The video below provides details on the simple conversion to the new Gen4 style Super Ion Air Knife from the previous style or the addition of a Gen4 Ionizing Bar to an existing Super Air Knife to add static elimination to an existing blow off.
If you have questions about the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife or any of the 16 different EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Product lines, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or any of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are in the middle of winter and that means extremely dry air, and frequent shocks when reaching for a door knob after walking across a carpeted surface. While a shock is mildly uncomfortable and can be annoying to us, the presence of static electricity in an industrial manufacturing process can be much more problematic.
Problems that static cause range from operator discomfort to increased downtime to quality issues. Dust can cling to product, product can cling to itself, rollers, frames, or conveyors. Materials may tear, jam, curl and sheet fed items can stick and mis-feed. Hazardous sparks and shocks can occur, possibly damaging sensitive electronics.
EXAIR has put together a useful tool, the Basics of Static Electricity white paper with Interactive Regions to help a person learn more about static.
Topics covered include Electron Theory, Causes of Static Electricity, Triboelectric Series chart, and Types of Static Generation. Also, the white paper covers the areas of How to Control Static Charge Buildup, Determining the Source of the Static Buildup, Eliminating or Minimizing the Source Causing the Buildup, and Treating Static Buildup.
The Treating Static Buildup is a comprehensive review of the EXAIR Static Elimination products and how each technology is best applied to different processes and applications.
To receive your copy of the Basics of Static Electricity white paper, click the photo above or the link here.
If you would like to talk about static electricity or any of the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Products, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
One of the best ways, in industry, to generate a static charge is to roll or unroll non-conductive materials such as polymer films, plastic sheet, etc. It’s common to see static charges well in excess of 10,000 volts in such operations, like the one I discussed with a customer recently.
The separation of the non-conductive surfaces (like when this plastic film is unrolled) is capable of generating an incredible amount of static charge. Here are two examples showing 12,400 and 16,900 volts.
One of the best ways, in industry, to dissipate a static charge is to use ionized air. There are different methods of doing this; one of the most popular is to effect a Corona discharge, via a high voltage, low amperage electric current. This is precisely what EXAIR’s Static Eliminators provide: a Corona discharge produces a bulk of both (+) and (-) ions in the enormous volume of high velocity air flow generated. When these (+) and (-) ions flow onto a surface charged with (-) and (+) ions, they cancel each other out, leaving a net neutral charge. Static, eliminated!
From small bottles to wide films, EXAIR Super Ion Air Knives come in a variety of lengths to meet the needs of most any static dissipation application.
By combining an Ionizing Bar with a Super Air Knife, as Super Ion Air Knife provides rapid static elimination AND blow off of any dust, chips, or debris that was being statically held. The laminar curtain of ionized air not only maximizes the rate of static dissipation, but is also ideal for stripping/sweeping away any debris, leaving a clean, static-free surface. No more jamming, tearing, nuisance shocks to operators, dust attraction, or any of the other host of problems associated with static electricity.
The ionized air flow can be precisely regulated to whatever level it takes to get the job done. At 100psig, the powerful, high velocity blast will dissipate 5,000 volts of static charge in 0.18 seconds. If the material is fragile, or if that kind of air flow might disrupt the process, it’s not a big deal…even at 5psig supply pressure, that same 5,000 volts is dissipated in 0.40 seconds. That’s how it works on the plastic roll above – with just a whisper of ionized air flow from a Super Ion Air Knife, they consistently reduce the resultant static charge to less than 400 volts…far below the threshold for the nuisance shocks they wanted to avoid.
They’re on the shelf in lengths from 3 inches to 9 feet long, and we can make custom lengths in three days after receipt of an order. The 115/230VAC GEN4 Power Supplies are available with 2 or 4 outlets, to energize any 2 or 4 EXAIR GEN4 Static Eliminators.
Versatile. Efficient. Effective. Quiet. Safe. And, readily available. If you’d like to discuss a static problem, give me a call.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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EXAIR offers meters to measure the level of physical parameters such as sound and static. Each meter has sensitive electrical circuitry and a periodic calibration is recommended to ensure the meter readings are tried and true.
The model 9104 Digital Sound Level Meter is an easy to use instrument that measures and monitors the sound level pressure in a wide variety of industrial environments. The source of loud noises can be quickly identified so that corrective measures can be taken to keep sound levels at or below OSHA maximum allowable exposure limits.
The sound meter comes from the factory with an NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) certificate of accuracy and calibration. As a good practice, EXAIR recommends a yearly calibration of the instrument, and we offer a service that calibrates the unit to the same NIST standards and provide a written report of the calibration.
The model 7905 Static Meter allows easy one-hand static measurements. It is useful in both locating sources of high static charge and checking the reduction of static after treatment with an EXAIR Static Elimination product. The unit is sensitive and responsive, and indicates the the surface polarity of objects up to +/- 20 kV when measured from 1″ away.
It is also recommended that the Static Meter be calibrated on a yearly basis. EXAIR offers (3) levels of calibration service. The first two provide calibration in accordance with MIL Standards using accepted procedures and standards traceable to NIST. The third calibration service conforms to the same Mil Standard, as well as ISO/IEC standards.
Annual calibration service of your EXAIR Digital Sound and Static Meter, along with proper care and storage, will keep your meter performing tried and true for many years, providing accurate and useful measurements.
To initiate a calibration service, give us a call and an Application Engineer will issue an Returned Good number, and provide instructions on how to ship the meter to EXAIR.
If you have questions regarding calibration services for your meters or would like to talk about any EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air® Product, feel free to contact EXAIR and myself or one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
