Tag: Spray Nozzle

Patented Nozzle is a 2016 Flow Control Magazine Innovation Awards Nominee!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment
No Drip Atomizing Nozzle
No Drip Atomizing Nozzle

The patented (no longer patent pending) EXAIR No-Drip Atomizing Spray Nozzles have been nominated and are a finalist in the Flow Control 2016 Innovation Awards.  The No Drip Atomizing Nozzles are just a portion of the entire Liquid Atomizing Nozzle products that EXAIR Offers.   The No-Drip’s patented liquid shut off valve design eliminates the need for a separate pilot air line to positively shut off liquid flow ensuring there are no drips or excess flow from the nozzle.  These are ideal when dealing with fine surface finishes, costly liquids, or intermittent spraying needs.  The nozzles are offered in both pressure fed liquid and siphon fed liquid versions.

For the pressure fed version, the nozzle will require both compressed air and a pressurized liquid source. Both pressures can be adjusted independently giving a large spectrum of adjustment to fine tune the spray pattern and droplet sizes.  The siphon fed nozzles can draw liquid up to 36″ vertically or be gravity fed up to 18″ overhead.  This makes installation quick and easy when a pressurized liquid source, or liquid pump is not at hand.

The No-Drip Atomizing Spray Nozzles have also proven themselves in many applications, you can even read about a few of them here on our blog, links below.

https://blog.exair.com/2013/11/13/no-drip-atomizing-nozzle-improves-deep-drawn-metal-process/

https://blog.exair.com/2016/03/22/atomizing-nozzles-have-added-benefits-that-can-really-help/

2013 Innovation Awards
2013 Innovation Awards

 

Some of the reasons the EXAIR No-Drip Atomizing Nozzles were selected for these applications are the patented no-drip valve, their ability to atomize liquids to a range of 22-71 micron droplet size, the ability to fit into a tight space as well as the many spray pattern options.   These features have ranked the nozzles as a finalist in Flow Control’s 2016 Innovation Awards.

We are very grateful if you choose to vote for our nozzle at the link below. Please vote.

http://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com/innovationawards/

Voting is only open through July 31, 2016.  We’ll make sure to keep you updated if we win!

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Internal Mix Atomizing Nozzle for Roll-forming Application

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment
20160603_090706_001
Roll-formed metal stud material

Our distributor from South Africa contacted me recently with a problem that one of his customers were having with their roll forming process. Their business is making metal studs used for erecting walls and covering with drywall. The metal studs start out as a 200 mm wide x 0.5 mm thick roll of sheet metal. The customer feeds the sheet metal through a series of rolling dies that gradually impart the final shape of a metal stud to the material. During this process, a lubricant is applied through a couple of metal pipes with drilled holes in them to disperse the lubricant onto the metal sheet.

The problem with the application is that it makes a total mess because there aren’t any controls on the fluid flow to keep the application rate where it needs to be. All they need is a light coating of the lubricant. What they’re getting now is a constant drizzle from multiple holes. Not only is this wasteful for the use of the lubricant, it causes a huge mess in the form of puddled lubricant on the floor. This problem also presents a slip and fall hazard to the operators as well. See the photo below.

 

 

20160603_090732
Application of lubricant through drilled, metal pipe

In an effort to help them, my friend Wayne contacted me about the situation and presented a couple of scenarios he had in mind. One was to keep the existing system in place and use a couple of Super Air Knives to blow off the excess lubricant into a catch basin. The other was to apply a couple of our Internal Mix, Wide, Flat Atomizing nozzles into the application to provide a fine spray of the lubricant on both sides of the sheet metal.

After asking a few questions about whether the liquid was under any sort of pressure, its viscosity and the desired application rate I suggested to Wayne that the customer go with (2) pieces of model AF1010SS Internal Mix, Flat Fan Atomizing Nozzle. This Atomizing nozzle is more than adequate to provide the customer with the precise amount of the lubricant onto the sheet metal just prior to forming. The point in recommending the atomizing nozzles is to conserve the customer’s lubricant when it is applied in the first place so that they don’t have the huge mess that ends up developing during continuous operation. In this way, they are not treating a symptom of the problem by blowing the excess lubricant with a Super Air Knife, but rather tackling the problem right at its source by choking back on the application of the fluid in the first place.

