Tag: save air

Week 6 Back to Basics- Control the Pressure

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

If you’ve been following along with this blog miniseries, you know we’ve reached the final step in the Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System. Each step so far has built toward this moment—and today we add the last piece of the puzzle.

The final step is simple but powerful: control the air pressure at the point of use to minimize consumption.

EXAIR offers a range of Pressure Regulators capable of handling air flow of up to 700 SCFM.

This is done by installing one of our pressure regulators, available in multiple pipe sizes and flow capacities. A small change in pressure makes a big impact. For example, reducing operating pressure from 100 PSIG to 80 PSIG lowers energy use by nearly 20%. In many cases, operations can run at even lower pressures, unlocking even greater savings.

This reduction in energy use is also coupled with the fact that pressure regulators make any compressed air-operated tool infinitely adjustable. Not all applications require the full output force or RPM, or conveying rate that can be achieved at full line pressure with a compressed air-operated product. And so the humble pressure regulator enables this ability for energy savings and control that is on par with any electrical control for voltage or even frequency. Pressure regulators also facilitate our working mantra to use the least amount of pressure and volume necessary to accommodate the application objectives.

All of our regulators are standard stock items, which means they can ship the same day if ordered by 2:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Plus, with 2D and 3D CAD models available through our CAD Library, you can design your entire compressed air system virtually before making a single cut in pipe.

This step, combined with the previous five, gives you a complete roadmap to compressed air optimization. From measuring usage and fixing leaks, to implementing engineered solutions, automating control, using intermediate storage, and now regulating pressure—EXAIR is here to help make the process straightforward and effective.

As always, if you’d like to discuss your application or explore how we can help you optimize your compressed air system, feel free to reach out.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Free ROI Evaluation and Report with EXAIR’s Efficiency Lab Service

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Free Efficiency Lab

With any purchase process, it’s important to consider the return on your investment. This becomes even more important when trying to convince management that the upgrades you’re looking to make on the floor are worth the investment. At EXAIR, we offer a free service that allows you to send in your existing compressed air blowing devices to be compared with our recommended EXAIR manufactured equivalent.

Many facilities may not have the means to test the air consumption of their blowoff solutions. With compressed air being the most expensive utility in a manufacturing facility, it’s important to identify places where you can save money on your overall operating costs. EXAIR manufacturers a wide variety of products intended to help you reduce your compressed air usage. If you’re not able to accurately measure the consumption in your own shop, we invite you to send the products to EXAIR for testing.

All you have to do is contact an EXAIR Application Engineer and ship them straight to our warehouse in Cincinnati, Ohio. Once we receive it, our engineers will complete some in-depth testing to determine the compressed air consumption, sound level, and force that your current solution provides. With this information, we’ll be able to compare it to an EXAIR Engineered solution. This way, we ensure that you receive the best, safest solution possible. All while saving money through reduced air consumption and improved efficiency.  We’ll send you back a comprehensive report that’ll help you to make the best decision for your company.

This service is something that we offer to our customers completely free of charge. This way, you can be assured that by selecting a new solution from EXAIR, you’re making a well-informed decision. Oftentimes, it’s not known just how much some of these products cost to operate. Contrary to popular misconception, compressed air is certainly not free. In fact, it is rather costly, as a 4th utility in an industrial plant.

Check out the Efficiency Lab for yourself here in this video:

If you think there are applications in your facility that you suspect are consuming too much air, we’re here to help. Reach out to an Application Engineer to organize your own, free Efficiency Lab evaluation of your equipment. Allow us to show you the difference!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

6 Steps to Optimizing Compressed Air: Turn it Down!!!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

TURN IT DOWN!!! My wife screamed at 6:00am the morning of our first NFL Sunday. As a lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan, it’s been a tradition in our house for me to wake everyone up while blaring Guns N’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” first thing in the morning each and every week 1. After 13 years together you’d think she would be prepared for this by now, but I still get her every time.

