One of the more common applications we work with is cooling. In most instances, the goal is to cool the part as quickly as possible. In order to cool faster, you would think that blowing the coldest air possible would be the best option. Our Vortex Tubes can produce air as cold as -50°F! However, in many instances, more effective cooling will be achieved through larger volumes of air. As long as the ambient air temperature is lower than the target temperature, larger volumes of ambient air will outperform a small volume.
Our Super Air Amplifier is a great option for producing large volumes of laminar (non-turbulent) airflow for minimal compressed air consumption. Using a Coanda profile along with a patented shim, compressed air exits the Amplifier in a manner that generates a low pressure zone, which helps pull in the surrounding ambient air. This creates an amplification ratio of up to 25 times! Due to the laminar output flow having the same speed and direction, it is very effective at removing heat from a target. It also helps keep noise levels down.
The most common, non-compressed air alternative to our Amplifiers is an electric fan. Fans utilize motors and blades to direct air towards their target. When air comes in from behind the fan, the blades push the air forward to the target. This action generates turbulent air flow, as well as a lot of noise. Due to the use of motors, there are parts that can wear out over time, leading to additional maintenance costs over the lifetime of the fan.
Ultimately, when it comes to cooling, what we care about most is how quickly a given solution will get the job done. Is a Super Air Amplifier going to cool faster than a fan? In the video below we put both options to the test. As you will see, the Super Air Amplifier is significantly faster:
If you have a cooling application that you would like to discuss, give us a call!
Entering a confined space comes with a number of risks:
Physical hazards: mechanical equipment, falling objects, structural collapse, etc. Historically, these account for about 20% of fatalities associated with confined space entry.
Engulfment hazards: that’s a less horrific way to say “buried alive.” These are similar to some physical hazards, except the danger is from asphyxiation instead of being crushed. A prime example of this would be a farmworker falling into a grain silo in such a way that their head is submerged in the volume of grain. About 11% of confined space entry fatalities involve engulfment accidents. EXAIR Line Vacs are actually used in emergency responses to these.
Atmospheric hazards: Without adequate ventilation, carbon dioxide can build up, displacing the oxygen that workers need to breathe. Toxic and flammable gases are in this category as well, and whether workers are asphyxiated or poisoned, failure to provide a safe atmosphere accounts for almost 60% of confined space entry deaths.
Before workers enter a confined space, permits are oftentimes required. Atmospheric monitoring and ventilation are key aspects of such permits: Monitoring to ensure an adequate level of oxygen and the reduction of toxic & flammable gases to safe exposure limits, and ventilation to make sure that happens. It’s generally recommended to have ventilation/exhaust equipment capable of providing 20 air changes per hour.
EXAIR Air Amplifiers are an easy & reliable choice for providing the required ventilation. With no moving parts to break or electrical components to fail, all they need is a supply of compressed air. So, how do we choose the right one? Since we know we need 20 air changes an hour, the first step is to determine the volume of the space. Let’s say we need to enter a 10ft x 6ft x 6ft tank:
10ft x 10ft x 12ft = 1,200 cubic feet
1,200 cubic feet of air X 20 changes per hour = 24,000 cubic feet of air to change per hour
In this case, we could specify a Model 6042 2″ Aluminum Adjustable Air Amplifier, which uses just 21.5 SCFM @80psig to generate a total developed flow of 430 SCFM (see table above). Minus the 21.5 SCFM of compressed air flow, that means it’s drawing 408.5 SCFM in from the tank.
If additional airflow is required, the ring gap of the Adjustable Air Amplifier can be easily increased by threading the plug out of the body until the needed flow is achieved. A Pressure Regulator can also be used to ‘fine tune’ the compressed air supply, and hence, the ventilation flow.
EXAIR Air Amplifiers are a simple, low-cost way to move air, smoke, fumes, and even light materials. If you’d like to find out more, or if you have a potential application to discuss, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
EXAIR makes a wide variety of Intelligent Compressed Air Products that can be used for blowoff applications. The first step is to consider what size, and shape, the airflow pattern needs to be. If it’s a smooth, flat surface, our Air Knives are ideal for that. If a more directed, focused stream of air is required, we have Air Nozzles, Air Jets, and Air Amplifiers. And if it’s for statically charged debris, we can put Ionizers on Air Knives (Super Ion Air Knives), Air Nozzles (Intellistat Ion Air Nozzles), Air Jets (Gen4 Ion Air Jets) and Air Amplifiers (Gen4 Ion Air Cannons.)
If you navigate the EXAIR website to our Blowoff Kits, you’ll see that we can provide a number of our quiet, safe, and efficient Air Nozzles with Magnetic Bases and/or Stay Set Hoses for a quick & easy Blowoff System. In addition to the half dozen or so systems that are specifically called out, you can also put together your own setup that best suits your application. Here’s how:
Example: Model 1100-9412 is two Super Air Nozzles on a Dual Outlet Magnetic Base with 12″ Stay Set Hoses.
If you’d like to discuss a blowoff application – regardless of size or shape – give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
My first motorcycle was given to me by a friend of my brother who knew I just wanted to ride and, at the same time, knew I didn’t have the means to buy anything rideable. It came with some stipulations: there wasn’t a key, and it didn’t run. It was given to him by someone else, and the best part was that it actually had a service manual and a title.
1 – Camera phone / my first motorcycle
The bike was a 1984 Kawasaki KZ440 LTD. The issue was, rust in the gas tank had clogged the carb, and then it sat for years with the fuel in it. I had never attempted to rebuild a carburetor and had only heard horror stories. With my basic set of tools and the bike stored at my then-girlfriend’s house, I took the carbs off and figured, how hard could the repair be? I took everything apart, cleaned it all, or so I thought, put it back together, and it didn’t work. So then I took the carbs to a shop, and they warned me they couldn’t get them fully adjusted, but they were running. So I installed them back and found out I had to block off some of the intake, and it ran like a dream. Well, until you sat at idle, because then gas would leak out of the overflow onto the exhaust. I didn’t care, and I rode that bike for two years until the electric starter went out, and I worked on it continuously. Finally, I was able to purchase a fuel-injected bike and swore off carbs. Well, I was wrong. I now attempt to bring old equipment back to life for fun.
Well, last night, in between delivering the kids to Young Life and troubleshooting a car, I also had a carb off my dad’s John Deere 322 with electric choke. The tractor wasn’t running, he needed to get his garden tilled, and this tractor was the only way to do that. He brought me just the carb, and with this being a single-carb 3-cylinder motor, it is pretty simple. Having access to a friend with an ultrasonic cleaner makes it even easier. I opened the carb up and left the two halves fully assembled, then into an ultrasonic cleaner that was filled with piping-hot water and dish soap. No harsh cleaners; from shared experience of others, I have found that good old dish soap and hot water are all that is needed most of the time to clean these parts up.
That is some dirty water, and it had only been about 15 minutes in the cleaner.
After about 45 minutes in the cleaner, I took it out and checked all the jets with a light and a carb brush. Everything looked clean, I went and picked up some new bolts to hold the halves together, and sent them back home with my dad. He called me the next day and gave me the good news that the tractor ran better than it ever has.
All cleaned up, new bolts, and ready for testing.
The entire process made me realize that a carburetor is not far off from a couple of EXAIR products that we offer for refurbishment. Some of the products that we frequently refurbish for some customers are the EXAIR Air Knives and the Reversible Drum Vacs. These refurbishments are often the result of the environment and a failure in the filtration of the compressed air. The best part is that we will evaluate the products for free, determine if they can be repaired or refurbished, and then provide a quote for the process all within a few days of the item getting here. We also offer free videos of how to do things like clean the RDV for free through this blog.
Obviously, at some point, the filter and/or pretreatment for this compressed air supply failed and was not monitored. You can see the outline of the patented shim on the throat of this Super Air Amplifier.
Take this Super Air Amplifier, for instance. The system came in for the issue of underperformance, and we had already discussed with the customer how their filtration had failed about a year ago. They wanted to see what could bring this unit back to life. As soon as we saw pictures of it, we knew that the plenum was clogged up with debris.
If you have any EXAIR product that you think is not performing at an optimal level, please contact an Application Engineer today. If the product cannot be refurbished or repaired, we will give you a replacement option as well. The best part is, stock products ship the same day on orders received by 2 PM ET.
