Tag: wiping

Super Air Wipe at Sea

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

I recently worked with a Chief Engineer on a large shipping boat who was having issues with water being brought in by the mooring cables. That salt water was getting into the maintenance room where the mooring cables were wound around a large spool. He wanted to remove the water from the cable before it went below deck so the extra water could just run off the deck back into the ocean.

After talking a bit we decided on a 4″ Super Air Wipe constructed of 303 stainless steel. This way the extra water would be removed and any debris the cable pulled in with it.

Mooring Cable going thru a EXAIR Super AirWipe

The Super Air Wipes provide a full 360° conical airflow that is used to blow-off, cool, clean and dry products. A Coanda profile is designed into the body of the unit to maximize entrainment of ambient air as well as give the precision angle for the air to exit from. This gives the air stream impacting the target zone a 30° angle to the surface in order to provide a substantial shear force for debris removal. This also ensures the large volume of ambient air entrained will all travel the correct direction and not become turbulent before impinging on the surface.

To meet all the tasks at hand, the Super Air Wipes are offered in two main materials of construction. Aluminum body with brass air fittings, connected with stainless steel hardware, shim and connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm). As well as 303 stainless steel body with stainless steel bolts, shim, the connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm) and fittings. The stainless-steel components give the units better corrosion resistance, higher temperature ratings, and more durability in harsh industrial environments.

The aluminum Super Air Wipe is available in 11 sizes; the stainless steel Super Air Wipe comes in 5 sizes…all from stock.

EXAIR stocks the aluminum Super Air Wipes with inner diameters from 3/8” (10 mm) for wire and cables up to 11” (279mm) for large pipes and hoses. The aluminum models have a temperature rating up to 400oF (204oC). We also stock the stainless-steel models from ½” (13mm) to 4” (102mm) inner diameters, and they have a temperature range up to 800oF (427oC). If you require different diameters or materials, we can do that as well easily.

With the creation of the Super Air Wipe, uniform cleaning, cooling, and blowing around the outside of parts is a simple task. You don’t have to worry about a variety of nozzles to target the circumference or a fabricated blow-off device that will waste air and take much time out of your day. A simple purchase of the Super Air Wipe Kit will solve the problem and keep production going. If you need help in selecting the proper size or want to know what material we would recommend for your application, contact us.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Product Discovery: Super Air Wipes

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Airflow through the Super Air Wipe

The Super Air Wipes provide a full 360° conical airflow that is used to blow-off, cool, clean and dry products. A Coanda profile is designed into the body of the unit to maximize entrainment of ambient air as well as give the precision angle for the air to exit from. This gives the air stream impacting the target zone a 30° angle to the surface in order to provide a substantial shear force for debris removal. This also ensures the large volume of ambient air entrained will all travel the correct direction and not become turbulent before impinging on the surface.

Easy clam-shell installation

To provide ease of installation, a unique clam-shell design was engineered to provide clamp over installation rather than traditional threading methods. This also permits quick changes in size when needed in the rapid product change environments.

Super Air Wipe Family Photo

To meet all the tasks at hand, the Super Air Wipes are offered in two main materials of construction. Aluminum body with brass air fittings, connected with stainless steel hardware, shim and connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm). As well as 303 stainless steel body with stainless steel bolts, shim, the connecting hose for up to 4” (102mm) and fittings. The stainless-steel components give the units better corrosion resistance, higher temperature ratings, and more durability in harsh industrial environments.

EXAIR stocks the aluminum Super Air Wipes with inner diameters from 3/8” (10 mm) for wire and cables up to 11” (279mm) for large pipes and hoses. The aluminum models have a temperature rating up to 400oF (204oC). We also stock the stainless-steel models from ½” (13mm) to 4” (102mm) inner diameters, and they have a temperature range up to 800oF (427oC). If you require different diameters or materials, we can do that as well easily.

Super Air Wipe Kit

The Super Air Wipe kits to help get the most out of the air wipes. A kit will include the Super Air Wipe, a filter, regulator and shim set. The filter will remove bulk liquids and debris from the compressed air to keep the performance optimal. The regulator is used to fine-tune the force provided by the Super Air Wipe. This helps to not over-use the amount of compressed air required for the job.

With a regulator, you can make fine adjustments to get the proper amount of air. For coarse adjustments, you can add shims to increase the airflow and force. They are easy to install on the Super Air Wipes to allow for applications to have more cooling, faster drying, and better removal for tough debris. For cleanliness and control, the Super Air Wipe Kits would be recommended for your application.

Robotic Welder fitted with EXAIR Super Air Wipe

With the creation of the Super Air Wipe, uniform cleaning, cooling, and blowing around the outside of parts is a simple task. You don’t have to worry about a variety of nozzles to target the circumference or a fabricated blow-off device that will waste air and take much time out of your day. A simple purchase of the Super Air Wipe Kit will solve the problem and keep production going. If you need help in selecting the proper size or want to know what material we would recommend for your application, contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Will Water Move Through EXAIR Air Knives and Air Wipes? (Images included)

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Today, I would like to discuss a question that comes up time and time again over the years.  “What happens when I put water through a Super Air Knife?” That raised another question from myself of what about a Super Air Wipe?

The answer is quite simple, it will come out, just not as good as compressed air does.   The engineering and design for Super Air Knives were all based around compressed air use.  With any good product of course comes the question in time, how else can we use this?   A number of applications for the Super Air Knife is blowing moisture off a part that has been applied through a series of wash/rinse nozzles.  What if the knife could apply the liquid and then a second knife could remove the liquid.  Below are some images from testing that was done on a Stainless Steel Super Air Knife at various gap sizes and various pressures.    The “best” performance visually was from operating the air knife with .004″ gap and approximately  a 17 PSIG inlet pressure (this is for a 12″ Super Air Knife).

Water flowing through a 12" Stainless Steel Super Air Knife
Water flowing through a 12″ Stainless Steel Super Air Knife

As you can see in the photos, the water does flow fairly well immediately out of the knife, and becomes more turbulent as it gets further away from the knife.   The stream actually begins to break up and thus the effective distance of the knife may be reduced when using it to flow liquids.   This is not going to perform like a pressure washer, the maximum distance for the stream of liquid before it completely fell off was around 10′ from the discharge point.   If this were to be used to remove loose debris or to cover a part in water to help cool the part the stream would be more than enough to perform.

As noted above the operating pressure was fairly low, and the gap was at a .004″ thickness.  I recently tested a 1″ Stainless Steel Super Air Wipe as well.  The shim gap was once again set to .004″ thick to permit a better flow and a low pressure, approximately 10-12 psig inlet pressure.  As you can see the flow of water is not as smooth as the air flow out of a Super Air Wipe but if a light rinsing process was needed, or a water cooling process, this would work well.

1" Stainless Steel Super Air Wipe w/ Water
1″ Stainless Steel Super Air Wipe w/ Water

 

So the answer to the main question at hand is yes, a Super Air Knife and Super Air Wipe will both operate with a pressurized liquid source under the correct circumstances.   While they do not operate exactly like they do with compressed air, the results still prove useful in certain applications.

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

One Super Air Wipe doing the job of 3 Generic Air Wipes

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Today, I had the opportunity to the work with a customer, who produces soft seals for the window and door industry. The soft seals are created through a multi-step process, where drying is critical for the overall quality of the product. After the extrusion of PPE (polyphenyl ethers) material, the seal is run through a water bath.  The next step is for the extruded PPE to be dried using compressed air.  After drying, a glue is applied to join the PPE soft seal to an aluminum frame.  If the PPE was not dry from the water bath, the glue would not bond the aluminum and soft seal together.

 

The customer wanted to replace their current compressed air drying system. The current system utilized (3) ceramic air wipes to dry off the PPE seal before the gluing process. He was relatively new to the company or the particular line, so he did not have all the history for the production line during our conversation. We were both wondering why three consecutive air wipes were used when one air wipe should be getting the job done, but we never could figure it out regardless. I pointed out that one EXAIR Super Air Wipe will clean off a variety cross sections in one pass. The old air wipes used 7.6 SCFM of compressed air for each air wipe or a total air flow of 22.8 SCFM to dry the rubber seal. Also, the old air wipes created 80 dB of noise. A correctly sized 1/2″ EXAIR Super Air Wipe would lower that noise to 75 dBA and lower the total air consumption to 13.9 SCFM.

AirWipe

By replacing three inferior ceramic wire dryers with one EXAIR model 2400 Super Air Wipe, the customer was able to get the job done better, reduce his noise level and save compressed air. EXAIR has the broadest line of problem solving compressed air products, if you have a problem area or an application you think we may be able to solve, please let us know. We are happy to assist.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW