Tag: ring blower

Which Air Wipe is Right for You?

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

When dealing with continuous cylindrical products like cables, pipes, hoses, or wire, achieving consistent and uniform 360-degree cleaning, drying, or cooling is notoriously tricky. EXAIR‘s Air Wipes solve this issue by using a “Coanda” effect to create a high-velocity, uniform ring of air that tightly hugs the material’s surface. To accommodate varying plant environments, we provide two main versions of our innovative blow-off systems: the Standard Air Wipe and the Super Air Wipe.

Both the Standard and Super Air Wipes feature a convenient split design. This means there is no need to thread the continuous material through the wipe; instead, the two halves easily clamp around the product, making installation quick and keeping your production line moving seamlessly.

Air Wipes deliver a steady stream of compressed air that exhausts through a tiny ring nozzle. This primary airflow adheres to an angled Coanda profile, creating an area of low pressure that induces a massive volume of surrounding ambient air. The resulting airstream creates a uniform 360-degree wiping action that impacts target material at a 30-degree wiping angle.

The airflow and force can be easily tuned in two ways:

  • Gross Adjustments: By adding or stacking shims to open the air gap.
  • Fine-Tuning: By adjusting the inlet air pressure using a pressure regulator.

Standard Air Wipe: The General-Purpose Solution

The Standard Air Wipe is an economical, reliable choice designed for general, non-corrosive industrial environments where temperatures do not exceed 150ยฐF (65ยฐC).

  • Materials: It features an aluminum body with polyester polymer shims and black oxide-coated alloy steel screws.
  • Hose Connection: For diameters up to 4 inches, it includes a flexible PVC coupling air hose with brass fittings to link the two halves.

Super Air Wipe: Built for Harsh Environments

If your application requires higher durability, superior corrosion resistance, or needs to withstand extreme heat, the Super Air Wipe is the way to go.

  • Materials: Constructed with stainless-steel screws, shims, and brackets.
  • Hose Connection: Models up to 4 inches are equipped with a durable, stainless-steel wire-braided hose.
  • Temperature Ratings: The Super Air Wipe can operate in temperatures up to 400ยฐF (204ยฐC) for aluminum models, and up to a scorching 800ยฐF (427ยฐC) for stainless steel models.

While performance between the two lines is physically identical, material composition dictates which product is best for your factory floor.

  • Choose the Standard Air Wipe for standard blow-off, drying, or cleaning jobs in mild, non-corrosive environments. It provides maximum efficiency at a highly cost-effective price point.
  • Choose the Super Air Wipe if your environment involves extreme heat (like right next to a furnace or heated extrusion bath) or aggressive chemicals (like harsh cleaning agents or salty seawater).
Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

For facilities struggling with static, we also offer the Super Ion Air Wipe, available in 2-inch and 4-inch sizes. It combines the 360-degree blow-off of a Super Air Wipe with emitter points for fast, highly efficient static dissipation.

If you would like to discuss your Air Wipe application, please give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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The Right Tool for Drying, Cleaning, and Cooling Continuous Material

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

If you’ve ever tried to dry or clean a continuous length of pipe, wire, or hose using a handful of nozzles pointed at it from different angles, you already know the problem. You’re always going to miss a spot. It doesn’t matter how many nozzles you throw at it or how you arrange them, getting full 360ยฐ coverage on a moving product with open-ended blow offs is a losing battle. That’s exactly the problem the Super Air Wipe was built to solve.

The Super Air Wipe is a close relative of our Super Air Knife, and it works on the same principle. A Coanda profile entrains large amounts of ambient air to amplify the compressed air supply and deliver a high-velocity, laminar airflow across the entire target. The difference is the geometry. Where the Super Air Knife delivers a flat curtain of air, the Super Air Wipe delivers a uniform 360ยฐ ring of laminar airflow directed inward at a consistent angle. The result is complete, gap-free coverage on pipe, cable, hose, wire, and extruded shapes as they pass through the center of the unit.

Split ring design eliminates the need for product “threading” through the Air Wipe.

One of the most practical features is the split design. The Super Air Wipe opens up like a clamshell, allowing you to clamp it directly around a continuous run of material without having to thread anything through. That means no line stoppages for installation, no re-threading when you switch over to a different product diameter, and no downtime when maintenance requires you to pull the unit for inspection. You just unlatch, remove, reinstall, and go.

The aluminum Super Air Wipe is available from stock in sizes ranging from 3/8″ all the way up to 11″ inside diameter, covering a wide range of pipes, tube, and hose diameters. All units include stainless steel hardware and stainless steel shims. For sizes up to 4″, a brass tee and a stainless steel wire braided hose are included to supply each half of the unit independently, which is important for maintaining even airflow around the full circumference. For sizes over 4″, each 1/4 NPT compressed air inlet should be piped directly from the supply line to ensure both halves receive equal pressure.

For applications involving corrosive environments or elevated temperatures, the Super Air Wipe is also available in 303 stainless steel construction. The stainless steel version handles temperatures up to 800ยฐF, making it a solid option for positioning close to an extrusion die or in areas where chemical exposure would deteriorate aluminum over time. The stainless steel Super Air Wipe is available in sizes from 1/2″ to 4″ and ships from stock.

Like the Super Air Knife, the Super Air Wipe has 1/4-20 tapped holes along the downstream side for hard mounting. For smaller sizes, rigid compressed air supply pipe can double as structural support, eliminating the need for a separate mounting bracket altogether. Airflow and force can be tuned two ways, through shim sets for gross adjustments to the air gap, or through a pressure regulator for real-time fine-tuning. Kits are available that bundle the Super Air Wipe with a shim set, a pressure regulator, and an auto-drain filter to keep the supply air clean and dry. Increasing input pressure increases both force and flow from the unit, so if line speed changes, you’re not reworking the installation, you’re just turning a knob. For operations running different product sizes or materials across shifts, that flexibility matters.

One of the most straightforward uses for the Super Air Wipe is drying extruded PVC pipe after it exits the cooling tank. At that point in the process, the pipe is wet and moving continuously toward a printer or saw. Positioning a Super Air Wipe immediately after the water bath and before the downstream equipment ensures the surface is dry before it reaches the inkjet coder or the cutoff. Manual wiping at line speed is unreliable, and open nozzles leave gaps. The Super Air Wipe handles it consistently, every time.

If you’re processing any type of hose, wire, cable, or extruded profile that could benefit from a reliable blow off, drying, or cleaning solution, give us a call.

Tyler Daniel

Assistant Application Engineering Manager

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Automated Drying For Pipe, Tube, and Extruded Shapes

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

The challenge with drying or cleaning a continuous pipe or tube is that air has to reach the entire circumference simultaneously. Standard nozzles or simple air rings often leave “dead spots” where moisture or debris can hide, leading to quality failures in downstream processes like ink jet coding or packaging. The Super Air Wipe solves this by generating a high-velocity, 360-degree laminar air curtain. As the pipe or tube passes through the center of the wipe, the air strips the surface clean without any gaps in coverage.

In many pipe and hose operations, the biggest bottleneck is the inability to break the line for maintenance or setup. Because the Super Air Wipe features a split design, it can be unlatched and clamped around the pipe at any point. You do not have to feed the material through the center, which means no downtime when a new roll is started or a different section of the line needs a blow off station.

For tubes ranging from 3/8 inch up to 11 inches, the Super Air Wipe provides a concentrated blast that moves with the material. On a PVC line, for example, the air wipe can be positioned immediately after the cooling tank. By stripping the water off the pipe at high speed, you ensure the surface is bone dry before it hits the printer or the saw. This level of consistency is impossible to achieve with manual wiping or haphazard nozzle arrangements.

Control is straightforward. By using a pressure regulator, you can dial the force up or down based on the line speed. If you are running a heavy gauge pipe at low speed, you can drop the pressure to save air. If the line speeds up, you increase the pressure to maintain the same drying efficiency. This flexibility ensures you are only using the compressed air required for that specific run.

For those working in high-temperature extrusion or corrosive environments, the 303 Stainless Steel models are the standard choice. They handle temperatures up to 800ยฐF, allowing you to position the wipe closer to the die where the material is at its hottest. This prevents debris from baking onto the surface and ensures a cleaner finish. Whether you are dealing with cutting fluid on machined tubing or water on an extrusion line, the Super Air Wipe provides a repeatable, 360-degree solution that manual methods simply cannot match.

Tyler Daniel

Assistant Application Engineering Manager

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

How the Coanda Profile Drives Efficiency in EXAIR Products

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

In compressed air applications, efficiency often comes down to how effectively you use the air you already have. One of the most important aerodynamic principles that allows modern air-powered devices to operate efficiently is the Coanda Effect. This phenomenon is the foundation behind several EXAIR engineered products, enabling powerful airflow while minimizing compressed air consumption.

Understanding how the Coanda profile works can help engineers and plant managers optimize processes such as drying, cooling, cleaning, and conveying.

Compressed air flows through the inlet (1) to the Full Flow (left) or Standard (right) Air Knife, into the internal plenum. It then discharges through a thin gap (2), adhering to the Coanda profile (3) which directs it down the face of the Air Knife. The precision engineered & finished surfaces optimize entrainment of air (4) from the surrounding environment.

What Is the Coanda Effect?

The Coanda Effect describes the tendency of a fluid streamโ€”such as airโ€”to follow along a nearby curved surface instead of continuing in a straight line. As the air travels along this surface, it pulls surrounding air into the stream, creating a region of low pressure and dramatically increasing total airflow.

In simple terms:

  1. Compressed air exits a small opening.
  2. The air adheres to a curved surface (the Coanda profile).
  3. This creates a low-pressure area.
  4. Surrounding air is entrained, or pulled into the airflow.

The result is a much larger volume of moving air than the compressed air supply alone would create.

This principle was originally studied by aeronautical engineer Henri Coandฤƒ in the early 1900s while researching airflow over aircraft surfaces.

EXAIR Products That Use the Coanda Profile

EXAIR incorporates this aerodynamic design into several of its Intelligent Compressed Air Productsโ„ข.

1. Air Knives

EXAIR Air Knives use a Coanda profile to create a wide, high-velocity sheet of air across the entire length of the unit.

Examples include:

  • EXAIR Standard Air Knife
  • EXAIR Full-Flow Air Knife
  • EXAIR Super Air Knife

Inside these units, compressed air enters a plenum chamber and exits through a narrow slot. The air then follows the curved Coanda surface, turning approximately 90ยฐ and flowing down the face of the knife.

As the air moves along the profile, it entrains large volumes of surrounding airโ€”up to 30-40 parts ambient air for every 1 part of compressed air.

Common applications include:

  • Parts drying after washing
  • Conveyor cleaning
  • Web or sheet drying
  • Cooling components
  • Pre-paint blowoff

2. Air Amplifiers

Another product that relies heavily on the Coanda profile is the Air amplifier.

Super Air Amplifier Family

Example:

  • EXAIR Super Air Amplifier
  • EXAIR Adjustable Air Amplifier

Instead of producing a flat airflow like an air knife, air amplifiers generate a conical air stream. Compressed air flows across a circular Coanda profile that draws in large amounts of surrounding air.

This creates amplification ratios up to 25:1, meaning the airflow produced is far greater than the compressed air supplied.

Typical uses include:

  • Cooling hot parts
  • Ventilating smoke or fumes
  • Circulating air in enclosures
  • Removing heat from equipment

3. Air Wipes

EXAIR also applies the Coanda profile in a circular configuration for drying or cleaning cylindrical materials.

Super (left) and Standard (right) Air Wipes come in sizes from 1/2″ to 11″.

Example:

  • EXAIR Air Wipe
  • EXAIR Super Air Wipe

These devices create a 360-degree ring of air that surrounds rods, tubes, wires, or cables. As air follows the Coanda profile around the ring, it entrains surrounding air and produces a strong, uniform drying or blowoff action.

Applications include:

  • Drying wire or cable
  • Removing coolant from tubing
  • Cleaning rods or extrusions

The Coanda Effect might seem like a theoretical concept, but it has a very practical impact on industrial operations. By carefully designing curved surfaces that guide airflow and entrain surrounding air, EXAIR products turn a small supply of compressed air into a powerful and efficient airflow solution.

Whether drying parts, cooling electronics, or removing debris from a conveyor, the Coanda profile allows EXAIR products to deliver maximum performance with minimal energy use.

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer / Sales Operations Engineer

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