air nozzle will reduce the energy being dispersed from an open pipe. This will result in lower air consumption as well as lower sound levels while actually increasing velocity as the pipe will maintain higher operating pressures. Be cautious about the air nozzle you choose, however, they are not all created equal. EXAIR’s engineered air nozzles are among the quietest and most efficient air nozzles available.
What size pipes can we fit nozzles to? That’s a great question. We have nozzles that range from a 4mm straight thread all the way up to 1-1/4″ NPT thread. This also includes nearly any size in between especially the standard compressed air piping sizes. For instance, a 1/4″ Sched. 40 pipe that has 1/4″ MNPT threads on it can easily produce over a 100 dBA noise level from 3 feet away. This can easily be reduced to below 80 dBA from 3′ away by utilizing one of our model 1100 Super Air Nozzles. All it takes is a deep well socket and ratchet with some thread sealant.
This doesn’t just lower the sound level though, it reduces the amount of compressed air expelled through that open pipe by creating a restriction on the exit point. This permits the compressed air to reach a higher line pressure causing a higher exit velocity and due to the engineering within the nozzle, this will also eliminate dangerous dead-end pressure and complies with OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.242(b).
All in all, a 30-second install can make an operator’s work station considerably quieter and potentially remove the need for hearing protection. If you would like to discuss how to lower noise levels in your facility, contact us.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
Occasionally, a caller will ask if we offer installation services for our products. They’re usually very pleased to learn that there’s not all that much to it.
Any of our Super Air Knives can use our Model 9060 Universal Air Knife Mounting Systems (shown below; one on a 12″, and four on a 108″ length) for easy installation and precise aiming.
Shorter lengths, like the Model 110006 6″ Aluminum Super Air Knife (below, left,) can be adequately supported by air supply piping. We don’t recommend that with longer lengths (due to overhung load concerns) but even a Model 110018 18″ Aluminum Super Air Knife (below, middle,) can be supported by the supply pipe in a vertical position. We even stock our 3″ Aluminum Super Air Knives with Stay Set Hoses & Magnetic Bases (below, right.)
The Super Air Knife also has a series of 1/4″-20 tapped holes, 2″ apart, along the bottom of the body. These are often used for installation & mounting as well, and we’ve seen some creative methods, for sure:
EXAIR Super Air Knives come in lengths from 3 inches to 9 feet long. We stock them in aluminum, 303SS, 316SS, and PVDF. If you need a custom length or material, though, we do those too. We can even talk about the best way to mount it. Call me.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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