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Today we see a lot of stories about the supply chain being broken. And there may even be truth for that. But the issue is not new. In in the last ten years, whenever a work slowdown occurs

No matter what the technology, the buyer should always be aware that they get what they pay for. As a simple example, recently I purchased a low cost cable replacement for my mobile phone – it was low

With the tightening of labor availability and the increased mandatory safety measures an often neglected area in compressed air systems is to check for leaks. Compressed air auditors rightfully focus on improving air compressor efficiency usage and on

This is an update of an older Blog from 2017 expanding on the use of Air Flow Amplifiers. Air Flow Amplifiers are used for blow off, cooling, and drying but also used for venting applications. A compressed air

With the recent expansion of the manufacture of medical products where static issues can negatively affect production, it may be useful to clarify the practical limits in static charge removal on packaging machines in particular, Production speed desired

Why Does No One Pay Attention to Engineered Air Nozzles – Mostly!: We are biased on this but it does seem that engineered compressed air nozzles are not top of mind in many compressed air blow off applications.

Maintenance costs have been rising for years in an environment of decreasing availability of qualified personnel who are in increasing demand and with increasingly complex in house procedures for personnel safety. Maintaining and improving productivity is paramount in

Since getting involved with air nozzles, air knives and other compressed air operated blow off products, one term that keeps getting used and abused is the term air amplification. There is sometimes a false impression created that the

It’s not only consumer items which have knockoffs but many industrial items as well. One very familiar one is replacement compressor parts. Some might be OK but….. when it’s a copy, you take a risk. Some companies even

With many shutdowns in place of manufacturing deemed non-essential due to the corona virus, there will need to be restarts to factory compressed air systems when the factories are started back up. Many of these operations will have

Medical grade compressed air is used in just about every area of a hospital and is administered to patients who need inhaled medications and anesthesia, while patients are under anesthesia, for treatment of respiratory conditions, and to power

There are all sorts of electrical certification available today – ISO certifications for quality standards, environmental standards, various country or regional certifications again, usually related to materials used and quality. Meeting any standard adds cost to a product.

When companies are trying to estimate the cost saved using compressed air saving technology such as air saving nozzles, compressed air amplifiers, etc. it is important to know your real compressed air cost. A typical figure used is

Possible areas to address in a compressed air system to save energy are listed below. Some, or all may apply to your system: Piping Design, redesign: Increase the diameter of the piping; reduce the length of the network;

Compressed air is used extensively for blow-off, cooling, and drying applications as blowers are not always powerful enough or have other disadvantages in the specific application. Since compressed air is a costly power source factories should reduce the compressed

Industrial cameras that are in very hot environments can be cooled by several means pure compressed air water peltier coolers vortex tubes Pure compressed air can add up to a large running cost due to the cost of

Noise from compressed air can be very loud and damaging so reducing the noise level is important. Three steps should be taken where ever compressed air is exhausted whether from cylinders or when used for blow off and

The two types of fluid power are similar in that both use a fluid to transmit mechanical energy and they also use similar terminology, symbols and components. Hydraulic systems need a pump. Pneumatic systems require a compressor although

Compressed Air Amplifiers are also called “Air Movers” for a reason – they can be used for moving a large volume of air. For examples, a properly designed 2″ Air Amplifier will amplify approximately 15 times the input

The quality of a paint job in refinishing work is affected by the quality of the compressed air that is used. If there is an inadequate quantity of compressed it can negatively affect texture (cause orange peeling or

Definition of Coanda effect is: the tendency of a jet of fluid emerging from an orifice to follow an adjacent flat or curved surface and to entrain fluid from the surroundings so that a region of lower pressure develops.

