Tag: plumbing

EXAIR Super Air Knives and Plumbing Kits

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

When it comes to drying, cooling, or cleaning processes, efficiency and consistency matter. EXAIR’s Super Air Knives are engineered to deliver a uniform sheet of air across the entire length of the knife, making them the ideal choice for a wide range of industrial applications.

Sixteen stock lengths, and Four stock Materials

Why Choose EXAIR Super Air Knives?

The Super Air Knife is designed for energy efficiency, low noise, and powerful performance. By entraining surrounding air at a 40:1 ratio, it amplifies the airflow while minimizing compressed air consumption. This results in:

  • Up to 90% air savings compared to open pipe blowoffs.
  • Quiet operation, typically under 69 dBA—even at 80 PSIG.
  • Uniform airflow across the full length, ensuring even drying and debris removal.
  • Maintenance-free operation with no moving parts to wear out or require adjustment.

These air knives are available in aluminum, 303 and 316 stainless steel, and PVDF, making them suitable for everything from general industrial use to harsh chemical and washdown environments.

Streamlined Installation with Plumbing Kits

To make setup simple, EXAIR offers Plumbing Kits—pre-assembled and ready-to-install packages that include everything you need for optimal performance. Each kit includes:

  • Properly sized fittings and hoses for balanced air distribution
  • Crosses and tees for different length knives
  • Optional kits with filter and regulator assemblies to ensure clean, controlled air supply

Plumbing Kits eliminate the guesswork and ensure your Super Air Knife operates at its best from day one. They also save valuable installation time and guarantee consistent performance across multiple units.

A Complete System for Peak Performance

When combined, EXAIR’s Super Air Knives and Plumbing Kits provide a turnkey solution that delivers:

  • Consistent airflow
  • Simplified setup and maintenance
  • Lower installtion costs
  • Increased productivity and product quality

From drying bottles on a packaging line to removing debris in machining or coating operations, EXAIR’s Super Air Knife system is engineered to outperform traditional blow off methods. Ready to improve efficiency and lower energy costs? Explore EXAIR’s full line of Super Air Knives and Plumbing Kits to find the best setup for your application.

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer

Send me an email
Find us on the Web 

Don’t Fall Victim To Undersized Piping

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Pressure drops, incorrect plumbing, undersized piping, insufficient flow; if you hear these terms from tech support of your point of use compressed air products or from your maintenance staff when explaining why a process isn’t working then you may be a victim of improper compressed air piping selection.
Often time this is due to a continued expansion of an existing system that was designed around a decade old plan. It could also come from a simple misunderstanding of what size of piping is needed and so to save some costs, smaller was used. Nonetheless, if you can understand a small number of variables and what your system is going to be used for, you can ensure the correct piping is used. The variables that you will want to consider when selecting a piping size that will suit your need and give the ability to expand if needed are shown below.

  • Minimum Operating Pressure Allowed (psig) – Lowest pressure permitted by any demand side point of use product.
  • System Pressure (psig) – Safe operating pressure that will account for pressure drops.
  • Flow Rate (SCFM) of demand side (products needing the supplied compressed air)
  • Total Length of Piping System (feet)
  • Piping Cost ($)
  • Installation Cost ($)
  • Operational Hours ( hr.)
  • Electical Costs ($/kwh)
  • Project Life (years) – Is there a planned expansion?

An equation can be used to calculate the diameter of pipe required for a known flow rate and allowable pressure drop. The equation is shown below.

A = (144 x Q x Pa) / (V x 60 x (Pd + Pa)
Where:
A = Cross-Sectional are of the pipe bore. (sq. in.).
Q = Flow rate (cubic ft. / min of free air)
Pa = Prevailing atmospheric absolute pressure (psia)
Pd  = Compressor discharge gauge pressure (psig)
V = Design pipe velocity ( ft/sec)

If all of these variables are not known, there are also reference charts which will eliminate the variables needed to total flow rate required for the system, as well as the total length of the piping. The chart shown below was taken from EXAIR’s Knowledge Base.

Once the piping size is selected to meet the needs of the system the future potential of expansion should be taken into account and anticipated for. If no expansion is planned, simply take your length of pipe and start looking at your cost per foot and installation costs. If expansions are planned and known, consider supplying the equipment now and accounting for it if the additional capital expenditure is acceptable at this point.

The benefits to having properly sized compressed air lines for the entire facility and for the long-term expansion goals makes life easier. When production is increased, or when new machinery is added there is not a need to re-engineer the entire system in order to get enough capacity to that last machine. If the main compressed air system is undersized then optimal performance for the facility will never be achieved. By not taking the above variables into consideration or just using what is cheapest is simply setting the system up for failure and inefficiencies. All of these considerations lead to an optimized compressed air system which leads to a sustainable utility.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Video Blog: Selecting the Right Air Knife

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

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

Send me an email
Find us on the Web 
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Twitter: @EXAIR_JS

 

Ease Installation Woes With The Super Air Knife Plumbing Kits

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

https://media.giphy.com/media/3tEFVAbfzzcwo/giphy.gif

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.

Model 9078 PKI Kit

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