Tag: super

Custom Air Knives, Custom Vortex Tubes, Custom Line Vacs. What About Custom Air Nozzles?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

At EXAIR we are far from shy that we offer custom solutions.   As a matter of fact, almost every catalog section has a handful of pictures that are special or custom units that we have made for our customers over the years.   We continue to add special items to our database regularly.   This could be anything from a special length Super Air Knife, a Vortex Tube with a special fitting or temperature setting, sanitary flanges on a Line Vac, or even most recently, a special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle.

Special 2" Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle - Safety Wired Hardware
Special 2″ Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle – Safety Wired Hardware
Special 2" Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle w/ Safety Wired Hardware
A closer look at the Safety Wire that holds the bolts from backing out.

This Special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle came from the customers requirement to use a mechanical fastener in order to ensure all hardware will not back out or come loose.  The 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle is already held together by two button head cap screws that are thread locked into place in order to prevent them from loosening.  This customers requirement was not met by our standard procedures, so we stepped outside of the box yet again and have offered them a special 2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle with bolts that are held tight by safety wire.

Safety wire is a very popular practice in Aerospace, motorcycle racing, and even some packaging processes.   The Stainless Steel wire is twisted and wrapped around the bolt heads in a manner that will not permit either bolt from loosening and falling out.   However, it can be removed, the nozzle can then be cleaned, and the safety wire can then be replaced for preventative maintenance needs.

If you are in the need for something that you don’t directly see in our product offering, or maybe you simply need something like a bolt style changed.   Contact us and see what we can do for you.   Chances are, we will meet your needs with ease and even be in a timely fashion.

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

A (Sample) Lexicon For Compressed Air

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Every industry and different technical subject matter comes with it’s own lexicon of terms or vocabulary words.  More often than not, when speaking to an Application Engineer here at EXAIR you are going to hear words within our lexicon. The list I have compiled below is merely a sampling to help translate some terms that we forget not everyone knows.  Some of these are merely acronyms that get thrown around a good amount.

SCFM – Standard Cubic Feet per Minute – This is the unit we use to represent the volumetric flow rate of compressed gas that has already been corrected to standardized conditions of pressure and temperature.

PSIG – Pounds per square inch gauge – This is the unit which we use to represent the operating inlet pressure of the device.  When requesting this, we generally are looking for a pressure gauge to be installed directly on the inlet to the device with no other form of restrictions between the two.  For the most part, catalog consumption values are given in SCFM at 80 psig.  The main exception to that rule are the Vortex Tube based products.

Compressed Air – This is a utility that most industrial manufacturing facilities have available to them.   It is regular, atmospheric air which has been compressed by an air compressor to a higher pressure than atmospheric.  Generally speaking, compressed air systems will be at a range of 85-120 psig.

OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration – This is the main federal agency that enforces two of the major conformance standards that EXAIR products meet or exceed.

29 CFR- 1910.95 (a) – Maximum allowable noise level exposure.  The great majority of EXAIR products meet or exceed this safety standard, our largest Super Air Nozzles
1910.242 (b) – This is the standard which states compressed air blow off devices cannot exceed 30 psig of dead end pressure.  This means, if the exit point of the air can be blocked the operating pressure must be below 30 psig.  The reason for this standard is to prevent air embolism which can be fatal.  All EXAIR products meet or exceed this standard by having multiple orifice discharge.

Coanda Effect – This is the effect that numerous EXAIR products utilize to amplify and entrain ambient air.   The Coanda effect is when a fluid jet (stream of compressed air) tends to be attracted to a nearby surface.  This principle was found by a Romanian aerodynamics pioneer, Henri Coandᾰ.  The picture below shows a Super Air Amplifier blowing a foam ball into the air and suspending it due to the Coanda effect on the surface of the ball.

A Super Air Amplifier's air stream causes a foam ball to be suspended in mid air thanks to the Coandᾰ effect.
A Super Air Amplifier’s air stream causes a foam ball to be suspended in mid air thanks to the Coandᾰ effect.

Rigid Pipe or Hard Pipe – This is the term we will often use when discussing the compressed air line that can be used to support and supply certain EXAIR products.  Generally we are referring to a Schedule 40 steel pipe, Type L copper line, stainless steel tube, or any form of pressure rated hard pipe that can be used for supplying compressed air.

Plenum – the state or a space in which a gas, usually air, is contained at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. Many of our products feature a plenum chamber. 

Again, this list is only a sample of the terminology you will hear us use when discussing compressed air applications.  If there are any other air/compressed air/fluid dynamic terms you may be unsure of, please contact us.

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

Super Heroes and the Crew at EXAIR

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Growing up I think nearly every child has a Super Hero that they believe is the best.  All through growing up my number one Super Hero was Spiderman.  The close second was Cyclops from the X-Men.  For most the Super Hero is about being able to help others while still having a normal life.  It’s about being able to find balance and let’s not forget about the super powers.

For me the Spiderman Comic series was one with best message to its readers’.  This is because Peter Parker didn’t live a lavish lifestyle, he was a geek that just happened to encounter serious of unfortunate / fortunate events.  He always had the same message to not stoop to the levels of evil and to also help those in need.

For the most part I am pretty sure none of us here at EXAIR have super powers.  We do however do our best to help people that may be in trouble every day that we are here.  This can in fact some times even save you from getting into a sticky situation.  Imagine this – the dastardly OSHA inspector (dastardly for illustrative purposes only) has pointed out a safety violation (that actually sounds rather helpful) in the good citizens plant in the form of an open pipe blow off. EXAIR saves the day (and the OSHA fine) by outfitting the open blow off with one of our Super Air Nozzles (wow, we even have an appropriate superhero-ish product name) which can’t be dead ended thus stifling the OSHA inspectors power and increasing safety for the model citizen. In true comic book form we should go on to say that the entire population of that comic book town rests easier and the children are clearly happier as illustrated in a colorful, sunshiny last page…

The point is we’re here to help, so feel free to contact us about your compressed air application.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Specials

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I know we blog a good amount about having all catalog products in stock and ready to ship same day if we receive the order by 3:30 P.M. EST.  We also blog a good amount about how we can go outside of the box and make specials for customers that may even be a combination of a few products.  This week I had a customer who wanted an Ion Air Cannon without the Ionization.  After looking at the Super Air Amplifiers he said, “No, I need the adjustability of the Ion Air Cannon.”  So I simply told him no problem.   We can take our standard 120022, 2″ Super Air Amplifier, and bolt it right to the stand for an Ion Air Cannon.

Though not a production piece, we have made this from time to time. It is just one example of how here at EXAIR we go the extra mile to ensure you get not only what you need but also what you want and in a quick manner.  The turn around time for this special is 2-3 days from the date of order.  That means in less than a week you can have a custom Super Air Amplifier at your door that is not a catalog product.   I know some companies that you can’t even get their catalog products in less than a week.

If you have any questions or see something on our site that you think, “I need something like that but just a bit different”, then give us a call.  We’ll do whatever we can to make sure you get the right product for your compressed air application.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF