Tag: special

Customized for Your Process: Special Pneumatic Conveyors

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

For many, material conveyance is a necessary factor in their manufacturing and processing procedures. Much of the time our large array of different Line Vacs (air operated conveyors) can suit a large array of different conveying applications; but sometimes the stock item is just not the right fit for a specific application. Fortunately, since we manufacture everything here in Cincinnati, OH we have the flexibility to provide custom products throughout all of our 16 product lines. The Line Vac product line, even as large as it is, is a pretty common product for us to customize and manufacture. The following are a few examples of special Line Vacs that we have made in the past.

Liner Vacs connect to a hose, tube or pipe to create a powerful inline conveyor, powered by compressed air.

The Special Mini Line Vac:

This special was designed with barbed fittings for easier installation for a manufacturer of integrated circuit chips. It was used to remove microscopic debris. The small body and high vacuum flow made it a perfect fit for the confined working space.

Special Mini Line Vac

The PVDF Line Vac:

This 1 ½” flanged Line Vac was designed using PVDF to provide a superior chemical resistance. In this case the unit was going to be exposed to a chloride wash which will corrode all versions of steel including stainless steel. The QF Flanges were also added to provide easy disassembly when the Line Vac was scheduled for cleaning.

Special Flanged PVDF Line Vac

The Special Flanged Line Vac:

This next special Line Vac was used to convey a measured granulated material into a pouch. The funnel side was loaded with the pre-measured material and pushed into a mesh pouch when the air was activated.

Special Flanged Line Vac

Special Flanged Refumigation Line Vac:

This flanged Line Vac was used to retrofit existing machinery to remove acidic vapors resulting from surface etching of a silicon wafer. Where this would typically be a nice fit for a Stainless Steel Air Amplifier, the existing exhaust piping was lengthy with many bends that would have caused back pressure on any Air Amplifiers. In this case, they needed the additional force from the Line Vac to overcome this downstream resistance.

Special Flanged Line Vac

As you can see there isn’t much that we can’t do for you. The sky is the limit when it comes to thinking up of a custom-made solution for your application. Our Application Engineers are just the right folks to work with when considering a custom solution for your process. They have seen and heard many requests and past success stories, which can aid with any future solutions you may need. Whether it is for a blow off application using air knives, cooling application using vortex tubes, or of course conveyance application using a Line Vac.

If you have questions about our custom made Line Vac solutions or any of our engineered Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact EXAIR or any Application Engineer.

Cody Biehle
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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EXAIR Line Vacs™: We can do specials…

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Here is a question; what is an eductor?    Eductors are also called ejectors, Venturi jets, aspirators, jet mixers, or jet pumps.  Eductors use either compressed gas or liquid to generate a vacuum by a Venturi effect which is based on Bernoulli’s equation.  (You can read more about the person here, “People of Interest: Giovanni Battista Venturi March 15, 1746 – April 24, 1822 By Tyler Daniel”.)  They can be used for vessel evacuation, gas sampling, pump priming, venting, and blending.  EXAIR Line Vacs work on this same principle in creating a Venturi vacuum by using compressed gas.  In this blog, I will cover the design, verification, and testing that EXAIR provided for a customer’s special.    

For this customer, the design was based around our 2” and 1” 316SS Line Vacs.  They required ISO flanges on the vacuum and exhaust sides to match their piping connections for gas sampling.  They would supply nitrogen to the inlet port as a carrier gas to generate the venturi and to mix with the sample gas.  Since the accuracy of the test is dependent on the amount of each gas, we had to test the operations of the Line Vacs at different conditions. 

First, EXAIR designed these special Line Vacs to get approval.  Once the customer approved, EXAIR had to make a strong effort to meet the other criteria that was requested.  Generally, with our standard Line Vacs, we use our test data with estimated conveyance rates, inlet flow rates, and vacuum pressures measured at 80 PSIG (5.5 bar).  For these special Line Vacs, we had to do a bit more work because it was for gas sampling.  This was not a problem for us.  EXAIR has many calibrated instruments to accurately measure different conditions.  For this customer, we had to measure the inlet flow, suction pressure, velocity, and maximum back pressure at different inlet pressures.  We also had to create another chart showing the exhaust velocities with a back pressure present. 

From these details, the customer could calculate the amount of nitrogen that would be introduced to the gas sample at different pressures and backpressures.  And, as an added preference, they requested us to do a leak check after assembly.  We were willing to buy the flange blanks and add this test procedure to the router.  We looked for leaks between the cap and body of the special Line Vac, as well as the flanges to verify that gas was not escaping.  EXAIR tries to support our customers to the best of our abilities.  For this customer, we worked together to provide the needed information for their setup.    

The reason that I wrote this blog was to show that EXAIR has the capabilities to make special items for specific applications.  If we need to use different materials, design configurations, and even present test data, we can decide the best course of action.  With special products, they are unique to customers in fit, form and function as a solution, whether for end-users or OEMs.  For the special Line Vac above, we presented the data as related to an eductor for this customer’s decision to place the order.  If you would like to see if EXAIR can make a special product for you, please do not hesitate in contacting an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We will be happy to work with you. 

