» Air Knife http://blog.stream-tek.com Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:20:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Dry Beer kegs prior to labeling http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/07/dry-beer-kegs-prior-labeling/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/07/dry-beer-kegs-prior-labeling/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:16:43 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=398 A recent customer (George) owns a small beer company and recently contacted us for a solution to a common problem he was facing.

After his kegs were filled with beer, the condensation on kegs surface needed to be dried before the labeling process could commence. Prior to George ordering our Stainless Steel Regular Air Knives his company did not have any process in place which dried their kegs in an efficient manner. Instead they had a long conveyor in which they waited for the condensation to dry as the kegs full of beer were being transported to the final labeling station. This proved to be extremely time consuming and in most cases resulted in a very spotty keg surface.

George decided to order (2) Stainless Steel Regular Air Knives which he installed on each side of the transport conveyor. The two Air Knives were each able to blast a completely uniform sheet of airflow onto each side of the kegs surface. This resulted in not only improved drying and labeling, but George was able to shorten the length of the transport conveyor and free up a considerable amount of space within the factory.

If you have same or similar issues within your facility click here for additional details and/or call us toll free 1-888-218-6548 (US and Canada) or +1-705-770-4455 (International Contact)

Jay Patterson

Application Engineer

jay@stream-tek.com

]]> http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/07/dry-beer-kegs-prior-labeling/feed/ 0 Dry Jars before their labeling http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/06/dry-jars-before-their-labeling/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/06/dry-jars-before-their-labeling/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:34:52 +0000 boris http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=396 Air Knives are often used to dry jars which are commonly used for packaging pickles, olives, etc. After the jars are washed and filled, the outside will become too wet for labels to properly adhere. In addition, moisture can also be trapped under the metal cap which may cause rusting.

One of our customers who packages Olives and was experiencing this very problem. I suggested that he install a couple of our Advanced Stainless Steel Air Knives. The customer (Phil) ended up installing two STREAMTEK Air Knives (one on each side of the conveyor).

Previous to installing our compressed air-operated Air Knives, Phil was using a painfully slow method to dry his jars….ELECTRIC FANS!! The amount of $$$ Phil is going to save will be tremendous. Why? The STREAMTEK Air Knife does not use electricity, will NEVER fail and has no moving parts. The same can’t be said for his old fans…

Thanks to the STREAMTEK Air knife Phil was able to improve drying, enhance appearance, remove jars that was rejected, lower operating costs and overall increase customer satisfaction and all with our low cost solution STREAMTEK “Advanced Air Knife“.

Doug Sumner
Application Engineer
doug@stream-tek.com

]]> http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/06/dry-jars-before-their-labeling/feed/ 0 Drying Aluminum cans with Air Knives http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/drying-aluminum-cans-with-air-knives/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/drying-aluminum-cans-with-air-knives/#comments Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:48:30 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=342 A company that manufactures aluminum cans contacted us with regards to a problem they were having during the packaging process. After manufacturing, the cans need to be cleaned and washed prior to shipment to their customers who then use them to package fruit and vegetables. Due to the cans not being dried properly they were seeing a lot of stress corrosion and this was causing the cans to leak. Also the cardboard used for packaging the calls was weakened by the left over water from the cans.

By installing two 12″ Regular Aluminum Air knife on each side of the conveyor and an additional 36″ Regular Aluminum Air Knife along the top, they were successful in stripping the water from the cans being transported down the conveyor. Using our low cost affordable air knives our customer was able to:

- Reduce customer returns (cans don’t contain corrosion)
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Increase productivity
- Increase drying speeds

If you would like more information regarding STREAMTEK Air Knives see following page and see what option may be best for you. You can also get in contact with one of our Application Engineers if you have any questions by calling us toll free +1-888-218-6548 (Outside of USA/Canada +1-705-770-4455).

Jay Patterson
Application Engineer
jay@stream-tek.com

]]> http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/drying-aluminum-cans-with-air-knives/feed/ 0 Use Air Knife to Remove water from peas before freezing http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/peas-air-knife/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/peas-air-knife/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:13:15 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=351 A Pea Packaging company contacted us the other day to see if our Air Knife would be able to assist in removing water from their peas prior to freezing. They were encountering a problem with excess water causing the peas to clump together and they had received several complaints. The company was also experiencing issues in the production process due to the water icing up the conveyor belt and jamming their production line.

Our engineer assisted our customer with choosing the right Air Knife for their needs and told them that 54″ Advanced Air Knife would be able to remove all the water from the peas in a few seconds and the peas would be able to enter the freezing process completely dry. The customer contacted us back shortly after installation and informed us that he was satisfied with the results. He placed the 54″ Advanced Air Knife over the conveyor belt immediately before the freezer. He mounted it easily with the 5 holes located at the rear of the Air Knife to connect to the compressed air power source and using a small amount of compressed air he was able to successfully remove all the excess water from the peas.

We sell our Air Knives with a standard machined .002″ Stainless Steel shim which will work for most applications. The installation is easy and problem free. Contact our sales team for more details.

Jay Patterson
Application Engineer
jay@stream-tek.com

]]> http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/peas-air-knife/feed/ 0 Remove Salt from Rubber Extrusion http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/salt-air-knife/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/salt-air-knife/#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 03:37:49 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=272 Recently our customer, who owns a company that manufactures door and window seals, contacted us. His company uses a salt potassium nitrate to cure and produce a gloss finish of rubber extrusion which is used as build inside doors and windows. Using conveyor rollers, the rubber extrusion travels through a bath with the salt potassium nitrate and then moved outside to dry.

After a short talk with the customer it was apparent that the same salt used in the production of the rubber extrusion was also adhering to the strip, spoiling the appearance of the final product and also causing maintenance issues by sticking to the conveyors used to transfer the rubber extrusion. The topping up of the salt in the bath is hazardous and needs to be kept at a minimum for safety reasons.

I suggested the installation of two Advanced Air Knife above the conveyor and see if the results were satisfactory.

The customer called us back 5 days later and told us that the Air Knives performed perfectly. Both air knives blew the water out in a much shorter time. Installation of the Air Knives allowed for the following:

- Reduced in amount of salt that is used in production
- Reduced maintenance
- Increase safety in the production line
- Improve quality of the final product

Jay Patterson
Application Engineer
jay@stream-tek.com

]]> http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/04/salt-air-knife/feed/ 0 Cleaning Steel Grinders http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/cleaning_steel_grinder/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/cleaning_steel_grinder/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:19:48 +0000 Doug http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=265 We have recently talked about using our Air Knives to remove cooking and cutting oil. We would like to offer you yet another example of the useful applications provided by our Air Knives. The following is directly from a satisfied customer who ordered our Advanced Air Knife in Nov 2009 and was happy to provide us with results of his success story.

Our customer is a manufacturer of steel girders. Steel girders, used commonly in the construction industry, are often stored outside in the yard and then transferred onto a conveyor for processing. The problem our customer was encountering was the girders, being stored outside, were often wet, covered with leaves, dirt, etc. The manufacturer wanted them cleaned prior to them entering the factory. When he contacted us he was using man power to clean the steel girders one by one, which was time consuming and
costly especially in the winter months when they were covered by ice and snow.

Our customer, after working with our application engineers, decided to install two 48″ Advanced Air Knife. He installed them on both sides of the conveyor to remove all debris. Using heated compressed air as a source of power, he was able to remove the snow and ice with ease, eliminating his main problem of the winter. Thanks to the Advanced Air Knife our buyer was able to:

  • Improve product finish after processing
  • Reduce labour cost
  • Faster processing of the steel girders

    • Doug Sumner
    Application Engineer
    doug@stream-tek.com

    ]]>     http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/cleaning_steel_grinder/feed/ 0     Use Air Knife to Remove cutting Oil http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/use-air-knife-to-remove-cutting-oil/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/use-air-knife-to-remove-cutting-oil/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:00:58 +0000 Doug http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=255 Previously, I talked about a satisfied customer who implemented STREAMTEK Advanced Air Knife into his production line to remove oil from his food products. Today, I would like to share with you another example of the way a STREAMTEK Advanced Air Knife can be used, brought up through a different customer interaction in February.

    Our customer had problems with cutting oil which was used in the manufacturing of threaded bars. The problem was the oil carried along the conveyor together with threaded bars and was dripping onto the floor around the conveyor causing an enormous health and safety concern for workers on the line who were removing the cutting oil by hand. The customer wanted to see if our Air Knives would be able to assist in the prevention of the oil spilling to the floor and possibly separating it for reuse.

    After a meeting with our Application engineer, he decided to try our 42″ Stainless Steel Advanced Air Knife. With our guarantee, he was comfortable with testing it out, knowing if for any reason he was unsatisfied he could return it within 30 days for a full refund and no restocking fee.

    During a follow up with the customer, he was more then happy to share with us how easy the installation of the Air Knife was to his production line. By following the Air Knife Installation Manual, he installed the Air Knife just prior to where the bar is dropped onto the conveyor and he also installed an empty tank below the conveyor, allowing the excess oil blown off to be caught and available for reuse. Once installed, he said that the Air Knife was able to produce enough air flow to blow all the excess oil from the thread bars to the installed tank upon exit of the machine leaving the conveyor completely clean. By adding Air Knife on his production line this customer was able to:

    - remove the safety hazard,

    - save money labor to manually remove oil

    - reduce material costs (costs on oil)

    As you can tell from our recent customer interactions, whether working with food or metals, Air Knives, can help your company in completing your production process easier, cheaper and most importantly safer then previously done. Stay tuned for further publications on Air Knife applications. If you would like more info to complete your order please visit one of our Air Knives today.

    Doug Sumner
    Application Engineer
    doug@stream-tek.com

    ]]>     http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/use-air-knife-to-remove-cutting-oil/feed/ 0     Air Knife used to remove cooking oil from croutons http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/removing-oil-air-knife/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/removing-oil-air-knife/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:39:32 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=251 Our customer (Joe) has a company which produces and sells croutons (a small piece of sautéed or rebaked bread) and they have a problem because their customers have complained that the croutons have too much oil on them. In addition, the excess oil not only spoils the crispness of the croutons, but increases the overall weight; therefore making them more expensive to the end customer

    Currently a vibrating conveyor is being utalized to remove as much oil as possible. Though this method works OK, it has proven to be very time consuming and Joe desperately needs the space as his company has recently moved to a smaller location to save on costs due to the economic downturn.

    After a short talk with Joe, I suggested that he implement one of our Advanced Air Knives and see the results. Our compressed air-operated Air Knife will easily blow-off the oil from croutons without affecting croutons quality or structure.

    Just 1 week after Joe received his Air Knife, he called me back and couldn’t be happier. Joe was floored by the results! After a few test runs he was able to determine that the mount of oil which was removed using the Advanced Air Knife had increased to more than 60% than that of the previous method (vibrating conveyor). He was also quick to point out how quite the Air Knife was (well below 80 dBA), as he initially expected the Air Knife to produce upwards of 85-90 dBA.

    Got a similar problem within your production line? Call us toll free +1-888-218-6548 (Outside of USA/Canada +1-705-770-4455).

    Jay Patterson

    Application Engineer

    jay@stream-tek.com

    ]]>     http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/03/removing-oil-air-knife/feed/ 0     Air Knife Systems – Canada http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/02/air-knife-canada/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/02/air-knife-canada/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:28:02 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=213 STREAMTEK Air Knife Systems provide a cleaning and drying solution. They are made in Canada and are backed with an unmatched 6 year warranty.

    Air Knife systems use a high velocity uniform sheet of airflow to shear off moisture and/or clear debris. Our compressed air-operated Air Knives deliver a continuous sheet of hard-hitting high velocity air.

    Choose between two styles of air knives:

    Air Knife – Standard
    Our lowest cost air knife features 30:1 airflow amplification ratio and consumes ~3.4 SCFM per inch @ 80 PSIG.

    Air Knife – Advanced
    Features 40:1 airflow amplification, consumes less compressed air per inch than that of our standard models and has lower operating noise levels.

    ** Mention this blog to a STREAMTEK representative and receive 10% OFF your next Air Knife order. No minimum order required.

    Jay Patterson
    Application Engineer
    jay@stream-tek.com

    ]]>     http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/02/air-knife-canada/feed/ 0     Compressed Air Versus Blowers http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/02/compressed-air-versus-blowers/ http://blog.stream-tek.com/2010/02/compressed-air-versus-blowers/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:57:40 +0000 Jay http://blog.stream-tek.com/?p=201 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

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