People of Interest: Henri Coanda 1886 – 1972

In each of these EXAIR engineered compressed air products, the primary air stream following the curved surface causes entrainment. And efficiency.

Being in the compressed air industry for over 35 years, you come across many interesting people from the past that have created laws that we are still using today.  Henri Coanda is one of those people. 

Henri Coanda was a prominent Romanian inventor and aerodynamics pioneer.   In 1910, Henri and his Italian counterpart, Gianni Caproni, began a partnership to construct an experimental aircraft which was later called the Coanda-1910. The Coanda-1910 was unlike any other aircraft of its time as it had no propeller; instead, it sported an oddly shaped front end with built-in rotary blades arranged in a swirl pattern. These blades were driven by an internal turbine screw that would suck air in through the turbine while exhausting the gases out of the rear, propelling the plane forward. This initial jet engine was quite impressive for the time, but sadly nobody believed it would ever fly, and it is believed that it never did achieve flight. Coanda is not credited with the invention of the jet engine, but his technology spurred the future of aviation into the future.

Henri spent his time developing the turbo-propeller drive system of his 1910 Biplane during World War 2.  After it ended, Henri began furthering his research on the Coanda Effect which would become the basis for several investigations into entrained and augmented flow of fluids.  It states that a fluid adheres to and follows a contour which creates low pressure.  Later, in 1969, Henri would spend the last of his days in Romania serving as Director of the Institute for Scientific and Technical Creation.  Henri died on November 25, 1972, in his hometown of Bucharest.

Henri Coanda passed away on November 25, 1972, in his hometown of Bucharest.  Here at EXAIR, we have used the Coanda Effect to apply it to several of our products.  This helps to amplify total airflow by using less compressed air.  Thus, saving you money.  The most notable products are our Air Amplifiers, Air Wipes, Standard Air Knives, and Full-Flow Air Knives, which are some of the most efficient products of their kind.  If you would like to speak more about how EXAIR can benefit your pneumatic system, one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.

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

Video Blog: Starter Guide Series – Air Wipes

EXAIR manufactures two types of Air Wipes; the Standard Air Wipe™ and the Super Air Wipe™.  They are designed to blow an airstream in a concentric pattern around the outside of pipes, cables, extruded shapes, hoses and much more. The video below is a starter guide to the Air wipe product line.

If you would like to discuss  any of EXAIR’s safe, quiet & efficient compressed air products, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call or shoot me an email!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Helpful Tips For Air Wipe Usage

Probably the most common application for EXAIR’s line of Air Wipes is blowing off continuous runs of pipe, hose, tube, wire, etc. The 360° converging air flow sweeps the entire circumference evenly, for efficient & quiet blow off, cooling, or drying. The split ring design means the operator doesn’t have to “thread” the product through the Air Wipe:

Split ring design eliminates the need for product “threading” through the Air Wipe.

Because of their 360° converging air flow, they’re also incredibly well-suited to another application: blowing off the end – or tip (to make the pun in the title work) – of an applicator.

  • A manufacturer of automated paint systems for the automotive industry fits spray heads to the ends of robotic arms to coat vehicle bodies. They install Model 2439 9″ Standard Air Wipes for the robots to periodically dip the spray heads through to clean off excess paint so it doesn’t drip inadvertently onto the surfaces that they’re putting a nice, even coating onto.
  • A custom furniture builder used a robotic system to apply glue to wood parts prior to fitting them together. A small amount of glue remained on the tip of the applicator, which would harden and build up over time, eventually getting to the point where not enough glue was applied. They periodically removed & cleaned the tips, but sometimes not before improperly glued products made it through production. They installed Model 2400 1/2″ Super Air Wipes for the robots to dip the applicator tips through to blow off the glue residue. This eliminates glue buildup and defective furniture parts.
  • A machine builder’s design incorporated robotic arms to dip two files in oil before using them to deburr parts, and wanted to stop oil from dripping off the file in between the oil dip and point of use. They installed two Model 2431 1″ Standard Air Wipes (one for each file) and set pressure regulators to remove excess oil while leaving enough to properly lubricate the file, and made the operation drip free.
  • A shop that repairs & tests diesel fuel injectors passes them through a Model 2432 2″ Standard Air Wipe by hand to blow off solvent after removing them from a cleaning tank, prior to reassembly & testing.

If you need to blow off parts from all sides, look no further than EXAIR Air Wipes. They come in sizes from 3/8″ to 11″, in stock. If you’d like to discuss your application or product selection, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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