John Ball
Application Engineer

Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Fasteners: SAE, Metric, Titanium, Stainless. Yes, We Can Accommodate.

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In a previous life I worked in the metal cutting industry on machines that were all imported to the USA. Every machine we brought in had to have the air inlets changed out to match the NPT ports that most of our domestic customers had within their facilities. This simply made sense, why force someone to change an air fitting or something as simple as that to match the rest of their facility. The option we did not offer was to change all the hardware on the machine to match the rest of the SAE sized hardware and limit the number of tools their staff needed. That didn’t make sense. Well, here at EXAIR we like to do things differently.

There are several companies that I deal with here who always prefer their air inlets be different, whether it be a metric BSP thread or a larger NPT thread, maybe a global thread, or even a special fitting like a taper lock fitting. No matter the needs, as long as it will physically fit on the product, chances are we can offer the fitting that will simplify installation. Even past the installation we like to look forward to the complete ownership of our products. Once a machine is located in a facility, what other types of fasteners are used, what is the rest of the machine tooled with. When working on a machine as a maintenance person or adjusting the operation, not having to struggle with determining which Allen wrench or hex size a bolt is and risk damaging the bolt can be extremely helpful.

Most EXAIR products come from stock with standard fractional hardware. We do offer a number of products with a BSPT air inlet and they are often available with the same expediency as our other stock products, same day on orders received by 2 PM ET that are shipping within the U.S. As mentioned above, we can customize a product with the fasteners of your choice, as long as they pass our design criteria. Some of the most common fastener changes I have seen are converting a Super Air Knife to an M6-1.0 threaded bolt rather than the stock 1/4-20 fastener. There are a multitude of other requests that I recall throughout the years. Some of the most intricate are listed and explained below.


Specialty Hardware

From left to right: M6-1.0 stainless steel bolt, a titanium hex-head bolt, a Hastelloy hex-head bolt, brass hex-head bolt, Kolsterized hex-head bolt, special acorn head fastener, Allen key flat-head bolt. Each of these fasteners has been used within a custom configuration to meet a specific need, whether it be simply to match the metric or SAE hardware in the rest of the machine or to meet the demands of the environment they are going into. The bottom row are, integral star washer nut, serrated safety washer, and spring washer. Each of these has, again, been requested by a customer to meet the design and safety standards they have a requirement for. These are just a sampling of the custom hardware we have used over the years to support our customer base and fill their need with product that meets their standards.

If you would like to discuss custom hardware in a stock product or even a full on custom point of use compressed air product, the Application Engineer team here is ready to help. Contact us and we will do our best to understand what your need requires and offer a solution to fit.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Custom Air Amplifiers: Customization to Fit Your Needs

Published on by codybiehleLeave a comment

EXAIR’s line of Air amplifiers can be found in thousands of applications across the world from everything as simple as blowing parts off to exhausting fumes. The Air Amplifier comes in two different styles either the Super Air Amplifier or the Adjustable Air Amplifier. Super Air Amplifiers come in a stock Aluminum Body with a diameter that ranges from ¾” to 8”. This differs from the Adjustable Air Amplifier which comes in either type 303 Stainless Steel or Aluminum and are Sized from ¾” to 4”.

Super Air Amplifiers are supplied with a .003″ (0.08mm) slotted air gap which is ideal for most applications. Flow and force can be increased by replacing the shim with a thicker .006″ (0.15mm) or .009″ (0.23mm) shim. Model 120028 is supplied with a .009″ (0.23mm) air gap. A .015″ (0.39mm) shim is available for Model 120028.

    Even though there is a wide variety of sizes and materials for the Stock Air Amplifiers they don’t always match a customer’s specific need or application. Over the years EXAIR has produced a slew of different custom Air Amplifiers for a customer’s specific need and the following are just a few of what we have done.

    • Depending on the environment certain specific materials may be required like the food industry which requires specific Stainless Steel for various applications. One customer had a special PTFE plug made for the Adjustable Air Amplifier to help pull a sticky material through the process. The PTFE helped prevent the material from depositing on the inside diameter of the Amplifier.
    • For applications where mounting may be an issue, special attachments have been made to assist. For instances where an Amplifier may need to be mounted to a pipe, we manufactured a custom Stainless-Steel Adjustable Air Amplifier with class a 150 raised face flange.
    • Applications that are in a hot environment may require a special high temperature version which has be developed to operate in areas up to 700°F. The High Temperature Air Amplifier was so widely sought after that we turned it into a stock item.

    No matter what your application is EXAIR is capable to work with you to create custom solutions for your application. Whether you need a different material, size or shim thickness, EXAIR is able to meet your requirements. These Air Amplifiers represent only one of our many product lines that can be custom made to your specifications. 

    For more information on EXAIR’s Air Amplifiers or help with customizing any of EXAIR‘s Intelligent Compressed Air® Product lines, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or any of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

    Cody Biehle
    Application Engineer
    EXAIR Corporation
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