Air knives improve bottling line
August 2006
Pneumatics & Hydraulics
Bottles on a bottling line emerging from a pasteuriser are conveyed to a labelling station. Water carry-over from the bottles created a slip hazard and housekeeping problems. In addition, open air jets drying the bottles upstream of the labeller consumed over 150 SCFM of compressed air and caused noise levels in excess of 90 dBA.
An 'air gauntlet' consisting of 305 mm Exair Super Air Knives was installed immediately downstream of the pasteuriser. As the bottles pass through, the Super Air Knives sweep the water straight down into a container, eliminating the carry-over problem. The open air jets at the labelling station were also replaced with Super Air Knives, reducing noise levels to 70 dBA and air consumption by over 50%.
The ability of the Super Air Knive to sweep the bottles with a continuous, laminar sheet of air was key to success in this application. The safety issue was completely eliminated by having the defined airstream direct the rinse water into the container instead of the floor. As an added bonus, this company saved so much air that they were able to shut down an auxiliary compressor. Payback on the replacement of the wasteful open air jets was measured in weeks, not months or years.
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