Tag: Spray Nozzle

How To Solve A Problem with Compressed Air

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In my (almost) six years as an EXAIR Application Engineer, I’ve learned a great many things about the capabilities of our products.  The way we do business sure does make it easy:

  • We readily share application information, as a team.  If you ask me a question, you’re asking all of us.  It does neither of us any good if I tell you something MIGHT work if one of my team knows it WON’T – or if someone knows what else DOES work.  If we can offer a solution, we will.
  • We’ll test your product, free of charge.  This is a popular way of finding out which Line Vac is best for conveying a particular product, for example.
  • If you’re considering a quiet, safe, and efficient EXAIR product as an upgrade, we’ll test your current product in our award winning Efficiency Lab, so you can compare accurate performance data and analyze the expected benefits…which can be dramatic.  Try us on that.
exair-testin
Line Vac conveyance rate testing (left;) Efficiency Lab testing (right.)

 

  • We’ll let YOU test our product, risk-free.  All catalog products come with a 30 Day Unconditional Guarantee.  We invite you to put it through its paces for up to a month.  If it’s not working out, we’ll arrange return for full credit.
  • We’ll do the math.  But first, a disclaimer: strictly comparing the force or flow of an engineered product to an open-end blow off won’t always tell the tale.  Our Intelligent Compressed Air Products are creating a laminar flow which won’t generate as high of a force/thrust as open-end blowing (which is turbulent by nature,) but is MUCH more conducive to efficiency and noise reduction, as well as similar (if not improved) performance.  But back to the math: if you know the metrics you need to meet for spot cooling (like a Vortex Tube, Adjustable Spot Cooler, Cold Gun, etc.) or for liquid spraying (the liquid flow rate and/or pattern size & shape from an Atomizing Spray Nozzle, for instance,) or the heat load that a Cabinet Cooler System can handle, we’ll do the calculations and specify the appropriate product.

Regardless of the application, if it can be solved with compressed air, it’s very likely that we have a great solution.  Call me to find out how we can help.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
Find us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

Need an Upgrade? EXAIR has options.

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

Occasionally we field calls from customers who are currently using an EXAIR product but are looking to “upgrade” to something that might provide just a little bit “extra”. Such was the case recently when I was working with a customer who was currently using our Reversible Drum Vac to clean out their coolant tanks on their milling machines. The RDV was working great in the application but in an effort to gain more floor space, they were now going to store their coolant drums on their mezzanine, located around 10′ above the machining area so they needed something with more power to lift the heavy liquid coolant up to the mezzanine. I promptly suggested our High Lift Reversible Drum Vac. The High Lift Reversible Drum Vac provides up to 15′ of vacuum lift and mounts through the same, 3/4″ NPT threaded hole in the drum lid as their current unit. By purchasing a new High Lift pump unit only, and a 20′ vacuum hose, this customer avoided purchasing a completely new system (they  or other unfamiliar product. They simply replaced the pump unit into the 3/4 NPT bung of the existing drum, and swapped out the hose to meet their existing needs of higher lift.

HLRDV
The High Lift Reversible Drum Vac is designed to fit 30, 55 and 110 gallon, closed head steel drums.

This is just one example how EXAIR continues to offer new products to meet increasing customer demands. In fact, several other products have also been recently expanded or developed to demonstrate this commitment. Here is a short list showcasing some of our newer offerings.

The Chip Trapper System which filters suspended solids in liquid and traps them in a reusable filter bag inside the drum, is also offered in a High Lift version as well, providing the extra vacuum (180″ water column) discussed above, for elevated tanks or below grade sumps.

high-lift-chip-trapper
High Lift Chip Trapper System

We now offer our Heavy Duty Line Vac Air Operated Conveyors in 2.5″ and 3″ sizes with either smooth or NPT threaded ends. The HD Line Vac is constructed of a proprietary hardened alloy construction for superior abrasion resistance and is capable of moving dry material, higher and farther distances.

Heavy Duty Line Vac: Hardened Alloy Construction and High Performance
Heavy Duty Line Vac: Hardened Alloy Construction and High Performance

Our 1/2″ NPT Atomizing Nozzles provide higher flow rates, up to 303 GPH,  with varying spray patterns. Also available with our N0-Drip feature to positively stop the liquid flow when the compressed air supply is shut off.

ef5010ss
EF5010SS 1/2″ NPT External Mix Narrow Angle Flat Fan Pattern Atomizing Nozzle with flows up to 303 GPH.
no-drip
No-Drip Atomizing Nozzle eliminate liquid waste.

The High Velocity Air Jet and Adjustable Air Jet are now available in 303 Stainless Steel for application requiring superior construction where brass may not be suitable.

6013ss
Model # 6013SS Stainless Steel High Velocity Air Jet

 

Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Jet
Model # 6019SS Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Jet

Lastly, we now offer our HD HEPA Vac in a 30 gallon capacity for smaller area, lower scale cleanup for dusty environments.

Heavy Duty HEPA Vac Family
Heavy Duty HEPA Vac Family

All of these products are shipped from stock and can ship same day with orders received by 3:00 PM EST. If you are looking to upgrade your current EXAIR product or with help selecting the best solution, please give me a call, I’d be happy to help.

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN

 

Engineering Makes The Difference In Spraying Application

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The Paint Line Engineering Manager for a major agricultural & industrial equipment manufacturer wanted to improve the efficiency of their paint lines. They had “halo” systems through which large parts passed for primer & paint coatings, which were equipped with inexpensive liquid-only spray nozzles:

Liquid-only spray nozzles lack the control and efficiency of engineered solutions like EXAIR's Atomizing Spray Nozzles
Liquid-only nozzles lack the control and efficiency of engineered solutions like EXAIR’s Atomizing Spray Nozzles

You can get a whole handful of these and it’ll still cost you less than one of our Atomizing Spray Nozzles will.  If you don’t have any particular concerns about efficiency, spray pattern adjustment, droplet size or flow control (and a lot of applications don’t require this, and that’s fine,) then these will work GREAT for you.  And again, they’re abundant and cheap.

That wasn’t the case here – turns out, good quality paint is expensive, and every drop wasted adds up.  Getting a fine, even coating on parts of different sizes & shapes, every time, requires precision control of the flow pattern.  And design of an automated system benefits from a wide selection of options to choose from.

Enter the EXAIR line of Atomizing Spray Nozzles.  With (90) models to choose from, we can cover (literally) darn near any spraying application you can come up with.  If you know what flow rate and/or spray pattern you’re looking for (like a Paint Line Engineering Manager would,) then selection is quick & easy.  Paint consumption is down, quality is up…and the reliability of the new system means they’re spending less time and resources on cleaning & maintenance. For the record, the halo system ended up looking like this:

EXAIR Atomizing Spray Nozzles provide efficient, reliable coating.
EXAIR Atomizing Spray Nozzles provide efficient, reliable coating.

If you’d like to find out more about how engineered products, like EXAIR’s Atomizing Spray Nozzles, can make a difference to your operations…and your bottom line…give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

 

EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles in a Forging Plant

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A steel forging plant was using a releasing agent in their process. This particular operation was to make a blank gear.  It started with a heated ingot that was placed in a two-part dual stamp die.  The front section of the die creates the hub of the gear, and the back section would finish the outer diameter of the gear.  The operator would use tongs to grab the hot part and place it in the front and back portion of the die.  Each time the press would cycle, a release agent would be sprayed onto the die so that the parts would not stick.  As you can see in the picture below, they had six liquid spray nozzles modified to spray the entire surface.  Two of the spray nozzles were blowing the release agent to the top portion of the die, and four spray nozzles would spray the entire bottom portion of the die.  Every time the press would cycle, the release agent would be sprayed.

Forging press with liquid spraying nozzles
Forging press with liquid spraying nozzles

At a rate of making a part every six seconds, much release agent was being sprayed. This lubrication for forging was not inexpensive, and it was adding cost to their operation.  They called EXAIR to see if we could help in this matter.

 

The EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles use compressed air to help “shear” the liquid into a very fine mist. The smaller the liquid particle size, the more surface area is created.  This is very beneficial in saving liquid material without reducing the required performance.  This customer purchased two Internal Mix Narrow Angle Round Pattern Atomizing Nozzles, model AN1040SS to replace the six liquid nozzles that he was using.  With a stainless steel construction as standard, it makes the Atomizing Nozzle very corrosion resistant and able to handle 400 deg. F (204 deg. C) temperatures.  With the narrow angle round spray pattern, they could position the Atomizing Nozzles to cover the entire top and bottom of the die (reference the photo below).  With the liquid adjustment valve, they could dial in just the right amount of release agent to keep the process running smoothly.  After the first week in modifying their operation with EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles, they noticed that they were using only half the amount of releasing agent.  This helped to cut cost in their operation, increasing their profit margin.

Forging press with EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles
Forging press with EXAIR Atomizing Nozzles

We can spray liquids very economically and efficiently. We have different types of spray patterns for three different styles.  We have the Internal Mix style for low viscosity fluids as purchased by the above customer; the External Mix for high viscosity fluids, and the Siphon Fed for unpressurized liquid systems requiring gravity or siphoning.  We can atomize liquids up to a rate of 5 gallons per minute (19 liters per minute).  If you believe that you are going through too much liquid in your process, you can contact an Application Engineer to see if we have the correct Atomizing Nozzle for you.

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