As the father of two sons, I spend a lot of time telling them to turn off the lights in their rooms when they leave them. I also spend a lot of time turning the lights off in their rooms after they’ve long left them. To their credit, though, they’re both pretty good about putting away their clean clothes, getting their dirty laundry to the hamper, clearing the dinner table, etc…they do give me a lot to be proud of, responsibility-wise, so flipping a light switch a couple times a day isn’t so bad, all things considered. As I wrote about a while back, the electric company gave me a bunch of CFL light bulbs, which I promptly installed throughout the house, so I’m really getting off light (pun intended.)
Compressed air users don’t get so lucky, though…in fact, turning off compressed air flow when it’s not needed is among the most valuable of the “Best Practices for Compressed Air Systems,” as published by the fine folks at the Compressed Air Challenge. And this is where the compressed air users’ luck can change by using EXAIR’s EFC Electronic Flow Control.
The EFC is a system consisting of a programmable timer which opens and closes a solenoid valve, based on input from a photoelectric sensor. A typical installation might be on a conveyor belt, where gaps exist between parts that are being blown off by a compressed air device like an Air Knife, Air Nozzle, Air Amplifier, etc. The sensor would be mounted to “see” the parts when they’re in position for blow off…when one is there, it’ll open the solenoid valve. When the part has passed, it closes the valve.
If your application isn’t quite so “cut and dry,” the timer has eight modes of operation to choose from, and the time scale is adjustable down to a tenth of a second. For more details on this, Lee Evans made a fine video that explains it all.
If you have a blow off that doesn’t need to be continuous, then the EFC is just what you need. For selection assistance, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer – we’re eager to help!
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
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Filed under: Air Amplifier, Air Knife, Compressed Air, Compressed Air Optimization, Customer Service, Sustainability Tagged: Air Amplifier, air blowing, Air Knife, Air nozzle, air nozzles, Compressed Air Challenge, compressed air efficiency, compressed air product applications, compressed air products, customer service, EFC, Electronic Flow Control, engineered air nozzles, exair, FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions, Knowledge Base, leeevansexair, manufacturing, optimization, RRBowman, video
