Tag: valves

EXAIR Solenoid Valves and Ball Valves

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

EXAIR has been a pioneer in compressed air products for efficiency, safety, and quality.  We have designed our products using some interesting inventors from the past; like Henri Coanda and Giovanni Venturi.  These fluid dynamic engineers found a way to entrain ambient air.  We use these phenomena to increase the efficiency of our products by adding free ambient air to the airstream.  This will create a hard-hitting force without using a lot of compressed air.  Since compressed air is very expensive to produce, it will save you much money when using our blow-off devices.  To save even more money, EXAIR does offer valves to turn off the compressed air supply when not in use.  In this blog, I will go over the types of valves that we have.

The Manual Valves allow operators to turn on and off their system by hand. The full-flow ball valves range from ¼” NPT to 1 1/4” NPT in size and will not restrict flows.  EXAIR also offers a manual foot pedal valve for hands-free operations.  This ¼” NPT foot valve has a 3-way operation and works great if the operator has to use both hands in their process.

EXAIR also offers Solenoid Valves to turn on and off the supply of compressed air electrically for automated systems. We offer Solenoid Valves in three different voltages; 110Vac, 240Vac, and 24Vdc.  They have a large range of flows with ports ranging from ¼” NPT to 1” NPT.  All models are UL listed and are CE and RoHS compliant.

In more elaborate situations, EXAIR has attached these solenoid valves to a miniature PLC-like controller.  It is called the Electronic Flow Control, or EFC.  It uses a photoelectric eye to detect the part and trigger a timing sequence.  We have eight different timing operations to best combine the trigger mechanism with the blow-off device.  This is the next step in optimization, which will keep the compressed air usage to a minimum. 

EXAIR created a chart that shows “Six Steps to Optimizing Your Compressed Air System.”  Even though EXAIR has the most efficient products on the market for pneumatic systems, we still want to help our customers save even more money.  When not in use, the compressed air should be turned off, according to the fourth step.  In this blog, I discussed some products that can assist you with this.  If you wish to discuss further how to optimize your compressed air system, an Application Engineer at EXAIR will be happy to assist you. 

John Ball
Application Engineer


Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Turn It Off: Saving Compressed Air The Easy Way

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

A major benefit to utilizing compressed air is the speed at which it can be shut off and re-energized for use – in fact, this can be done instantaneously. Shutting down the supply of compressed air to an application while it is not needed can drastically reduce the compressed air consumption of the process. This is an easy remedy that can produce significant savings.

Think about a place where you have a compressed air blow off with spaces between the parts or dwell times in conveyor travel. What about break times, do operators continue to keep the air on when they leave for a break or even worse, for the day?

Step number four in EXAIR’s Six Steps to Optimization is:

A simple manual ball valve and a responsible operator can provide savings at every opportunity to shut down the airflow. But an automated solution is a no-brainer and can provide significant savings.

Quarter Turn Ball Valves are low-maintenance and easy to install/use.

For a more automated approach, you can add a solenoid valve that would tie into your existing PLC or e-stop circuit, into your compressed air supply lines to aid in turning the compressed air on and off.

For an automated on/off solution can be found by using the EXAIR EFC (Electronic Flow Control). The EFC is made to accept 110V or 220V AC, and convert it to 24V DC to operate a sensor, timer, and solenoid valve. Its multiple operating modes allow you delay on, delay-off, and delay on/off among others. The operating mode can then be set to the specific time necessary for a successful application.

The spaces between parts can be turned into money saved. Every time you reach the end of a batch run, the EFC can turn the air off. You can also add solenoid valves and run them from your machine controls. If the machine is off, or the conveyor has stopped – close the solenoid valve and save the air. The modes are all defined in the video below.

So, take a look, or even better a listen, around the plant and see what you can find that could benefit from turning the air off; even if it is just for a moment it will help put money back into your bottom line.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Shade-Tree Mechanics and EXAIR Products

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

EXAIR most often sells business to business, but we also sell to individuals who need the right tools for their home projects.

If you frequent our blog it is no secret that I tend to have projects going on outside of work and I generally find a reason to have an EXAIR product when I am doing them. The first EXAIR application I had at home was in fact utilizing an E-Vac to build a motorcycle brake bleeder.  I still use that to this day, it is on my bench ready to help me rebuild my rear brake system on my bike once I decide to do it. I’ve blogged about that before. The most recent application I had was working on an early 1970’s Jeep with a close friend. He inherited the Jeep from his dad who no longer wanted to work on it. The Jeep hadn’t run in over a year and the original reason for parking it was ticking in the motor.

Broken parts removed – Time for cleaning.

Sure enough, once he got it up and running with some fresh gas and cleaning up the carb the tick had not gone away but he was able to narrow down that it was in fact coming from under the valve cover, so off it came.  We discovered that one of the bridges that hold down the valve rocker was broken, parts were ordered and we started cleaning everything off. The fix could all be had from right up top under the valve cover and should be easy enough once parts were in.  We cleaned up all the oil, removed all the bridges as well as the pushrods.

When we were removing the bolts from the valve cover and bridges there was a good amount of “sludge” and debris around the bolt holes.  When cleaning this all up some did go into the holes and we really wanted to try and keep all debris up top rather than going down into the motor. We noticed some crud around the top of the pushrod holes so we waited until we could use an Atto Back Blow Nozzle on a VariBlast Compact Safety Air Gun to pass down through the pushrod holes and effectively blow any and all debris back up to the top of the motor.  We also were able to use it on the blind holes of the bridge bolts and remove any fines or buildup that had fallen into the hole.

Cleaned up and ready for reassembly

After we were done cleaning up it was time to reinstall with the new part and having a clean top end made the job that much easier. Buttoned everything up, did an oil change, and then the Jeep fired right up with no ticking noise in the motor. Now he just has to clean up some wiring and get tags to put this classic back on the road.

Having the right tool for the job is always the best solution. Whether you are working on a car at home, or if you are career certified mechanic in a shop, the same goes across any industry. When using compressed air in an application EXAIR is the company that can supply you with the right tool to get the job done efficiently, safely, and quickly.

If you would like to discuss any point of use compressed air application, please contact an Application Engineer.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer / Shade-tree mechanic
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

How to Manage Condensate in Your Compressed Air System

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

If you operate an air compressor, you’re drawing water vapor into your compressed air system.  Factors like climate control (or lack thereof,) and humidity will dictate how much.  If (or more to the point, when) it condenses, it becomes an issue that must be addressed.  There are several types of dryer systems to choose from, usually when you buy your compressor…we’ve covered those in a number of blogs.  Some of these can leave a little more water vapor than others, but remain popular and effective, when considering the cost, and cost of operation, of the different types.

So, how do you handle the condensate that the dryer doesn’t remove?

  • Receivers, or storage tanks (like EXAIR Model 9500-60, shown to the right,) are commonly used for several reasons:
    • By providing an intermediate storage of compressed air close to the point of use, fluctuations across the system won’t adversely affect an application that needs a constant flow and pressure.
    • This also can keep the air compressor from cycling rapidly, which leads to wear & tear, and additional maintenance headaches.
    • When fitted with a condensate drain (more on those in a minute,) they can serve as a wet receiver.  Condensate collects in the bottom and is manually, or automatically emptied.
  • Condensate drains, while popularly installed on receivers, are oftentimes found throughout larger systems where the vapor is prone to condense (intercoolers, aftercoolers, filters and dryers) and where the condensation can be particularly problematic (drip legs or adjacent to points of use.) There are a couple of options to choose from, each with their own pros & cons:
    • Manual drains are self explanatory: they’re ball valves; cycled periodically by operators.  Pros: cheap & simple.  Cons: easy to blow down too often or for too long, which wastes compressed air.  It’s also just as easy to blow down not often enough, or not long enough, which doesn’t solve the condensate problem.
    • Timer drains are self explanatory too: they cycle when the timer tells them to. Pros: still fairly cheap, and no attention is required.  Cons: they’re going to open periodically (per the timer setting) whether there’s condensate or not.
    • Demand, or “zero loss” drains collect condensate until their reservoir is full, then they discharge the water.  Pros: “zero loss” means just that…they only actuate when condensate is present, and they stop before any compressed air gets out.  Cons: higher purchase price, more moving parts equals potential maintenance concerns.
  • The “last line of defense” (literally) is point-of-use condensate removal.  This is done with products like EXAIR Automatic Drain Filter Separators.  They’re installed close to compressed air operated devices & products, oftentimes just upstream of the pressure regulator and/or flow controls…the particulate filter protects against debris in these devices, and the centrifugal element “spins” any last remaining moisture from the compressed air flow before it gets used.

Good engineering practice calls for point of use filtration and moisture removal, such as that provided by EXAIR Filter Separators.

Efficient and safe use of your compressed air includes maintaining the quality of your compressed air.  If you’d like to find out more about how EXAIR Corporation can help you get the most out of your compressed air system, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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