Tag: Spot Cooler

EXAIR Mini Cooler Is Ideal For Small Spot Cooling Applications

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

It was 23 °F (minus 5 °C) when I walked out the door this morning, and it was a shock to my system. The primary reason for that shock was the heat (generated from my house’s furnace) that maintains a comfortable temperature inside my home. Relief from that cold came when the internal combustion of gasoline that powers my car’s engine provided heat to the coils that the cabin fan passes air through on its way to the vents that maintain a comfortable temperature inside my car. Heat is a good thing this time of the year.

Heat, however, isn’t always a good thing. Just a few short months ago, I walked out of the building here at quitting time and the 100 °F (37.8 °C) temperature similarly shocked my system. The reason for that was I had just walked out of a comfortably air-conditioned building…and relief came when my car’s trusty air conditioning system started blowing refrigerated air from the same vents that heated air comes out of during these winter months.

Heat from processes like machining, welding, soldering, brazing, electrical losses, rotating or reciprocating equipment, etc., causes problems as well, and it’s not simply a matter of comfort. Removing heat from these processes is critical to sustained operation. Sometimes, a great amount of heat has to be removed. Power plants that generate electricity, for example, have massive pumps that send thousands of gallons of water per minute through huge heat exchangers that condense steam from turbines so that it can be boiled again to keep those turbines spinning.

On the other end of that spectrum are equipment like industrial sewing needles, lens grinders, skitters or small cutting tools, and soldering guns, just to name a few. These can all be successfully addressed with a focused stream of cold air…just like you get from an EXAIR Mini Cooler.

EXAIR Model 3308 Mini Cooler System w/ Dual Point Hose Kit is used to remove heat from this UHMW Polyethylene part, and the cutting tool. This not only keeps the plastic from melting, but also extends the tool life.

The Mini Cooler uses the Vortex Tube phenomenon to generate cold air from compressed air, with no moving parts, on demand. Since it’s a physical phenomenon, as opposed to a direct transfer of heat, the Mini Cooler is generating cold air at rated flow & temperature as soon as you open the supply of compressed air to it. You can turn it on & off as often, or as seldom, as needed. There are no moving parts to wear or electrical components to burn out. With a compressed air consumption of only 8 SCFM @100psig, even fairly small compressors (as low as 3HP for some) can operate a Mini Cooler continuously.

If an application requires a higher rate of cooling, other Vortex Tube operated products are available from stock:

If you’re not sure which Cooling Product fits your needs, EXAIR Application Engineers are standing by to help specify the right one for you…give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Adjustable Spot Cooler from EXAIR

Published on by Jordan T Shouse2 Comments

The Adjustable Spot Cooler is a low cost, reliable, maintenance free way to provide spot cooling to a myriad of industrial applications. Simply turn the knob, and the temperature can be changed to suit the needs of the process. The Adjustable Spot Cooler delivers precise temperature settings from -30 °F (-34 °C) to room temperature.

Adjustable Spot Cooler
Adjustable Spot Cooler

The Adjustable Spot Cooler utilizes the Vortex Tube technology that converts compressed air into a cold air stream. To learn more about EXAIR vortex tubes, click here.

  • It can produce temperatures form -30 °F to +70 °F (-34 °C tp +21 °C)
  • Parts included for flow rates of 15, 25 and 30 SCFM (425, 708, 850 SLPM.) The unit comes from the factory set at 25 SCFM (708 SLPM)
  • It can produce refrigeration up to 2,000 BTU/hr (504 Kcal/hr.)

A swivel magnetic base allows for easy mounting and portability, you can move it from machine to machine as needed. The flexible cold air outlet tubing holds its position and is easy to aim. Most importantly, there are no moving parts or CFC’s, ensuring maintenance free operation.

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The Adjustable Spot Cooler maintains critical tolerances on machined plastic parts
How the Adjustable Spot Cooler Works

The Adjustable Spot Cooler incorporates a vortex tube to convert a supply of compressed air (1) into two low pressure streams, one hot and one cold. With the turn of a knob, the temperature control valve (2) allows some hot air to flow through a muffling sleeve and out the hot air exhaust (3). The opposite end provides a cold air stream (4) that is muffled and discharged through the flexible hose, which directs it to the point of use. The swivel magnetic base (5) provides easy mounting and portability.

The Adjustable Spot Cooler can produce a wide range of air flows and temperatures as determined by the temperature control valve knob setting and the generator installed. The generator controls the total SCFM (SLPM) of compressed air consumption, and is easy to change. From the factory, the 25 SCFM (708 SLPM) generator is installed, producing up to 1,700 BTU/hr (429 Kcal/hr) of cooling. For less cooling, the 15 SCFM (425 SLPM) generator can be installed, providing up to 1,000 BTU/hr (252 Kcal/hr) of cooling. And for more cooling, the 30 SCFM (850 SLPM) generator can be installed, providing up to 2,000 BTU/hr (504 Kcal/hr) of cooling.

Adjustable Spot Cooler Specifications

Two (2) Systems are available as shown below, and include the 15 and 30 SCFM (425 and 850 SLPM) generators, a filter separator, and either a single or dual point hose kit.

3825_3925 adj spot cooler

If you have any questions on how our Adjustable Spot Cooler can help save you money give us a call! One of our application engineers will be happy to assist!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Adjustable Spot Coolers

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

What is a Spot Cooler? Well to fully understand that let’s take a dive into what a Vortex Tube is, since at its core an Adjustable spot cooler is a Vortex tube with some bells and whistles that make them easier to use!

The operation of an Vortex Tube is one of the more curious phenomena in fluidics, and a particularly unique method of producing cold air. Since they don’t perform “heat transfer” in the classical sense (see below), there’s no RATE of heat transfer…they’re generating cold air, at rated flow and temperature, instantly.

Compressed air enters the Vortex Tube (blue arrow) where the Generator imparts a spinning motion to the flow, which continues towards the “hot end” (red ribbon). The flow is forced to change directions and continue spinning, flowing in the opposite direction (blue ribbon). It’s at this point that the flow gives up energy in the form of heat, which is exhausted through the Hot Valve (red arrows) while the cold flow makes its way to the opposite end, where it exits at temperatures up to 129F colder than the compressed air supply.

EXAIR Corporation’s Vortex Tubes come in a range of sizes & cooling capacities, and are integrated into a number of Spot Cooler Products which add convenience and flexibility to their operation.

EXAIR’s Adjustable Spot Cooler incorporates this Vortex Tube technology to produce temperatures ranging from -30°F – +70°F. At a sound level of just 73 dBA when operated at 100 psig and stock generator installed, this compact cooler will keep your operation cool, clean and dry without causing unnecessarily high noise levels.

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Tolerances are maintained on plastic parts using the Adjustable Spot Cooler

Through a simple turn of the control knob, you can easily adjust the temperature of the unit. Additionally, the kits come with (2) extra generators (15-H and 30-H) that can be swapped out for the stock generator for more/less cooling power and air consumption. The 15-H generator will deliver up to 1,000 Btu/hr of cooling capacity and the 30-H will provide up to 2,000 Btu/hr of cooling capacity. We have (2) different kits available, Model 3825 Single Point and the Model 3925 Dual Point Kit. The 3825 is recommended for use in applications where you’re cooling a small surface such as solder joints, hot melts, or drilled plastics.

The 3925 system is better served when heat is generated over a larger surface area such as saw blade cooling. The kits use flexible Loc-Line hose to allow you to precisely position the cold airflow onto your target. The Adjustable Spot Cooler provides easy mounting with a swivel magnetic base, allowing you to mount the cooler directly at the most critical point that heat is being generated.

3825_3925 adj spot cooler

If you’re tired of cleaning up your coolant or have an application that requires dry machining, or you just need to cool something hot! Get one of the Adjustable Spot Cooler systems on order today. They’re in stock ready to ship!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Georges-Joseph Ranque and the Vortex Tube

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

Georges-Joseph Ranque was born on February 7th, 1898 in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, France. The son of a railroad engineer, Léon-Joseph Ranque, it was not much of a surprise that he developed a strong interest in physics. An attendee of the prestigious and highly selective post-secondary school, Lycée Saint-Louis, Georges continued to develop his knowledge in the world of physics. From there he was admitted to École Polytechnique where he continued his studies. For years, Georges was interested in the Pantone carburetor. While developing an industrial pump, he noticed the phenomenon now known as the Ranque effect. The Ranque effect is the known working principle for industrial Vortex Tubes. When a compressed gas is injected into the tube tangentially at high velocity, two streams are created: one hot and one cold.

This cold airflow is then utilized throughout a variety of industrial spot cooling and enclosure cooling processes due to its simplicity and reliability. All that’s needed is a supply of compressed air. In 1931, Georges filed for a patent on his vortex tube. His idea didn’t go too far from there, until the topic was later picked back up by another physicist by the name of Rudolf Hilsch. Rudolf made some improvements to the design he called the “Wirbelrohr”, or “whirl pipe” for those not fluent in German. You’ll commonly hear the term “Ranque-Hilsch tube” used synonymously with the term Vortex Tube for this reason.

So how exactly does this thing work? The truth is no one knows for certain, but there is one commonly accepted theory that explains the phenomenon:

Compressed air is supplied into the tube where it passes through a set of nozzles that are tangent to the internal counter bore. The design of the nozzles forces the air to spin in a vortex motion at speeds up to 1,000,000 RPM. The spinning air turns 90° where a valve at one end allows some of the warmed air to escape. What does not escape, heads back down the tube in the inner stream where it loses heat and exhausts through the other end as cold air.

Both streams rotate in the same direction and at the same angular velocity. Due to the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the rotational speed of the inner vortex should increase. The best way to illustrate this is in Olympic Figure Skating. As the skater is wider, the spinning motion is much slower. As she decreases her overall radius, the velocity picks up dramatically and she spins much quicker. In a Vortex Tube, the speed of the inner vortex remains the same as it has lost angular momentum. The energy that is lost in this process is given off in the form of heat that has exhausted from the hot side of the tube. This loss of heat allows the inner vortex to be cooled, where it can be ducted and applied for a variety of industrial applications.

This Vortex Tube theory is utilized in basic Vortex Tubes, along with a variety of other products that have additional features specific for your application. EXAIR’s line of Cabinet Coolers, Cold Guns, Adjustable Spot Coolers, Mini Coolers, and Vortex Tubes all operate off of this same principle.

If you’re fascinated by this product and want to give it a try, EXAIR offers an unconditional 30-day guarantee. We have them all in stock and ready to ship as well, same day with an order received by 2:00 ET. Feel free to get in contact with us if you’d like to discuss how a vortex-based product could help you in your processes.

Tyler Daniel

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD