Stop blowing money away!

Pneumatics & Hydraulics

April 2009 Pneumatics & Hydraulics

The economic recession has companies tightening their belts and looking for ways to significantly reduce costs. Compressed air leaks and inefficient blow-offs can be wasting thousands of Rands in electricity. Some simple upgrades and repairs to a compressed air system can cut an electricity bill, make a system more effective and limit compressed air usage.

Exair has produced products to help users optimise their compressed air systems. The Ultrasonic Leak Detector can identify costly leaks, often paying for itself when the first leak is located and repaired. The EFC Electronic Flow Control turns off the compressed air used for blow-off when no part is present; digital flowmeters measure compressed air usage and monitor waste. Exair’s receiver tank can be installed at the point of highest demand so additional compressed air is available for a short duration. Pressure regulators permit easy selection of an operating pressure that will allow the air product to work properly without using excessive amounts of compressed air.

It is most important to use compressed air responsibly; users need to look at upgrading their blow-offs. Exair’s efficient, award winning Super Air Nozzles, Super Air Knives and Super Air Amplifiers effectively entrain large volumes of room air using only small parts of compressed air as the power source.

For example a 3 mm open pipe blow-off system at 5,5 bar uses 70 CFM. Replace the open pipe with an Exair Adjustable Air Nozzle model 1009SS, and this drops to 13 CFM at 5,5 Bar – a saving of 57 CFM.

With this saving on just one open pipe, you could run two Exair Panel Coolers model 4030 to stop electronic downtime due to heat. This not only keeps the electronics cool but also positively pressurises the panel, keeping it clean and dry, thus reducing maintenance and housekeeping costs. You can achieve further savings by thermostatically controlling the panel cooler, so that it will only run when heat levels become critical, conserving air accordingly.

Often blowers are chosen over compressed air driven units due to slightly better electrical consumption compared to a compressor. In reality, a blower is an expensive capital expenditure that requires frequent downtime and costly maintenance of filters, belts and bearings. Blowers take up a lot of space and often produce sound levels that exceed OSHA noise level exposure requirements. Air volume and velocity are often difficult to control since mechanical adjustments are required. Notwithstanding the fact that often water is not completely removed from the product and can backlash in the form of ‘rust under bottle tops’.

All Exair equipment meets or exceeds OSHA requirements on noise and dead end pressure levels. Making it one of the safest, cost effective and efficient compressed air-product ranges available.

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Pneumatics & Hydraulics

Stop blowing money away!

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