Tag: vacuum

Utilizing EXAIR Accessories

Published on by jasonkirbyLeave a comment
Accessories

At EXAIR, we take great pride in our Intelligent Compressed Air Products, which are renowned for their efficiency and minimal maintenance requirements, thanks to their design featuring few or no moving parts. While we often highlight these advantages, we also do not want to overlook the importance of the accompanying accessories that enhance our products’ performance. These accessories play a crucial role in ensuring our compressed air solutions maintain their low maintenance and reduced noise levels, further solidifying their compliance with OSHA safety standards.

Compressed air filters and regulators are among the most essential accessories we offer, and we highly recommend their use with all our products, as well as with other brands. The Filter Separator effectively eliminates water, dirt, and rust from your compressed air system, while the 5-micron filter element prevents contaminants from clogging or damaging connected equipment. For more precise and additional filtration, an Oil Removal Filter should be installed downstream of the Filter Separator; it utilizes a 0.03-micron element to remove oil and solid particles. Our Pressure Regulators allow you to set the desired operating pressure, and we advise maintaining the minimum pressure necessary for optimal performance. This not only conserves air but also fine-tunes the efficiency of EXAIR products in various applications.

Good engineering practice calls for point of use filtration and moisture removal, such as that provided by EXAIR Filter Separators.
The Thermostat’s leads (left) are spliced into the Solenoid Valve’s ‘hot’ lead (bottom right), which essentially acts as the automatic temperature controlled ‘on/off’ switch for the Cabinet Cooler System. NEMA 4/4X versions include mounting hardware (top right).

We offer specialized accessories designed to enhance the performance of some of our products. For instance, our Line Vacs are complemented by the Line Vac Hose, while our Cabinet Coolers can be paired with Thermostats and Solenoid Valves. Additionally, we recommend Mufflers for optimal use with our Vortex Tubes. When it comes to our Air Knives, we provide several excellent options. The Universal Air Knife Mounting System offers a straightforward and dependable solution for mounting. For applications requiring longer knives or independent control of airflow sections, our Coupling Bracket Kits are ideal. Lastly, our Air Knife Plumbing Kits simplify the plumbing process for Air Knives exceeding 24 inches in length.

For those looking to connect Intelligent Compressed Air Products, we offer a range of compressed air hoses and fittings designed to enhance the convenience of installation. Coiled Hoses are an excellent match for our Safety Air Guns, providing greater mobility during operation. Additionally, our Compressed Air Hoses are frequently utilized with our Industrial Housekeeping products, ensuring that both the drum and dolly have the necessary reach for effective use.

Model 9256 6″ Stay Set Hose

If you are looking for an effective solution to mount or position your Air Nozzles, consider our Magnetic Bases, Stay Set Hoses, and Swivel Fittings, which can be combined to create a comprehensive setup.

If you have questions about our accessories, or anything regarding EXAIR and our products, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk

Finding the Right Intelligent Compressed Air Product

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I had the pleasure of talking with a customer who had purchased a Model 6063 1-1/2″ Stainless Steel Line Vac the other day. They were building chemical processing machinery, and needed to move vapor into a condenser for reclamation of the fluid. The Line Vac was doing exactly what they needed it to do, and with a supply pressure regulated down to 12psig, at that. Their question was, how do they quantify the flow rate?

Because the Line Vac generates a moderate level of vacuum head with a moderate vacuum flow, they’re ideal for drawing in bulk solid material and conveying it from one place to another. They’ll do the same with airborne dust, vapors, and gases, but…

Because they’re made for conveying bulk solids, our published performance data for the Line Vacs doesn’t address total developed airflow. However, because our Air Amplifiers are made for moving air (and anything that might be suspended in the air or already airborne), we DO publish airflow performance data for them. And it provides a GREAT segue for situations like this, when the only thing that can do a better job than one EXAIR product is another EXAIR product!

…Air Amplifiers, while similar in function to the Line Vacs, generate a high vacuum flow with a low vacuum head. This makes them the better choice for moving air & airborne dust, vapors, gases, etc.

In this case, the machine designer replaced the 1-1/2″ Stainless Steel Line Vac with a Model 6040 3/4″ Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Amplifier. It’s got a 1-1/2″ OD inlet plenum, so it was a ‘drop-in’ replacement for the 1-1/2″ Line Vac, which was plumbed in with a 1-1/2″ ID hose. When they regulated the supply pressure to 25psig, they were able to replicate the vapor carryover to the condenser at the specified rate, and even cut the already low compressed air consumption from 9.3 SCFM @12psig (for the Line Vac) to 3.7 SCFM @25psig (for the Air Amplifier).

As an EXAIR Application Engineer and a Certified Compressed Air Systems Specialist, I’m here to make sure you get the most out of your compressed air system. If that involves using a product other than the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product that you may have initially selected, I’m not going to be shy about telling you that. But, there’s a good chance that the more ideal solution is going to be another EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product. If you want to talk about compressed air…so do I! Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

“Other” Uses For Vacuum Generators

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Okay. Throughout our catalog and most of my training, many moons ago, we always stuck to using the E Vac Vacuum Generators as pick and place type units. Hook them up with some suction cups and you can have some fun. However, this isn’t all they can be used for. In fact, I blogged about it over a decade ago not being used for a pick and place operation. Rather, I used it to pull a steady vacuum on a hydraulic brake system in order to pull the fluid through the lines.

My E-Vac Brake Bleeder Setup

Today, I want to show you another trick that I am almost certain I saw when I was a kid on Mr. Wizard. I saw this in High School, learning from one of my amazing educators in the Science department, and then again in college taking basic Chemistry courses. The trick is maybe not something that you would use regularly, but it is a great visualization for something that may help some DIY’ers and even some industrial engineers. So what is the process exactly? Well, it is using a vacuum to “boil” water, except we aren’t really boiling the water, it just appears that way.

That’s right, in this video you can see I have a very small E-Vac Vacuum Generator connected to a glass jar with some water in it. Now there is some condensation in the jar from the water being warmer than the environment we were in. As I energize the E-Vac, you will see the operating pressure go up on the gauge to the right, and you will see the pressure in the jar go down on the vacuum gauge to the left. You can also see just how quickly the small E-Vac removes all the air from the chamber and then begins to build the vacuum, effectively pulling the gas from water, making it appear as though it is boiling due to a temperature increase. Instead, it is actually “de-gassing” the water and removing the oxygen.

This same process can be used in molding operations, epoxy resin processes, and even off-gassing operations. If you can get the surface or container into a vacuum condition, then an Inline E Vac or Adjustable E Vac can be used to evacuate the gases from the fluid within the chamber or area. This makes them more conducive for use without bubbles forming during the curing phase. The size of the E Vac needed for this will be determined by the size of the area and that is exactly what our Application Engineers are here to help with.

If you would like to discuss an off-the-wall idea or de-gassing, feel free to contact an Application Engineer today.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Adjustable E-Vacs For All Kinds Of Vacuum Applications

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

EXAIR makes three different engineered compressed air products that are capable of pulling vacuum:

  • Air Amplifiers generate a very high vacuum flow (up to 25 times the compressed air flow rate) but not very much vacuum head. This makes them great for fumes, smoke, and airborne dust.
  • Line Vacs generate a moderate vacuum flow and head so they can easily convey bulk solids.
  • E-Vac Vacuum Generators generate a high vacuum head, but not a lot of vacuum flow. They’re commonly used with Vacuum Cups in pick-and-place applications, or a number of other applications where you measure the required vacuum in inches of mercury (the Air Amplifiers’ and Line Vacs’ vacuum heads are measured in inches of water.)

Our Adjustable E-Vac Vacuum Generators are the ones that typically fall into the “number of other applications” category above. While the In-Line E-Vacs are compact and reliably generate rated vacuum on demand, the Adjustable E-Vacs have some distinct advantages in certain cases:

Larger throat diameter. In-Line E-Vacs have a very tight throat, which generally doesn’t matter if they’re just hooked to Vacuum Cups that’ll be placed on a relatively clean surface. The wider throat of the Adjustable E-Vacs means that they can pass small debris from less-than-pristine surfaces that a Vacuum Cup might lift, or shavings that might fall into a work holding fixture on a machine tool. They can even pass liquids, so they’re sometimes used for small spill cleanup.

Adjustability. It’s right in the name, of course, but it IS a big deal. While you can regulate the supply pressure of almost any compressed air operated device to vary the performance level, you can thread the plug into, or out of, the body of an Adjustable E-Vac to literally put it in a whole new performance band. This is beneficial if you’re picking up, or holding down, pieces of different sizes, shapes, and weights. Just loosen the locking collar, make the adjustment, tighten it back up, and it’s ready for use.

With four distinct models to choose from, we can specify one with the vacuum performance and adjustability of range needed for your application. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
Visit us on the Web
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook