Tag: reversible drum vac

About EXAIR’s Reversible Drum Vac™

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment

Looking back at my plastic injection molding days we would occasionally experience a hydraulic hose failing. Anyone who has witnessed this knows it can create quite a mess. If only I knew about EXAIR and their Reversible Drum Vac™ (RDV) back then as it would have made the cleanup process so much easier.

The RDV is a purpose built, compressed air driven, high powered vacuum used to empty and fill coolant sumps and clean up spills. It can fill a 55 gallon drum in less than 2 minutes and can attach to closed head 30, 55 or 110 gallon drum. Once the drum is full this same stainless steel pump can be emptied by a simple turn of of a knob. The RDV does not use electric and has no moving parts, assuring maintenance free operation. An automatic safety shutoff valve prevents spills or overfilling.

The RDV is, hands-down, a workhorse of a product. It has been relied upon for 30+ years to empty and fill coolant sumps on metal working machines. They function time and time again in machine shop environments with very little to zero maintenance required. If they should diminish in performance, they can be returned back to new condition in the field – most of the time. You can rely on these rugged and effective vacuums for decades.

EXAIR has a Mini (5 gallon) RDV System that delivers the same two-way action for small jobs. It comes complete with a 5 gallon drum and all the tools.

5 Gallon RDV System

EXAIR has other Industrial Housekeeping products that can be found at www.EXAIR.com. If you need help with attachments or replacement parts please contact any of our Application Engineers.

Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: Twitter: @EXAIR_EK

Intelligent Compressed Air: What You Need To Know About Deliquescent Dryers

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Moisture free air is a “must” for industrial use, for a number of reasons:

  • An awful lot of distribution systems incorporate iron pipe. It’s inexpensive, readily available, easy to work with, rated for pressure, and has a long history of successful installations. Iron pipe will also oxidize (make rust) in the presence of water:
Here’s what we find a lot of the time inside a Reversible Drum Vac that’s been sent in for refurbishment because it’s not drawing effective vacuum anymore.
  • Regardless of what your distribution lines and components are made of, water droplets can erode them. Compressed air itself is a gas; it follows the curves in elbows, and flows around valve discs & regulator diaphragms. Water droplets, on the other hand, run full speed INTO those things, often at high velocity. This eventually causes pitting, which is bad enough…those pits, though, are little pockets for salts, acids, or alkalines to effect their destructive little chemical reactions.
  • When used for blow off applications, anything in your compressed air will get on anything you’re blowing off. If the intent is to remove moisture from a surface, moisture in your compressed air supply decidedly works against your goal.
  • Water can freeze as it is carried along with air flow through orifices. This can quickly block the flow of air. The US Navy lost a submarine, USS Thresher (SSN-593) and all hands in 1963. A number of factors contributed to the sinking, but a significant one was that compressed air being blown into the ballast tanks (to create negative buoyancy) had higher than permissible moisture content, and froze in orifice plates in the lines. The ballast tanks stayed full of water, and 129 sailors & shipyard personnel died as the boat passed crush depth.

There are a number of types of air dryers that are commonly fitted to industrial air compressors to take care of moisture problems. The least expensive one of these is the Single Tower Deliquescent Dryer. Here’s how they work:

Deliquescent dryer: how it works (1)
  • Incoming compressed air enters near the base, where a form of mechanical separation occurs…the air flows back & forth, around trays of desiccant.  The simple act of changing direction causes some of the water to just fall out and collect in the bottom.
  • The air then flows upwards through the desiccant bed. The desiccant in a deliquescent dryer absorbs moisture (as opposed to the adsorption that occurs in a regenerative desiccant dryer) until they get so wet, they dissolve.
  • After the desiccant does its job, moisture free air flows out the top, and gets on with it’s work.

In addition to the low price tag, other things to like about them are:

  • Low pressure drop.
  • No moving parts or electrical components.
  • Can be used outdoors, and in hazardous, mobile, dirty, or corrosive environments.

Of course, there are things to NOT like about them as well:

  • Limited suppression of dew point – because they are drying the air to a specific relative humidity, as opposed to a specific dew point, the attainable dew point is dependent on the incoming air temperature, the chemical composition of the desiccant salt, and the ambient temperature where it’s installed. Unless you use some sort of specialty salt desiccant, the typical dew point is only 20-25ºF lower than the air inlet temperature.
  • Desiccant carryover – speaking of those specialty salts, they’re even more corrosive than the basic sodium chloride that’s often used. Any carryover will wreak havoc on your distribution system and air operated devices.