Water, if left in a compressed air system can cause damage to the system and also contaminate your end product. Water in your compressed air system will cause rust. This rust will mix with any oil from the

Solving pneumatic challenges globally – NexFlow – President One application for small compressed air operated air knives or flat nozzles is to assist in keeping the lens of cameras clean as in the picture shown. In dirty environments,

The new ISO 12500 standard, covers the testing of compressed air filters and to provide a proven and tested basis to evaluate performance. This is a great improvement over the past where one could simply make claims about what

  Despite the push by blower providers to convert compressed air blow off to blower operated systems, the fact is 70% of compressed air is still, on the average, used for blow off applications. Despite higher energy costs, the

Sales people and marketing people need to be aware of the dramatic effect a change of generation can have on the marketplace and therefore their product or service. Here is the classification of generations….. Baby Boomer Generation –

Some months ago I posted the above pic with a short comment but with little explanation of how it worked so I will explain it more now. Extruded profiles come in many shapes and configurations but the Ring

Packaging of goods has gone beyond simple containers, bottles and cans such as the one depicted in the picture above. This particular packaging of pet food needs to be dried after washing. With limited space and a concern

In doing some research on developments in compressed air technology I came across a fascinating bit of Canadian history at: http://www.coppercountryexplorer.com/2011/07/the-taylor-compressor/ Imagined and built by Canadian Charles Taylor, this amazing compressor supplied all the power for a mine

Formal compressed air system audits are costly and can be quite involved,. Experts are available to do this with expensive equipment in very large factory operations. But what about smaller facility where the cost and time is hard

An efficient application for compressed air operated venturi’s like Nex Flow’s Ring Vac units ( see www.nexflow.com) is hopper loading. Whether it’s loading resin for a plastic molding process, or a hopper of bottle caps for a bottling

In any good compressed air system there is a receiver which stores compressed air. One of the advantages of compressed air is that it is an “on demand” source of energy. When it is not needed, it can

A 100 cfm compressor with a refrigeration drier, operating for 4000 hours in a temperate climate, can produce about 2200 USgal of liquid condensate in a year! Failure to remove this moisture can result in condensation in the

While it is known that compressed air is costly to use, there are still things that happen on the shop floor that creates a great deal of waste. The key to maximum efficiency in the use of your

Compressed air noise can be responsible for up to 1/3rd of the noise in a factory operation. So controlling noise from compressed air is important. This can be achieved with the following three steps: 1. Use control devices

High velocity compressed air blow-offs are especially useful if parts don’t need to be “super dry” (as completely free of water) or if there is a requirement to remove “excess” water or other liquid from a part prior

Compressed is a friendly and reliable energy source used for many applications but sometimes not enough thought is given to the “pressure drop” when using the air.   Pressure drop is the loss of pressure due to energy loss

Unusual applications for compressed air are always fun. One such unusual application was at a facility printing lottery tickets. Printing lottery tickets is much like printing money as they need to be controlled to a high quality to

In steel sheet production or other metal sheet production, which is better to use for blow-off? – a series of many small compressed air operated flat jet nozzles or, one or more long compressed air operated air knives? In

Compressed air flow amplifiers (also called air movers) operate using something called the Coanda effect to convert pressure to flow with minimal energy loss. The result is high flow and less noise when used for blow off or cooling

This article is borrowed from a blog by the Marshall Institute at www.marshallinstitute.com Teaching the Millenials a sound reliability strategy early in their career (the Matures, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers too) can be the critical component of a strong manufacturing strategy.

Nex Flow Distributor event attendees were (in no particular order) from Canada, USA, Mexico, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India, Spain, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Finland, Turkey, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and South Africa.

A happy person is a productive person but working in an environment where you sweat all day is not fun. Even in the winter time in cold countries it can be very hot and uncomfortable working in factories such

Cameras are used extensively in production for monitoring to insure quality and are often exposed to hot and harsh environments and may require additional cooling. The most common way to cool an industrial camera in very hot environments is to enclose it in a

An area of major importance is point of use filtration in compressed air lines.   This simply means that a filter (should be) used in font of an air tool, pneumatically operated machine, an air nozzle, a vortex tube, and air

This video illustrates some of the things to keep in mind when using vortex tubes in industrial applications. Video url : https://youtu.be/3OIjke1lcwo

Compressed Air technology for blow off an cooling involves the use of air flow amplifying products in the form of air nozzles, air movers and air knives used in blow off, venturis for conveying, as well as vortex

Easy Engineering two is a continuation of a series of educational videos to explain special compressed air operated items for blow off, cooling and moving on what they are made of, how they work and how to use.

A vortex tube is an interesting device that takes compressed air and divides it into a hot and cold stream. Various theories try to explain why it works but there is no definitive answer. Their primary uses are

A vortex air conditioner like a Nex Flow Panel Cooler is probably the most reliable type of system you can use in air conditioning control panels as it operates only using compressed air. They offer many advantages as

In choosing a company to deal with you should look at the values that drive them.

Filters are an important component in any compressed air system. Clean, dry, and even oil free compressed air and gas is a basic need for many industries. In some applications even a drop of unwanted oil or dirt

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES IN USING COMPRESSED AIR 1. Hoses and lines should be rated to meet the maximum operating pressure of the equipment – avoid using weak plastic tubing in open factory environment as they can split and cause

Anodizing is an environmentally safe electrochemical process that converts the aluminum metal surface into a porous aluminum oxide, ultimately creating an end product whose finish is more durable and weather-resistant. Aluminum anodizing enhances the characteristics of aluminum in

Imagine a factory environment – maybe a fertilizer plant or a chemical production facility with electrical and electronic cabinets that need to be kept clean. Not only does the maintenance cost of maintaining the air conditioning systems become

One of our customers made a very nice setup to be able to dry extruded pipe using Ring Blade Air Wipes manufactured by Nex Flow Air Products Corp. Very easy to switch out one Air Wipe diameter with

Variable Frequency Drives describe equipment used to control the speed of machinery. Many industrial processes such as assembly lines must operate at different speeds for different products. Where process conditions demand adjustment of flow from a pump or

In some industrial casting and forging situations the items made need to be cooled quickly for handling purposes or for an on-going process such as marking or assembly, otherwise the processes cannot be completed properly or handling would

There is a big shift in thinking and therefore the way things are being done in industrial operations with the entry of more and more millennials coming into the workforce. What this means to promotion and reaching out

Late October, 2016 there was a landmark agreement among 170 countries to set firm dates for the curbing the use of HCFC’s in air conditioning systems with penalties for non-compliance. Developed countries must reduce their use of HFCs

On Oct 15, 2016 countries around the world signed on to the Kigali Agreement, an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which hopes to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) significantly. The deal promises the largest temperature reduction ever

Compressed air is viewed as a costly method for blow off and cooling applications and some look to electric motor driven blowers as a replacement. This is a reasonable with a focus for energy saving being a major

In cleaning statically charged products there are claims by some companies that static can be removed as far as 20 feet away. What they do NOT say is how fast. This can lead to disastrous applications in manufacturing

Growth of a person and a business or industry occurs not from doing what everyone else does, it happens with innovation. The above quote is from Deepak Chopra.

Both low pressure blowers and high pressure compressed air is used for blow-off and cooling applications. Much has been made of the higher energy cost in using compressed air over the last 15 to 20 years which all

Several companies manufacturer vortex tube operated air conditioners primarily for electrical and electronic enclosures. Some promote them as the solution to all applications when in fact that is not the case. There are many types of devices on

With the advent of new technologies manufacturing will be transitioning in ways that not even science fiction could foresee. Some trends to note…. 1. New technique such as 3D printing will eliminate the need for many products now

Vortex tubes create freezing air from compressed air and are used as air conditioners for cooing control panels – even cameras in hot environments. Main complaint against using vortex tube cooling units for air conditioning is the cost

Of the roughly 40 million Americans suffering from hearing loss, 10 million can be attributed to noise-induced hearing loss. With extended exposure, decibel levels of 85 or more can lead to hearing loss. Exposure to impulse or continuous