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.
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