After the customer installed their nozzles and made a production run, they were able to dial the application rate in to exactly what they needed. The mess and safety hazard went away and the customer was able to cut their lubricant use by half so far. They say they will continue to try and optimize its use as saving the lubricant used represented a nice cost savings to the customer that they had not thought about prior to engaging our distributor to help them take away this headache. They were simply concerned about the mess in the beginning.

It’s always nice to have such positive knock-on effect when you make process improvements like this.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
 nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR

 

Step by Step Guide – Choosing Atomizing Spray Nozzles

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

EB1040SS

Atomizing spray nozzles atomize fluids to create a fine spray in a variety of patterns for a variety of uses. They are commonly used to mark products, paint or coat, cool, reduce dust, lubricate and clean parts.

With the numerous types of Atomizing Nozzles sold by EXAIR, it can be challenging to shift through all the information. We can help you to narrow down the field to quickly find the correct Atomizing Nozzle for your application.  In a summary, here are the basic questions that need to be answered:

1.) Are you using a pressurized liquid feed?

2.) What is the viscosity of the fluid?

3.) What is the liquid feed rate in gallons per hour (gph) or liters per hour (lph).

4.)  Should I use the No-Drip option?

EXAIR’s flow chart with easy-to-follow steps will walk you through the decision tree and land you at the best Atomizing Spray Nozzle for your application. In answering these simple questions, this chart will guide you to the correct page in our current catalog to get additional information and specifications.    Click on Link below to determine the best nozzle for you.

Step_by_Step-Atomizing_Spray_Nozzle_Picker

When it comes to spraying a fine mist, EXAIR has a great range of Atomizing Nozzles. If you follow the flow chart, you will get the best product to spray your liquid and reduce waste.   If you have any problems or questions, you can contact one of our Application Engineers at EXAIR.

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

Atomizing Nozzles have added benefits that can really help

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

When a customer says the words “Great”, I like to share.

A customer of EXAIR purchased an SR2010SS Atomizing Nozzle for a new project.  He requested the Siphon Feed design so that he did not require a liquid pump (reducing the price of the project).  He attached it to a robot arm to spray water for activating a chemical on a substrate.  With the No Drip Option, he could start/stop the spray with a solenoid valve without getting drips of water into unwanted areas.

nodrip_SR
Siphon Feed No Drip Atomizing Nozzle

 

In robotics, there is much programing to make sure that the arm moves accurately throughout the space. In this application, the degrees of freedom were tight; so, our customer created a solid mount to attach the Atomizing Spray Nozzle onto the robot arm.  After all the components were assembled for the project, they began preliminary runs.

With a deadline looming around an end-user visitation, they started to run parts through their system. They noticed that the solution required more water to activate.  They contacted EXAIR quickly for help.  I mentioned that if they required more water, they can change the Air and Liquid Cap to a larger size.  The first question that my customer asked was if we had them in stock.  The second question was if changing the air and liquid cap would require removing the Atomizing Nozzle.

The first question was simple. We stock over 10,000 items for same day delivery.  If the order comes in to us before 3 p.m. EST, we can ship same day.  For this customer we were able to overnight the parts.  The second question was answered with a video.  Being that he mounted the body to the robotic arm, the liquid and air cap could be removed easily with wrenches.  In our design of the atomizing nozzles, we can interchange up to 4 different sizes with a quick change to the liquid and air cap onto the same body.  Our customer was quite happy about that.  With little time to program the exact location of the movements, he did not want to remove the Atomizing Nozzle from the arm. We shipped him the 3 other sizes next day, and he was able to find the correct size to use before the visitation of his customer.

If you would like to know more about how our products and services can help you in a pinch, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR at 1-800-903-9247.

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