You may also hear your maintenance manager screaming to turn it down while out in the shop. They’re not talking about music volume. They’re more concerned about the compressed air pressure you’re using.

In any application necessitating the use of compressed air, pressure should be controlled to minimize the air consumption at the point of use. Pressure regulators are available to control the air pressure within the system and throttle the appropriate supply of air to any pneumatic device. As the last of the six steps to optimizing your compressed air system, controlling air at the point of use can often be overlooked.

Pressure Regulators “dial in” performance to get the job done without using more air than necessary.

Pressure regulators utilize a control knob that is turned to either increase/decrease tension on a spring. The spring puts a load on the diaphragm which separates internal air pressure from the ambient pressure. Typically made of a flexible rubber material, these diaphragms react very quickly to changes in the air supply. By either increasing or decreasing the flow of air based on the load on the diaphragm, downstream pressure remains fairly constant.

While one advantage of a pressure regulator is certainly maintaining consistent pressure to your compressed air devices, using them to minimize your pressure can result in dramatic savings to your costs of compressed air. As pressure and flow are directly related, lowering the pressure supplied results in less compressed air usage. EXAIR recommends operating your Intelligent Compressed Air Products at the minimum pressure necessary to achieve a successful application. If you notice a desirable result at a pressure of 60 PSIG, or even less, there’s no need to run full line pressure. In-line point of use pressure regulators are the simplest and most reliable way to allow you to dial down to the pressure to any compressed air operated product.

When selecting a pressure regulator for your application, it’s critical that it is appropriately sized to supply adequate volume to the point of use devices downstream. Doing so, minimizes the risk of experiencing “droop”. Droop is a decrease in outlet pressure from the specified setting due to an increase in flow rate.  Droop occurs when the demand at the point of use exceeds the volume of air that the regulator can supply. By ensuring the pressure regulator is rated to deliver sufficient volume of air, you’ll reduce the chances of experiencing droop. EXAIR offers pressure regulators in kits along with many of our products, we’ve done the hard part for you and made sure they’re properly sized!

If you’re looking for ways to help lessen the demand on your compressor, EXAIR’s team of Application Engineers will be happy to help. Reach out to us via phone, chat, or e-mail and see for yourself just how easy it can be to start saving compressed air!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

YouTube. (2009). YouTube. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg.

Understand the ROI of Your EXAIR Products With Our FREE Efficiency Lab Service

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Many facilities may not have the means to test the air consumption of their blowoff solutions. With compressed air being the most expensive utility in a manufacturing facility, it’s important to identify places where you can save money on your overall operating costs. EXAIR manufacturers a wide variety of products intended to help you reduce your compressed air usage. If you’re not able to accurately measure the consumption in your own shop, we invite you to send the products into EXAIR for testing.

All you have to do is contact an EXAIR Application Engineer and ship them straight to our warehouse in Cincinnati, Ohio. Once we receive it, our engineers will complete some in-depth testing to determine the compressed air consumption, sound level, and force that your current solution provides. With this information, we’ll be able to compare it to an EXAIR Engineered solution. This way we ensure that you receive the best, safest solution possible also capable of saving money through reduced air consumption and improved efficiency.  We’ll send you back a comprehensive report that’ll help you to make the best decision for your company.

This video below shows our EXAIR Efficiency Lab and some examples of the different types of products we’ve tested in the past:

This service is something that we offer to our customers completely free of charge. This way, you can rest assured that in going with a new solution from EXAIR, you’re getting the most bang for your buck. Oftentimes, it’s not known just how much some of these products cost to operate. It’s just compressed air, air is free right?? Compressed air is certainly not free, but in fact rather costly as a 4th utility in an industrial plant.

Making sure that you understand the products used within your various applications is even more critical in a time where everything in life is rapidly getting more expensive. By ensuring you’re using the best possible blowoff solutions for your processes, you can save a dramatic amount of energy that would otherwise be wasted.

If you think there’s anything in your facility that could be using too much air, we’re here to help. Reach out to an Application Engineer for more information on how we can help save you money!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD