Tag: reuse

50 Years of Earth Day – Happy Earth Day!

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and it will be observed in over 190 countries. For EXAIR, this year marks our 37th year helping compressed air users save compressed air energy and electrical resources. And the 37th year for improving our own efficiencies and processes in order to reduce waste. Because your volunteer opportunities may not be available this year, Earthday.org has gone digital for 2020 and is providing ways to participate via your computer.

EXAIR remains committed to a minimal footprint and continues to focus on manufacturing our products with little impact and doing our part to help protect our planet. We are proud to manufacture efficient products, implement processes and programs throughout our facility to help use our resources wisely and recycle everything we possibly can.

We manufacture and sell Intelligent Compressed Air Products that are specifically designed to reduce the use of compressed air throughout facilities.  On top of that, when you purchase an EXAIR product it will arrive in fully recyclable packaging and, in most cases, is made from a material that will be recyclable should it reach a point it is no longer useful.

Over the past years we continually look for improvement opportunities within our systems and processes. Recently we have…

  • Over the past year, EXAIR recycled 1300 yards of paper and cardboard.
  • Recycled 100% of our cardboard and mixed paper products. Of the waste we place into our trash dumpsters – 80% is recycled and 20% is sent to the landfill.
  • Recycled 100% of the metal scrap from our machining processes. Improvements in these processes has reduced scrap rates, which equates to 5.5 tons of recycled metal.
  • Used our very own Chip Trapper Systems in our manufacturing areas to extend the water-soluble coolant life from 6 weeks per changeover to 6 months per changeover. Keeping our coolant clean allows us to minimize the total amount of wastewater we recycle each year.
  • Further reduced our wastewater for reclamation by another 25% compared to last year.
  • Minimized our own compressed air use by 1 million cubic feet per year
  • Made improvements to the efficiency of our computers and computer servers which require fewer Kilowatt hours (KWH) per day

Another waste reducing factor that has proven to work out well for EXAIR is asking every customer if they accept digital invoices rather than requiring them to be printed and mailed.  We have been able to eliminate over 91% of all printed and mailed invoices. This helps to reduce our resources used as well as the amount of materials that are possibly turned into solid wastes at customer facilities. This also prevents the gas and vehicles necessary to deliver all of these invoices by mail.

Adding to the efforts above, we continue to maintain RoHS compliance on all electronic products, as well as actively track our supply chains to ensure no Conflict Minerals are being sourced and used in our products.

If you have any questions on how we can help your facility reduce their volume of compressed air or why we continue to reduce our wastes and increase our recycling efforts, contact us.

Happy Earth Day from EXAIR!

 

 

Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Happy Earth Day 2019!

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

Today marks the 49th annual Earth Day and it will be observed in over 193 countries.  For EXAIR, this year marks our 36th year helping compressed air users save compressed air energy and electrical resources.

It is also another year that we continue to focus on manufacturing our products with minimal impact and doing our part to help protect our planet. We are proud to manufacture efficient products, implement processes and programs throughout our facility to help use our resources wisely and recycle everything we possibly can. 

First and foremost, we manufacture and sell Intelligent Compressed Air Products that are specifically designed to reduce the use of compressed air throughout facilities.  On top of that, when you purchase an EXAIR product it will arrive in fully recyclable packaging and, in most cases, is made from a material that will be recyclable should it reach a point it is no longer useful.

Over the past years we continually look for improvement opportunities within our systems and processes. Recently we have made improvements to the efficiency of our computers and computer servers which require fewer Kilowatt hours (KWH) per day. We have further reduced our wastewater for reclamation by another 17%, and minimized our own compressed air use by 1 million cubic feet.

We use our very own Chip Trapper Systems in our manufacturing areas to extend the water soluble coolant life from 6 weeks per changeover to 6 months per changeover. Keeping our coolant clean allows us to minimize the total amount of wastewater we recycle each year. 

EXAIR recycles 100% of the metal scrap from our machining processes, which equates to 6.5 tons. Our cardboard and mixed paper products are also recycled 100%. Of the waste we place into our trash dumpsters – 80% is recycled and 20% is sent to the landfill.     

In total over the past year, EXAIR recycled 36.6 tons of paper and cardboard which equates to 80% of the solid waste we produce is recycled.  We focus on more ways to improve this percentage every year.

Another waste reducing factor that has proven to work out well for EXAIR is asking every customer if they accept digital invoices rather than requiring them to be printed and mailed.   Thanks to our wonderful customers we have been able to eliminate 91% of all printed and mailed invoices which helps to reduce our resources used as well as the amount of materials that are possibly turned into solid wastes at their facilities. This also prevents the gas and vehicles necessary to deliver all of these invoices by mail. 

On top of all the efforts above, we also continue to maintain RoHS compliance on all electronic products, as well as actively track our supply chains to ensure no Conflict Minerals are being sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If you have any questions on how we can help your facility reduce their volume of compressed air or why we continue to reduce our wastes and increase our recycling efforts, contact us.

Happy Earth Day from EXAIR!

 

Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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I think we have all heard the mantra Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – a phrase that is thought to have originated back in 70’s when environmental protection became a governmental policy.

We at EXAIR can help your company follow this important principle and help to keep your costs down as well.

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Reduce – Reduce the number of times you change out your coolant, reduce your wastewater. Our Reversible Drum VAcs and Chip Trappers help keep your coolant clean by providing a simple and effective method to remove and/or strain your coolant.

Also, remember this – they are VERY hard to break or ruin. If you have one of our liquid handling Reversible Drum Vacs or Chip Trapper units, and the performance isn’t quite as you remember it to be, give us a call.   We can help to trouble shoot and narrow in on the root cause.  Most of the time, it is a simple fix, such as a air leak or a change to the air supply system that has caused a drop in performance. If we have eliminated all of those possible causes, we can offer the RDVREFURB option. Simply send in your Reversible Drum Vac pump unit, and we will do a free evaluation. Then we’ll let you know what we find, and provide a quote for the repair.  The repair typically involves a thorough cleaning, replacement of a few basic parts, and then setting and testing to original factory specification.  Because the unit has no moving parts, there isn’t much that can break down or go wrong.  Don’t throw away that unit, REDUCE the amount of waste you create.

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Reuse – Maybe you have a Super Air Knife in storage that is not in use, and you come up with a need, but the Knife doesn’t quite match the application.  We can provide new custom shim to change the air flow pattern.  Perhaps you have a 24″ Super Air Knife, but the new application requires only 18″ of airflow.  You can send the knife in and we can clean it up and install a new custom shim to provide the exact airflow pattern that meets your requirements.  Or, we can send the new shim directly to you for your team to install. Don’t let the unused product lie around, REUSE it for another process or application.

Super Air Knife

Recycle – If for what ever reason a product has been deemed to be no-longer viable and cannot be reused, the time comes to dispose of it.  We hope that you would take the time to recycle it properly. With materials of construction including brass, aluminum and type 303 and type 316 stainless steels, most EXAIR products can be RECYCLED as common metals and you may even get a little money back!

To discuss your processes and how an EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product can provide a beneficial service, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our other Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

Brian Bergmann
Application Engineer

Send me an email
Find us on the Web
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_BB

 

Photo Credit – “Recycling” by Andy Arthur is licensed under CC BY 2.0

E-Vac for Epoxy Recycling

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Recently, a manufacturer of custom magnetics called in about a special application. In the manufacturing of certain electronic systems, a very expensive, thick epoxy glue is used. They were exploring ways to be able to collect the excess after application.  They had used a system in the past and were looking to replicate it.  The previous system had an old boxy vacuum generator, and they asked us if we could provide a vacuum source that matched the performance specifications but in a more compact design.  After researching the specifications and a comprehensive comparison, we could offer the EXAIR model 810013 Inline E-Vac, generating up to 27 ” Hg of vacuum.  A basic sketch of the design concept is shown below-

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By using the model 810013 to create a vacuum within the chamber, a strong suction can be generated at the tube inlet, strong enough to draw in the excess epoxy. The glue can be collected in the chamber for recycling and reuse, and because of the design, the glue does not pass through the E-Vac and cause any issues with build up or blockage that would hinder the performance, leading to the need to clean the unit.

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The Many Sizes of E-Vac Models Available

EXAIR manufactures E-Vac’s for both porous and non-porous applications, as well as a line of Adjustable E-Vac Generators.  Smallest units use only 1.5 SCFM of 80 PSIG compressed air and the largest Adjustable E-Vac unit can pull 81 SCFM of air at open draw and 15″ Hg vacuum level setting.  With a wide range of sizes and types, there is a model available to meet your vacuum generation needs.

As a side note – the EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac, High Lift Reversible Drum Vac, Chip Trapper, and High Lift Chip Trapper all use this same basic principle of applying a vacuum to a chamber, but on a much larger scale, to turn a 5, 30, 55 or 110 gallon drum into an industrial liquid vacuum system.  The vacuum generating unit is of a different design, made specifically for the Industrial Housekeeping Products.

To discuss your process and how an EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product can solve your toughest application issues, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our other Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

Brian Bergmann
Application Engineer

Send me an email
Find us on the Web
Like us on Facebook
Twitter: @EXAIR_BB