Efficient compressed air usage
February 2001
Pneumatics & Hydraulics
When using compressed air for cleaning, drying and many other applications, air knife technology is significantly superior to plain round nozzles and holes drilled in pipes.
For example, with the pressure at 550 kPa (5,5 bar), a 6,35 mm open pipe will consume 32 litres/s (69 CFM). In a 24 h period, this would work out to 0,0342 x 24 x 69 = R56,63 per day. Compare this to a 150 mm air knife, which would consume only 8,2 litres/s (17,4 CFM), over same period costing 0,0342 x 24 x 17,4 = R14,28 per day. The super air knife uses 75% less air and runs 11% quieter.
In a typical application, a manufacturer of large engines installs machined cylinder sleeves in the block to resist wear. After machining, the sleeves are put through a parts washer for cleaning. Heavy amounts of honing oil remained on the sleeves. Numerous wash cycles and frequent changes of the contaminated washing solution were required.
A pre-wash oil blow-off stage with three model 110012 12" super air knives were installed. An air knife above the conveyor blows off the oil from the grooved ring on top of the sleeves. Seconds later, another set of vertically mounted air knives 'wipe' the remaining oil from the sides.
Production rates dramatically increased as the parts only required one wash cycle. The compact super air knife is a good solution since it generates a high volume, high velocity sheet of airflow. It provides a balanced airstream that hits the entire surface with uniform force. This same arrangement of the super air knives is also appropriate for drying and cleaning other cylindrical shapes such as aerosol cans, buckets, jars, paint cans, bottles, etc.
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