Deliquescent dryers’ particular set of “pros and cons” presents challenges for their use in industrial settings, for sure. But if the primary concern is preventing pipes from freezing up, then their low cost, low maintenance, and simplicity make them a great choice.

At EXAIR Corporation, we’re keen on compressed air efficiency. The attention to detail we pay to our products – from design, to manufacturing & assembly, to availability, and right on through to technical support – bears out our commitment to helping you get the most out of your compressed air system. If you’ve got questions, we can talk about this all day long…and most of the time, we do. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Image courtesy of Brian S. Elliott, Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License

The Case For The High Lift Reversible Drum Vac

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you need to fill -and empty – a drum with water, or water-like liquid quickly and easily, there’s really no quicker – or easier – way to do it than the EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac.  They’ve been around for decades, and are successfully used in a wide variety of applications.  The Reversible Drum Vac pulls a -96″H2O suction head on a 5, 30, 55, or 110 gallon drum, which makes it ideal for a number of typical Industrial Housekeeping or fluid handling applications.

EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac Systems come in a variety of sizes and configurations to meet the needs of most any application.

In cases where the liquid has a higher viscosity, or is below grade, the High Lift Reversible Drum Vac was developed with those exact situations in mind.  It generates a -180″H2O suction head, and comes with a 20ft vacuum hose.  Since its introduction, the High Lift Reversible Drum Vac has been successfully implemented in numerous uses where the extra suction head has been key:

  • A maker of bottled condiments (think barbecue sauce- or ketchup-like consistency) uses them to clean up accidents when bottles are overfilled, or a conveyor malfunction results in dispensing a bottle’s worth of condiment when there’s not a bottle under the nozzle.  The 20ft hose gives them the reach to service several production lines from one centrally located drum, and the two way pumping action allows them to easily pump the drum into their waste collection system.
  • A precast concrete company uses one for various cleanup applications.  The High Lift RDV‘s suction head is needed, in particular for their hydraulic oil leaks & spills.
  • A ferry operator uses one to clean out the engine room bilge.  They put the High Lift RDV on a deck above the engine room…the 20ft hose extends down to the bilge to pump it out, and when the drum is full, it reaches to the main deck so the drum can be emptied into their waste recycling company’s receptacle.
  • A construction company uses one to clean up the slurry created during concrete cutting operations.  The High Lift RDV is able to keep up with the slurry from even their largest saws, and the 20ft hose allows them to keep the drum conveniently out of the cutting area.

EXAIR High Lift Reversible Drum Vac Systems come in different configurations for 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums.

EXAIR Corporation has a variety of Industrial Vacuums to meet most any cleanup need.  They’re all compressed air operated, which means they have no electric motors to burn out, or moving parts to wear out.  If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

***Order before 5/31/2021 and get a FREE Vac-u-Gun with any qualifying Industrial Vacuum System purchase***

Russ Bowman, CCASS

 

 

 

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Empty and Fill Machine Sumps with the Reversible Drum Vac Systems

Published on by EricKuhnash@EXAIR.comLeave a comment

EXAIR has a variety of Industrial Housekeeping products for your specific applications. Let’s explore the capabilities of our Reversible Drum Vac (RDV). The RDV is a safe, maintenance free system that is purpose built to recover liquids, oils sludge and chips from machine sumps. Since it is reversible, it will also fill your sumps from a fresh drum of machining fluids. This system does not require electricity and runs on compressed air. The RDV is maintenance free as it has no moving parts.

The RDV comes in 2 models which includes a “High Lift” version of the RDV and creates a maximum lift up to 15 feet of water column. The RDV comes in 4 capacities of 5, 30, 55 and 110 gallon drums while the High Lift comes in 30, 55 and 110 gallon drums. Let’s now focus on the RDV and the options for purchase.

The first thing to consider when purchasing your RDV is the capacity which I just mentioned of 5, 30, 55 and 110. Once you decided the capacity we have 3 models to choose. The Model 6196 is your basic model and comes with the vacuum unit, stand pipe, vacuum hose and aluminum wand. It is the basics of what you need to empty and fill your machine sumps.

The model 6296 is the same as the 6196 but also includes drum dolly, ABS spill recovery kit, tool holder and all tools.

The model 6396 is includes everything as describe with the Model 6296 but also includes the drum, drum dolly, upgrade to heavy duty aluminum tools, ABS spill recovery kit, tool holder and air hose.

Please visit our website www.ERXAIR.com to experience all of our products, videos, blogs and catalog information. I am happy to take your call or e-mail regarding any questions you have regarding our products, pricing and lead times.

Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: Twitter: @EXAIR_EK