Tag: intermediate

6 STEPS To Optimizing Compressed Air: Step 5 – Install Secondary Receiver Tanks

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Since air compressors require electricity to make compressed air, it is important to optimize your compressed air system. EXAIR has six simple steps, and following these steps will help you cut electrical costs, reduce overhead, and improve your bottom line.  In this blog, I will cover the fifth step –intermediate storage of compressed air near the point-of-use. 

I had a customer that was looking at a model 1122108, 108” (2,743mm) Super Ion Air Knife Kit.  The application was removing static and debris from insulated panels which they used for large refrigerated trailers.  They were worried about how much compressed air that it would use; and they were considering a blower-type system.  I went through the negative aspects like noise, cost, maintenance, and ineffectiveness with turbulent air flows.  But, when you are limited in the amount of compressed air, I had to look at another way.  Since the process was intermittent, I used the fifth step to optimize their system to use a much better solution for their application.  The cycle rate was 2 minutes on and 10 minutes off.  I was able to calculate the size of a secondary tank to help their compressed air system.   

Model 9500-60

I would like to expand a bit more about secondary receiver tanks.  They can be strategically placed throughout the plant to improve the “ebbs and flows” of pneumatic demands.  The primary receiver tanks help to protect the supply side when demands are high, and the secondary receiver tanks help pneumatic systems on the demand side.  They give additional capacity at the end of distribution lines.  Essentially, it is easier and more efficient for compressed air to travel out from a nearby source and into an application rather than traveling through long lengths of pipes from the distribution system.

For calculating the volume size for your secondary receiver tank, we can use Equation 1 below.  It is the same for sizing a primary receiver tank, but the scalars are slightly different.  The supply line for air drops will typically come from a header pipe and are generally smaller in diameter.  So, we have to look at the air restriction that can feed into the tank.  For example, a 1” NPT Schedule 40 Pipe at 100 PSIG can supply a maximum of 150 SCFM of air flow.  This value is used for Cap below in Equation 1.  C is the largest air demand for the machine or targeted area that will be using the tank.  If the C value is less than the Cap value, then a secondary tank is not needed.  If the Cap is below the C value, then we can calculate the tank volume that would be needed.  The other value in the equation is the minimum tank pressure.  In most cases, a regulator is used to set the air pressure for the machine or area.  If the specification is 80 PSIG, then you would use this value as P2.  P1 is the header pressure that will be coming into the secondary tank.  With this collection of information, you can use Equation 1 to calculate the minimum tank volume. 

Equation 1:

V = T * (C – Cap) * (Pa) / (P1-P2)

Where:

V – Volume of receiver tank (cubic meter)

T – Time interval (minutes)

C – Air demand for system (cubic meter per minute)

Cap – Supply value of inlet pipe (cubic meter per minute)

Pa – Absolute atmospheric pressure (Bar)

P1 – Header Pressure (Bar)

P2 – Regulated Pressure (Bar)

For this customer above, I am still working on this purchase.  But we went from a “we don’t have enough compressed air” to a “we can possibly use the better solution with the Super Ion Air Knife”.  If you find that you might be having issues with your equipment running optimally, you may be able to install a secondary receiver to your system.  EXAIR offers 60 Gallon tanks, model 9500-60, to add to those specific areas.  If you have any questions about using a receiver tank in your application, primary or secondary, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.

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

Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems “Make Things Better”

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In a previous arc in my career path, I worked on, and then built, and then sold industrial pumps, so I’ve been in my fair share of chemical plants. Did you ever wonder what all these places make? A decent number of them make what are called “intermediates”. These are compounds, solutions, & substances that aren’t found in stores, but go into almost all of the goods that ARE found in stores. One such company used to make commercials that explained it nicely:

I recently had the pleasure of assisting a caller from a company like this, who wanted to install three of our Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems in their facility. This particular company doesn’t make anything shown in the commercial above; they make intermediates for agricultural use (to paraphrase the commercial, “they don’t make fertilizer; they make fertilizer better”). As is the case in MANY chemical plants, a good portion of their real estate is classified as hazardous area (as defined by regulatory oversight agencies) AND subject to exposure to some fairly corrosive chemicals. Now, these places all go to great lengths to ensure safety for personnel AND equipment, through compliance AND design. So, when they needed to add durable & reliable heat protection to their electrical panels, they called EXAIR.

This was a pretty easy application, as the engineer I spoke to had gotten the internal heat loads from the equipment supplier, and already knew that 316SS construction was needed for the corrosive elements the equipment could be exposed to. The panel was in a Class I Div 2 area (flammable gasses or vapors may be present in the event of an accident or during unusual operating conditions). After calculating the external heat load, we specified a Model HZ4725SS-316 NEMA 4X (316SS Construction) Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler System, rated for 1,700 Btu/hr, and Model 902021 24VDC HazLoc Solenoid Valve. These panels came equipped with temperature monitors that they could wire our valves into, otherwise we’d have supplied Thermostat Controlled systems.

EXAIR HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are rated for Class I Div 1 & 2, Class II Div 1 & 2, and Class III environments.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are available, from stock, to suit most any electric/electronic panel heat protection need:

  • Cooling capacities from 275 to 5,600 Btu/hr. Call me if your heat load is outside this range…we can look at customized solutions too.
  • NEMA 12 (IP54), 4, or 4X (IP66) ratings.
  • Thermostat Control – Standard, or Electronic Temperature Control.
  • Non-Hazardous Purge for contaminant exclusion on less-than-ideally sealed enclosures.
  • High Temperature models for ambient temperatures from 125°F (52°C) to 200°F (93°C).
  • Side Mount Kits when space is limited above the panel.
  • 316SS construction for particularly aggressive environments.
  • UL Classified for hazardous locations, just like the one I wrote about above.

If you’d like to find out how easy it is to provide durable and reliable heat protection for your electrical panels, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Taking Yourself Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

During the warmer Ohio weather months, April through October, my blog posts may include information about taking my motorcycle to some road course tracks (and now even a cold month or two).  I take my bike to open track days where (mostly) amateur riders can get on a proper race course. There are people on the track for the first time and people who race professionally.   They will generally divide the riders into several groups, Novice, Intermediate or Advanced.  The control riders/coaches at the track will help you to determine what group you should ride in and then help you throughout the day.   Below is a video of a control rider that is also a professional rider at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.  (Don’t mind the music, it’s not my cup of tea either.)

For the novice group there are classes after each session, as well as skills practiced in every session.  This is to help teach the beginning track rider that the same habits you use on the street are not meant for the track, as well as how to be as safe as possible while being on the track.  This is the most watched and controlled group due to the fact it generally has the most riders and they are all the newest to the track.

For intermediate group there are optional classes and you just run your own pace.  They step up the skill level by not enforcing you to focus on a skill during each session or requiring you to go to a class after each session of the day.  The pace is considerably faster than novice and the only ways to get instruction are to either ask a control rider for it or if they see something to help you with they will generally stop you and coach you on how to do it better.

The final group is advanced, or race class.  This has the same elements as a professional race minus the grid at start-up.   There aren’t really any passing rules and the control riders are mainly all professional racers or former racers who can still make your head spin as they fly past you.  Similar to the intermediate group the only way you will get help is to ask for it.

For the past two years I have been running in the intermediate group and it is a serious meat grinder.  You will have people in there that are fast enough to be in advanced group, but are too scared.  As well as having people who let their ego and pride tell them they don’t need to learn anything from a novice class and should really be in novice learning as much as they can.  I stayed in Novice for over the first year of track riding that I had done.   Some people choose to never leave the novice group because that is exactly where they are comfortable.  They don’t want to worry about the other classes and are perfectly fine with not even being the fastest person in Novice.  This is perfectly acceptable for some, but I had to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to really enjoy the entire experience.  Even though I have been to the track several times now I am always out of my comfort zone in intermediate because there are always new people showing up and you never know when you will running with a group that should be racing, or a group that should be getting coached in novice.

Here at EXAIR we have customers that could fit into each of these groups also.   The customer who doesn’t know what an engineered solution is and doesn’t understand the cost of compressed air.  The intermediate user who has used some of our products in the past but is encountering new issues and knows that we can help lead them in the right direction.  As well as the advanced users who know exactly what they need and sometimes even request a special unit to fit their exact needs.

No matter the case, we can help as well as coach even the most advanced users of our products on how to use compressed air better.  If you are reading this and you don’t know the difference between a Super Air Nozzle and an open pipe, then give us a call.  We will help teach you the differences as well as make sure you understand the need for engineered solutions on your compressed air system.  It may be out of your comfort zone for the first few calls but we will make sure you get to the level you want to be so you get back into your comfort zone.

Brian Farno
Advanced Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Outfitting Your Receiver Tank

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Intermediate storage is a key component to your compressed air system.  Intermediate storage is step five in the Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System.  Receiver tanks can also be the difference between having to buy a new compressor or outfitting the application with a receiver tank.  Today I would like to discuss some of the accessories you might need to outfit your receiver tank with.   Below is a picture of a receiver tank that Professor Penurious has outfitted.

IMG_2314

This is a unit that we transport around the lab to help with different tests.  As you can see there are more ports than needed on the EXAIR 60 Gallon Receiver Tank, so we have installed plugs in the unused ports, while using pipe unions and ball valves to make quick and simple installation into many different areas.

IMG_2319IMG_2317IMG_2316

Another key item to have is pressure relief valve, this needs to be paired with the receiver tank to ensure you are operating within the limits of the tank.

IMG_2315

Another key component is a drain valve on the bottom of the unit.   This is to help drain any moisture that has accumulated in the tank over a period of use.

IMG_2318

The final piece that is recommended to install on an intermediate storage tank would be a pressure gauge.   This is so you can ensure the tank is holding pressure over time, along with allow you to see your operating pressure.

If you have any questions about how intermediate storage can help your compressed air system, contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF