Our recent customer Neil from company who manufactures light gauge aluminum wanted to see the possibility of using a high-speed centrifugal blower to replace competitive compressed air nozzles at his casting mills.

The problem he had is that the metal chips being created were being blown onto the floor causing a serious safety hazard. This was not his only problem though! A significant amount of these chips were also falling back onto the aluminum sheets causing rejects by their customers.

After briefly talking with Neil about his problem, I educated him on the possible use of our Air Amplifiers versus centrifugal blower. Using a small amount of compressed air as their power source, the Air Amplifier will pull in massive volumes of air from the surrounding environment to produce high velocity and high volume outlet flows at amplification ratios up to 30:1.

Neil ended up installing two (2) 4″ Adjustable Air Amplifiers. The STREAMTEK Air Amplifier system saved him ~35% of compressed air costs and improved the overall quality of his aluminum products.

Got a similar problem within your plant? Contact Us and see how our compressed air-operated products can save you time & money.

Doug Sumner
Application Engineer
doug@stream-tek.com

Many applications in industrial production produce harmful elements, such as dust or fumes, which can be both unpleasant and corrosive. Air fumes and dust cause air pollution representing a huge health hazard for employees who work around the machinery and for the environment in general. Having a healthy work environment is usually a priority for employers and the only way to do that is to eliminate those elements from the work place.

STREAMTEK offers Air Amplifiers as a low cost solution to assist in removing air pollution including fumes and dust from the work place. Installation an Air Amplifier near the source of the pollutant(s) can allow for a safe effective way to route them away from workers. If currently, you use fans to assist in this process, they can be removed easily and replaced with Air Amplifiers, as amplifiers are far more efficient with their low compressed air consumption and high output of air. They also offer a long life in difficult environments, they are maintenance free, output is easily controlled and are very safe to use.

STREAMTEK offers two types of Air Amplifiers: Adjustable Air Amplifier and Hi-Temp Adjustable Air Amplifiers.They come in (4) sizes; 1-1/4″, 2″, 2-1/2″ and 4″. If you need more information about Air Amplifiers specifications, dimensions or accessories, click here.

Doug Sumner
Application Engineer
doug@stream-tek.com

Much as been said about compressed air and it’s high costs over the years. If a plant is using copper tubing/pipe with holes drilled or open slots and compressed is plumbed to them – either compressed air amplifying systems or a blower type system should be used as both will improve overall productivity and reduce energy costs.

FACTS:
Depending on the company and/or personnel involved, each of the following factors may have a lesser or greater weight overall.

1. System Cost
It’s no secret, Blower Systems are far more expensive than compressed air amplifier systems. Separate locations are often required for blower systems due to their high operating noise levels. Expected system maintenance costs should be closely examined prior to any system purchase.

2. Noise Level
Even with silencers added to Blower Systems, they are still far more noisy when compared to compressed air amplifier systems. The STREAMTEK compressed air-operated Advanced Air Knife is extremely quiet at well below 80 dBA for 95% of applications.

3. Operating cost & Maintenance
A compressed air operated amplifier blow-off system requires virtually zero maintenance costs, pending a clean dry source of compressed air is given to the unit(s). Compressed air amplifying units are precision designed to use a very small amount of compressed air while utilizing various angles and shapes to entrain the ambient air and convert pressure to useful airflow.

Blower type systems on the other hand have very high energy & maintenance costs. In addition, they simply can’t be turned on/off as required using solenoid valves, switches and sensors.

4. Availability of energy
Sometimes electrical power may not be available due to the extreme costs to bring in power to a facility. These cost must be considered if installing compressed air lines versus and electrical installation.

5. Reliability
When the motor in a blow system goes down, the entire production line grinds to a halt. Spare parts quickly become very important in critical operations. If you have a critical application, compressed air systems (smaller size systems in particular) are far more reliable as a compressed air amplifier systems runs off stored compressed air.

6. Space/Weight
Blower systems can be very heavy and consume far more space than compressed air amplifiers. Size & weight aside, the actual blow-off force is stronger by nature with compressed air amplifiers when compared to standard blower systems. In addition, blowers are notorious for adding heat to the airflow which increases energy use and spots being left on the item(s) being dried.

7. Application particulars
A blower-operated system is constantly running and sucking up costly energy! A compressed air amplifier system is far more economical in situations where blow-off can be cycled on/off when needed. Blowers may be economical in very light blow-off applications, but the horsepower they require is quite marginal when compared to what 12″ and under compressed air-operated air knives consume.

In conclusion, if you are deciding on a drying or blow-off method, don’t just think about the energy cost associated. If you require a high velocity airflow then you may come to realize that a lower cost compressed air drying system may be your best choice.

When you buy a compressed air amplifier system, you don’t have to be too concerned as to which company to purchase from. This is due to the fact that the source is the same – stored compressed air, usually between 80 & 120 PSIG. On the flip side, Blowers will vary drastically in performance depending on model & make.

Jay Patterson
Application Engineer
jay@stream-tek.com

It’s true, dollar per dollar, cubic foot per cubic foot, compressed air is very expensive. What’s equally true though is that compressed air is found in over 99% of manufacturing plants, while approximately 70% of all manufacturers have a compressed air system in place. These systems power a variety of equipment, including machine tools, material handling, separation equipment and spray painting equipment.

Why is Compressed Air used by so many Manufactures? Well, compressed air can typically do the job better than any other method. The trick is to keep your compressed air supply as efficient as possible, but at the same time keeping the air usage as frugal as possible.

About eight horsepower of electricity is used to generate one horsepower of compressed air. Calculating the cost of compressed air can help you justify improvements for energy efficiency. Need help? Contact a STREAMTEK Application Engineer today!

Over the life of a compressor, energy costs will be five to 10 times the compressor’s purchase cost. Energy savings (optimally use Compressed Air) can rapidly recover the extra capital required to purchase an energy-efficient air compressor.

To find the annual cost of electricity used to power a compressed air system, calculate the cost for running the system under loaded and unloaded conditions.

When it comes to STREAMTEK, we manufacture high quality low cost products which don’t use electricity but produce a high output airflow using a minimal amount of compressed air. For example our Air Amplifiers will create output flows up to 25 times their consumption rate and our Air Knives Air consumption is just ~2.9 SCFM per inch at 80 PSIG with a 40:1 air amplification ratio for the Advanced Air Knife. If your company looking for products which are both energy efficient and provide a high output airflow for conveying, drying, cleaning your materials/products; STREAMTEK is here to help!

A food processing plant packaging a variety of pastries & baked goods needed a way to detect defective plastic containers where the lids would not completely close/seal.

Using the 316 Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Amplifier, our customer was able to mount the Air Amplifier in such a way that as the containers passed by underneath, the lids that were not properly closed would lift up from the suction of the Air Amplifier. These containers would eventually be ejected off the line with a burst of air from the STREAMTEK 3/4″ Air Conveyor.

Jay Patterson
Application Engineer
jay@stream-tek.com