Air Kinfe Drying Systems and Air Knives for parts drying, conveyor drying and wet parts

Air Knife Drying Systems for Parts Manufacturing Applications

Sonic Air Systems Drying Systems for the Parts Manufacturing & Process Industries

With the phase-out of chlorinated solvents for parts cleaning by manufacturers and cleaning equipment OEM's, the cleaning process has evolved to mostly aqueous and semi-aqueous cleaning methods. With most parts being cleaned by water, parts drying has evolved enough to ensure 98 to 100% product dryness.

Several different factors need to be considered for the configuration of your drying system, including the size of the drying chamber/zone and the relationship to the rest of the adjacent cleaning and manufacturing processes. It is important to make sure that the drying process doesn't negatively affect the cleaning process and vice versa. Sonic has a very large installed customer base and the resulting experience coupled with their air knife lab (for testing difficult-to-dry products) equates to a system guaranteed to work. Sonic Air Systems Inc. guarantees each system purchased will meet or exceed the designed level of performance.

Throughout every industry production rates have increased in all areas together with more stringent product quality objectives, material and process cost reductions, shorter lead times and all the while minimizing inventory levels. Now PLC's monitor these factors on most production lines and moisture left on the product often contributes to quality and throughput issues. Sometimes compressed air is a viable option for small areas or when just blow-off is required. However, if the target area is relatively large, compressed air capacity limited or continuous operation is required, then a Sonic Air Knife Drying System will likely be more efficient and cost effective.

What is Parts Drying?
Parts drying is blowing off or drying an item being manufactured prior to proceeding to the next stage of manufacturing or final packaging. Following are several examples of projects that we have installed successful systems. For common examples of our parts drying systems visit our Swivel System page.

A manufacturer of railing and other related products was having difficulty removing moisture from the external surfaces of their products. As parts left the washer, they would be placed somewhere in the plant to "air dry", prior to being re-hung on the conveyor and coated with an epoxy

finish. This was slowing down production and taking-up limited manufacturing space.

The solution was installing a Sonic Air Knife Drying System between the washer exit and paint booth. They have dramatically increased manufacturing throughput, reduced coating defects and have used the extra space to increase their manufacturing capabilities.

Pallet Drying
A major pharmaceutical company required a compact pallet washing and drying machine. The nature of this production facility was such that a wet pallet exiting the washing machine could result in subsequent contamination. We worked with the OEM of customized washing machinery to determine what was needed to result in completely dry pallets.

These pallets were made of plastic and were covered with recesses, some were through holes and others simply small cavities. The Sonic Air Knife System used resulted in 100% dryness and involved recirculation of the blower air within the washer back to the blower system to create high temperature high velocity air through the air knives. Sonic assisted with specifying the size of the drying chamber required, how the inlet and outlet size/configuration of the washer and the transition between the washing and drying chamber. Our engineered systems approach and partnership with this OEM has resulted in several more orders for pallet drying equipment for the pharmaceutical industry.

Coating Control
Beyond "drying", Sonic Air Knives are used for other applications such as coating control in the manufacturing of siding, doors, windows and other items that are finished with a "primer coat". This particular manufacturer of high quality siding had an old low velocity blower system supplemented with compressed air nozzles used for blowing-off excess primer prior to entering the oven dryer for curing. The consistency varied too much, which affects how the final product looks in the field, large splatters were impinging on the underside from the top side blow-off action and the dripping in the curing oven resulted in frequent burner maintenance and drive roll issues.

The Sonic Air Knife System that we engineered for their application solved all of these problems and reduced their utility costs by eliminating expensive compressed air.

Tank, Vessel, Tanker Truck, Blender and Mixer Drying Systems
Sometimes between batches it is desirable to dry the internals of various mixing and holding vessels. Sonic manufactures portable drying systems that provide clean, hot air without the use of an external heat source such as a heating coil. You can view their brochure here. If you have an application for a system, please fill out this form and fax to our office at 908.496.8080.

Air Barriers
High velocity air knives can be used for form barriers of air that are used for a variety of applications. When used at the entrance and exit of ovens and freezers, they help keep the air contained within without creating a restriction for products to enter/exit. These air knife barriers have also bee used for keeping windshields clear of dust and storm water on large vehicles, crane cabs and conveyor belts. (see a demonstration video used in a US NAVY wiperless window clearing project).

If you make things wet, we can make them dry ... please fill-out our online inquiry form for a detailed proposal in just a few days.

	T.P.S., Inc. Columbia NJ 07860
	Phone: 908.496.9020	Fax: 908.496.8080	inquiry@fluidproducts.com