Too often during compressed air leak audits, high pressure compressed air personnel cleaning stations are discovered. Use of high pressure compressed air blowing (above 30 psi) is common in plants with dusty environments where workers’ clothing may become soiled. Blow nozzles with safety tips — and pressure regulators used to reduce pressure — are very […]
Air Preparation
Compressed air fair: Blowing control
A board plant production line had a quality problem. When the sheets exited the saw that cut the product into standard dimensions, some sawdust and chips stuck to the surface. When the sheets were stacked, this debris would bind itself to the product and be hard to remove, causing quality problems. Faced with this problem, […]
Energy savings modules provide soft start capabilities, non-fieldbus economy
Festo has expanded its intelligent pneumatic energy savings platform beyond the MSE6-E2M (E2M) with two new modules — the MSE6-C2M (C2M) and the MSE6-D2M (D2M). These modules can pay for themselves in less than a year with the energy savings accrued. The platform provides actionable information that supports quality production. The modules in this platform […]
Compressed air fail: Wet air
Air quality is important to a compressed air consumer — having a cool, clean and dry source of compressed air is essential, especially when food products are coming in contact with the compressed air system output. A food products processor had purchased a very efficient cycling refrigerated air dryer a few years ago to condition […]
Compressed air fail: Modulation lesson
A wood products manufacturer had a problem — it was running out of compressed air capacity. Many times a day, the plant pressure would drop and the workers would lose their most critical production line. Faced with this problem, the Maintenance Manager did a search of the company inventory and found a spare 200-hp compressor. […]
Compressed air fail: Dryer freeze
A large home products manufacturer had its compressed air system pressure hooked up to their building management system. System pressure was continuously monitored and alarms would be sent to facility management if the levels dropped below a set low pressure threshold. The facility was suffering an ongoing problem. Many times a day, low pressure alarms […]
Compressed air success: Agitation
A printing plant used intrinsically safe compressed air powered barrel mixers in its ink storage room to ensure the consistency of the color of the company’s products. These vane type air motors ran continuously day and night to keep the ink from separating. A compressed air auditor measured the agitator load and calculated that the […]
What is compressed air ionization?
A compressed air leakage and end use study was completed by an auditor at a printing plant. A number of leakage points were identified, and during the course of the ultrasound survey a few inappropriate end uses were identified because they, too, produce an ultrasonic signal. One compressed air consumer that was identified as inappropriate […]
Compressed air fail: Ventilation
A metal products processor installed a new 75-kW VSD controlled air-cooled compressor in its plant — located in a separate compressor room. The environment in the plant is full of aerosols produced by the process machinery cutting and milling process, so the ventilation system is the compressor room was updated to bring in 100% outside […]
ControlAir achieves SIL 3 certification for volume boosters
ControlAir LLC is pleased to announce that its Type 6100 aluminum and Type 6200 stainless steel large flow capacity volume boosters were awarded a Certificate of Compliance to IEC 61508 for a SIL 3 safety rating. This is in addition to the larger Type 6500 aluminum and Type 6600 stainless steel volume booster family. SIL […]