With the purchase of your new Line Vac, you may have some questions about how to properly use this item. This video guide will share a few instructions about how to prepare and set up your Line Vac, or Air-Operated Conveyor. In the video I cover the operation and maintenance to optimize the function of your new Line Vac.
If you have any questions about moving dry bulk material from point A to point B, please contact an Application Engineer. We will be happy to assist you.
I have lost count at this point, but this is my 4th or 5th application spotlight. In these I’m pulling from the dozens of phone calls or emails and walking you through how we on the application engineering team select a product for a specific application!
This one is a little different though. This one will be more of an application spotlight for an application success!
A customer had a manual operation where they were peeling the backing off of some adhesive strips. These strips were put in a trash can, but the operators were not always doing a good job making sure the backing strips got to the trash, covering the floor in trash and getting swept up in tools.
So to control this they wanted a vacuum that would turn on and off when the operator put his hand in front of it. They used a 2″ line vac. The end goal was to convey it 10 feet to a trash bin. The photo you see to the right is testing the automation!
And it worked great! The optical sensor sees the hand, opens a solenoid valve and the Lin Vac turns on, conveying the trash through the system into the bag. They are running it at very low pressures which is using very little compressed air!
The Line Vac is capable of moving large volumes of material over long distances with just a small amount of compressed air. The compressed air is injected through directed nozzles that produce a vacuum on one end and high-volume output flows on the other instantaneously. The Line Vac is offered in several different materials, sizes, and with a few different options for connection style.
Standard Line Vacs are offered with a smooth inlet/outlet designed to be used with any smooth-bore conveyance hose. Clear PVC hose in 10’ increments up to 50’ is available direct from stock for sizes 3/8”-3” ID. These Line Vacs are offered in aluminum sizes up to 5”, and in 303 and 316 stainless steel up to 3”.
If you’d rather use rigid pipe for the material conveyance, Threaded Line Vacs are also available directly from stock. With identical performance to the standard Line Vac, the Threaded Line Vacs are offered with NPT threads on both the inlet/outlet in sizes ranging from 3/8” NPT to 3” NPT in aluminum, 303, or 316 stainless steel.
Heavy Duty Line Vacs operate in the same manner as our standard or threaded units, but are constructed of a hardened alloy steel engineered for use with abrasive media. The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are offered with both smooth and threaded connection styles and also provide a boost in conveyance when compared with our other Line Vacs. The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are ideal for any media that is abrasive in nature or for applications requiring higher conveyance rates over longer distances.
For applications where you only need to convey small volumes over short distances or particularly lightweight materials, our Light Duty Line Vac would be an ideal solution. The Light Duty Line Vac is available in sizes ranging from ¾”-6” and consumes a bit less compressed air than the standard and heavy-duty versions. This style of Line Vac is only offered in aluminum construction and for use with smooth-bore hose.
Last, but certainly not least, is the Sanitary Flange Line Vac. The Sanitary Flange Line Vac is the best method for conveying materials in systems that require frequent or mandatory cleaning. Utilizing ISO 2852 compatible clamp-style sanitary flanges, they can be easily removed from the system for periodic sanitization. These are offered in sizes ranging from 1-1/2”-3” from stock and are ideal for applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
If you think a line vac will work for you, please reach out to myself or any application engineer!
I’m going to start something new with a few of my blogs starting today! I’m going to start doing an application spotlight. In this I’m going to pull from the dozens of phone calls or emails and walk you through how we on the application engineering team select a product for a specific application!
Application Goal: Move 1 cubic foot of sandpaper grit into a sealed and vented hopper.
