Tag: Spray Nozzle

Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzle Improves Roll Forming Process

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Last week I worked with a gutter manufacturer who was looking for a way to spray a light coating of vanishing oil on the rollers of a forming machine. Roll forming is commonly used when needing to maintain a constant and consistent shape or feature across the length of the part. In this particular case, a sheet of aluminum, used as a cover for the gutter, is fed into the machine where it passes over a series of dyes that bends “ribs” and punches small holes into the part to keep leaves or debris from settling on top, while allowing the rainwater to pass through the holes and into the gutter.

They were needing to apply the oil to the rollers because they were starting to see some irregularities in hole size as well as some deformities to the shape of the ribs due to heat being generated during the forming process. The customer was interested in using some type of atomizing spray nozzle in the hopes that providing an atomized mist of liquid may provide for a faster evaporation of the oil so there wasn’t much residue left on the part before packaging.

After further discussing the details, they advised that they were going to have the oil in a container about 12″ below the machine but didn’t have a way to pressurize or pump the liquid to the nozzle. Once again, EXAIR has the perfect solution with our 1/4 NPT Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzles. These nozzles are the ideal solution where pressurized liquid isn’t available as they use the compressed air to the draw the liquid into the nozzle, up to 36″ of suction height, and mix it internally to produce a mist of atomized liquid spray. For this particular application, the Model # SR1010SS was a good solution as it provides a low flow rate of only 0.8 GPH and a tight spray pattern to focus right at the rollers to avoid any waste or overspray.

sr1010ss
Model # SR1010SS Siphon Fed Round Pattern Atomizing Spray Nozzle – 303ss construction, fully adjustable flow rate

EXAIR offers an extensive range of Atomizing Nozzles that can be used for light coating applications, like above, or for wider coverage areas or higher flow rates. For help selecting the best option to fit your needs, contact one of our application engineers for assistance.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

Atomizing Nozzles Create Fog for Wet Room Testing

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Recently, I was working with a customer that has purchased several of the EXAIR Atomizing Spray Nozzles, specifically the model Aw5020SS.  The customer had another project coming up and needed two more nozzles. I inquired about the application and we discussed at length the way the nozzles are being used.

When a concrete road is being poured, several sample forms are poured during the process. The local Department of Transportation takes the samples and cures them in a wet room for 30 days, and then performs tensile testing, to confirm the concrete meets the strength requirements.  The wet room must be kept at 23°C (73.4°F) and 100% Humidity during this time frame.  The EXAIR model AW5020SS Atomizing Nozzles are used to provide the moisture that ensures the room humidity conditions are met and maintained.  Because the droplets are very fine, the effect of a fog is achieved, with the water droplets suspended in the air, keeping the humidity at 100%.

Atomizing spray nozzles are capable of producing very fine droplet sizes.  A typical rain drop is 6000 microns in diameter, standard liquid nozzles produce droplets ranging from 300-4000 microns.  The EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles produce droplets from 20-100 microns!

AW5010pr800.jpg
Model AW5020SS

Droplet  sizes can be adjusted by varying either the liquid pressure or air pressure. Increasing the air or decreasing the liquid pressure will generally produce a smaller droplet size.

EXAIR manufactures (3) types of Atomizing Nozzles – Internal Mix, External Mix, and Siphon Fed, in both 1/4 NPT and 1/2 NPT sizes. Maximum liquid viscosity is 800 cP. Flow rates range from 0.6 GPH up to 303 GPH, so we’ll be able to find one that meets your flow requirements.

To discuss your application and how an EXAIR Atomizing Nozzle can benefit your process, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our other Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

Brian Bergmann
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_BB

The Sweet Taste of Floss Part II

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Floss Stick
Floss Stick

In The Sweet Taste of Floss Part 1, I explained the benefits of using our Atomizing Nozzles to apply a liquid flavoring onto floss sticks. With that same customer, we had another opportunity to save them on compressed air and on liquid flavoring.

As described in their setup, they had a mini conveyor that would carry a 24” rod that was filled with many floss sticks. This operation was manual.  It would take the operators roughly 45 seconds to load the floss sticks.  The conveyor would move the rod through the spraying compartment in about 15 seconds.  The customer was worried about the continuous spraying and wondered if we could help in this operation.

Electronic Flow Control
Electronic Flow Control

They had a good concern because with a constant spraying, they could have an issue with fogging the work area and wasting the liquid cherry flavoring. My suggestion was to use the EXAIR model 9055 Electronic Flow Control (or EFC).  The EFC is a user-friendly controller that combines a photoelectric sensor with a timer.  It has eight different programmable on/off modes to minimize compressed air usage and in this case, liquid spray.  For this type of operation, the EFC worked great.  They did not need to manually turn on and off the system, or purchase a PLC that would require programming.  The EFC is in a compact package that is easy to mount and setup.

In evaluating their application, the Signal “OFF” Delay would be correct setting to run in this operation. (The EFC comes factory set in this mode).  The sensor will detect the part and open the solenoid immediately.  Once the part clears the sensor, then it will keep the solenoid open for the set amount of time.  For this project, they set the timer for 15 seconds.  They mounted the photoelectric sensor at the beginning of the entrance to the spraying compartment.  Once the sensor detected the rod that was filled with floss sticks, it would turn on the compressed air to the Atomizing Nozzles.  After the timing sequence hits 15 seconds, the EFC would turn off the solenoid which would stop the spraying.  It would rerun this sequence every time a rod would pass by the sensor.  This optimized their operation; especially when they had any issues with loading the rod with floss sticks.  It reduced their liquid and compressed air usage by 75%, and it kept the work area free of fog.

If you need an easy way to save on compressed air usage or in this case fluid, the EFC could be the device for you. It can save you much money in your operational costs, and during these economic times, we know that every bit counts.  If you are still a little “foggy” on the EFC, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR for help.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

 

Photo by homejobsbymom with Creative Commons license.

The Sweet Taste of Floss – Part 1

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Floss Stick
Floss Stick

A popular way to floss or clean between your teeth is with floss sticks. The floss sticks have a string of dental floss that is stretched between two posts and is attached to a handle.  This helps to get into those hard-to-reach areas.  A manufacturer of these floss sticks was wanting to put cherry flavoring onto the floss string.  They were not able to dip them, as the concentration of the flavor was too strong.  They needed a better way to apply a light coating of flavor.  In their research, they found EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles.

As we discussed their setup, they explained that a mini conveyor that would carry a 24” rod that was filled with many floss sticks. The floss sticks would dangle on the rod, as they traveled through two separate compartments.  One compartment would spray the flavoring onto the floss sticks, and the other would dry the solution in an oven.  They gave me some details of the solution that they were using.  It was mainly water, some cherry flavoring, and an alcohol base to aid in drying.  So, the viscosity was very near water.  They did not have a liquid pump to move the solution to their spraying compartment.  This would not be a problem, as EXAIR has Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzles.  It uses compressed air to create a vacuum to lift fluid up to 36” high and to shear the fluid into a very fine mist.  This was key to the customer as they did not want to create any droplets on the handle of the floss sticks.

No Drip Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzle
No Drip Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzle

To determine the correct model, we had to dive a bit more into their application. They mentioned that they did some preliminary testing to find the correct amount of flavoring.  If it was too much, it would be overbearing, and if it was not enough then you would not taste it.  With the conveyor speed and the amount of flavor required, they determined that they needed a liquid flow rate between 1.2 to 1.4 GPH (gallons per hour).   From all the information that they gave me, I recommended 3 pieces of the model SF2020SS.  This is our No-Drip Flat Fan Siphon Fed Atomizing Nozzle.  The flat fan pattern was able to reach across the entire rod and hit all the floss sticks evenly.  With it being gravity fed at about 6” above the nozzles, the liquid flow rate of the model SF2020SS has a maximum of 0.5 GPH.  Thus the reason for 3 pieces in parallel. With a slight pressure adjustment, they could dial in the correct amount of liquid flow rate to get the perfect cherry flavoring.

The No-Drip option for the Atomizing Nozzles is a very nice accessory.  It will stop the liquid solution from dripping when not in use.  When the air pressure is shut off, a positive seal is created to not allow any liquid to bypass.  This was important in this application as the container holding the flavor solution was above the Atomizing Nozzles.  They set up one unit for demonstration, and they were amazed at how easy it was to use and how fine the particle spray was.  They did not have to worry about drips, lost solution, or inconsistent flavoring.

If you have a liquid that you would like to spray evenly, efficiently, and effectively; EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles can do that for you. As for the customer above, the Atomizing Nozzles were cherry in applying the cherry flavoring.

 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

 

Photo by homejobsbymom with Creative Commons license.