100 lbs/cu.ft
Moving 7′ vertical
Very abrasive
In 15 minutes or less
There is one product group for an application like this and it’s the Line Vacs. They use compressed air to generate a vacuum by the Venturi effect. This unique design generates a high velocity airflow to create a powerful vacuum on the suction side. Once the material reaches the throat area of the Line Vac, the compressed air will carry the product the rest of the conveying distance to the discharge. We can reach horizontal distances up to 100 feet (30 meters) and vertical heights up to 20 feet (6 meters), which makes them great for “bucket and ladder” applications. EXAIR manufactures a variety of Line Vacs in different sizes, styles, and materials. But for this application we are going to need our most powerful and abrasion-resistant type, the Heavy Duty Line Vacs.
Heavy Duty Family
The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are engineered to move abrasive materials with an increased conveyance rate. They range from ¾” inside diameter hose size up to 3” inside diameter for hose and pipe connections. The construction is made from a hardened alloy steel to resist wear from abrasive bulk products like steel parts, sand, glass, ceramic, etc. The Heavy Duty Line Vac can create a high vacuum level to pick up heavier objects as well as convey a larger volume of material. When purchased as a kit, the Line Vac will come with a compressed air filter, regulator, and mounting bracket. These additions provide enhanced, overall value to allow for easier mounting, controlling, and protecting the Line Vac within an application for years to come. There are no moving parts to wear out, which makes this a great product to use in rugged industrial applications. You will not have to worry about any motors or bearings prematurely wearing out.
So, to select the right size for this job, we are going to base it on results from a similar product around the same distance. The 2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac was able to move a very similar product 10 feet vertical at a rate of 13.5 lbs/min. Meaning we would be able to move one cubic foot of material in 7.4 minutes. This came in under the allowed time, but one concern was air consumption as a 2″ heavy duty would consume 75 SCFM @ 80 PSIG. So, the smallest we could go while staying within the 15 minutes would be the 1.5″ Heavy Duty. It would be able to move that material in about 10.5 minutes (9.5 lbs/min) and drop the consumption to 55 SCFM @ 80 PSIG. (9.5 lbs/min)
From the easy blow off application to the hard cooling and conveying, the application engineering team here at EXAIR are here to help you select the right product for you!
We like to tout the benefits of our intelligent and efficient compressed air products. For example, our Super Air Knife entrains ambient air at a ratio of 40:1, so for a moderate amount of compressed air, you will get large volumes of air blowing against your part. But another way you can be efficient is by turning your compressed air off – or at least only turning it on when you need it. For example, if you are drying parts moving along a conveyor, turning the air off in between parts will save even more compressed air. You only need to use the air when it is necessary. This is where EXAIR’s Electronic Flow Controller, or EFC, comes in.
Our EFC is great for automating processes involving compressed air use, by turning the air flow off when it’s not needed. In fact, not only does it provide simple on/off control to blow only when a part is “seen” by the photoelectric sensor, there are eight distinct modes to incorporate delay on or off, flicker on or off, signal on/off delay, interval, or “One-Shot,” where the sensor detects the part, delays opening the valve per the timer setting, and blows for one second. The different modes are demonstrated in this video:
We include the EFC with our Deluxe Super Air Knife Kits for the obvious synergy with the Super Air Knives’ typical applications of cooling, drying and cleaning. However, there are many other EXAIR products and applications that could benefit from the functionality of the photoelectric sensor. Take our Line Vacs, for example. If a hopper is being filled with product that is being conveyed by the Line Vac, you can use the sensor on the EFC to turn off the Line Vac. Alternatively, you could use the sensor to detect when the hopper is almost empty and turn the Line Vac on.
We have had customers use our EFC to control the flow from our Atomizing Spray Nozzles. When the sensor detects the parts being coated, the EFC turns on the compressed air supply, allowing the Air Atomizing Spray Nozzle to apply a coating. Once the part has been coated, the EFC shuts off the air supply, not only saving on compressed air, but also the liquid used to coat its parts.
Our Electronic Flow Controls can accommodate flows up to 350scfm, so they can be used in a wide variety of applications. In fact, the more air volume you control with one of these, the faster you can amass savings and the faster your return on investment! If you would like to discuss how an EFC could save you money, give me a call!
