We’ve written a lot of articles about air heaters and heat systems over the years. Here’s a roundup to help you navigate the content we have available.
The Fundamentals
If your business uses compressed air to clean, dry, or cool, your air system may not be as efficient as you think – in fact, the worst offenders are less than 10% efficient. For many applications, it is advantageous to convert to a blower based air system which leads to long term cost savings.
Blow-off of water, dust, coolant and other contaminants, drying, cooling, and heating may all be achieved using either compressed air or blower operated systems; there are several factors to consider when choosing the best system for any application utilizing air. Each factor carries varying weight depending on the application specifics and the existing infrastructure. FACTORS
1. Energy cost
2. System cost 3. Maintenance and operating cost 4. Application particulars 5. Availability of electricity 6. Space and weight 7. Noise considerations 1. ENERGY COST
Blower operated systems, particularly for continuous flow applications, are almost always the more energy efficient choice. Some blower installations can reduce energy costs up to 80% over previous compressed air systems. When used for the right application, blower bases systems often have an ROI of less than one year due to significant energy savings.
In applications where the need for air is sporadic or in short bursts, the amount of energy consumed by a compressed air system decreases. In these applications compressed air may be the energy efficient solution. For both system types, implementing a proper control system can further minimize the air and power consumption. TIP: If you're looking to change from compressed air to a blower system or vice-versa, ask your supplier to provide an ROI to see how quickly the change will pay for itself.
We’ve written a lot of articles about blowers over the years. Here’s a roundup to help you navigate the content we have available.
The FundamentalsThe DetailsSpecific Problems
Have a question not covered by one of our existing articles? Let us know! You aren’t the only one wondering.
At its most basic level, an air heater works by passing air across a heated element to elevate the temperature of the air. That hot air can then be used for a variety of applications ranging from heating a space to drying parts and coatings, or from de-flashing plastic components to heating parts in a manufacturing process.
Recommended reading in this series:
Sizing a Heater and Blower
The main variable to consider when sizing the heater is the power–or watts–required for the application. To properly size a blower, the two main variables are pressure and flow. More information about pressure and flow can be found in our article. The choices of heater and blower are interrelated in several ways. Below is an overview of the considerations necessary to select the correct match.
At its most basic level, an air heater works by passing air across a heated element to elevate the temperature of the air. That hot air can then be used for a variety of applications ranging from heating a space to drying parts and coatings, or from de-flashing plastic components to heating parts in a manufacturing process.
Recommended reading in this series: Heater Configuration
There are many different sizes, shapes, and configurations of heaters which vary in complexity. This article will focus on the difference between a Hot Air Blower and an Air Heater
Hot Air Blowers
Some heaters on the market package both the air source and heating element into a single tool. These can range from small hand tools with 400W elements to large industrial units with 10kW elements and everything in between. These have the obvious appeal of simplicity and, sometimes, compact design. For some applications these are ideal but in many situations a system designer requires the flexibility of specifying both the heater and air source separately in order to achieve the best possible results.
At its most basic level, an air heater works by passing air across a heated element to elevate the temperature of the air. That hot air can then be used for a variety of applications ranging from heating a space to drying parts and coatings, or from de-flashing plastic components to heating parts in a manufacturing process.
Recommended reading in this series: Choosing an Air Source
Element type should be taken into consideration when choosing an air source. Generally, a centrifugal blower is chosen for open element heaters; the higher pressures of a regenerative blower are not required because of the lower pressure drop across the heater. Read our article about Understanding Blowers as Part of a System for more information about pressure drop.
Regenerative blowers are often chosen for fully supported element heaters because they are capable of providing more air flow at higher operating pressures, which is necessary to compensate for the pressure drop through the heater. Although centrifugal blowers often have a much higher volumetric output capacity, a regenerative blower will generally result in a higher volumetric flow for the system as a whole when used with a high pressure drop heater. The pressure required from the blower depends strongly on the configuration of the element as the pressure drop can vary considerably from heater to heater. Besides element type, blower choice depends on other downstream connections to the heater that might contribute to the cumulative pressure of a system as well as the specific application. For more information, download our whitepaper on blowers. Many people make the mistake of choosing a heater/blower combination from a catalogue based on maximum flow or temperature values; in reality, there are many factors that influence the correct equipment choice. When you contact your heater supplier they should ask for details of your application to be sure you are choosing the appropriate equipment. If they don’t, we suggest you consider finding an alternate supplier who can ensure that the equipment you purchase is right for your application. Continue reading: Air Heater Basics Part Four: Hot Air Blowers vs. Air Heaters
At its most basic level, an air heater works by passing air across a heated element to elevate the temperature of the air. That hot air can then be used for a variety of applications ranging from heating a space to drying parts and coatings, or from de-flashing plastic components to heating parts in a manufacturing process.
Recommended reading in this series: Types of Elements
Most electric air heaters use coiled elements. Coil elements are made by winding resistance wire on a mandrel, either with a known pitch (the distance between windings) or by starting with a close wound geometry and then expanding the wound wire to the desired pitch. The total length of resistance wire required is determined by the required power of the heater and the supply voltage. The wire element is coiled to make it compact enough to fit into the heater package.
Coil elements can be divided into two categories:
At its most basic level, an air heater works by passing air across a heated element to elevate the temperature of the air. That hot air can then be used for a variety of applications ranging from heating a space to drying parts and coatings, or from de-flashing plastic components to heating parts in a manufacturing process.
Every air heater is comprised of two main components:
Relationship between Volume of Air Flow and Temperature
There is a direct relationship between volume of air flow and temperature. For a constant heating power in kW, an increase in volume of air flow results in a decrease in the output temperature. Energy is required to increase the temperature of any solid, liquid or gas and the amount required is directly related to the mass of the material being heated. As the volume of flow increases, the mass of air to be heated also increases. There is a lower limit to volume of air flow for any heater, where temperature rises to the point where the components are damaged.
See our article on Sizing your Heater and Blower: The Relationship between Air Flow and Temperature for more information. Many people make the mistake of choosing a heater/blower combination from a catalogue based on maximum flow or temperature values; in reality, there are many factors that influence the correct equipment choice. When you contact your heater supplier they should ask for details of your application to be sure you are choosing the appropriate equipment. If they don’t, we suggest you consider finding an alternate supplier who can ensure that the equipment you purchase is right for your application. Continue reading: Air Heater Basics Part Two: Elements We spend a lot of time analyzing the large components of a hot air system – the heaters and blowers – but we should not ignore the secondary components, such as hose, or it can compromise the whole system. In the past, we’ve seen systems that have the correct heater and blower installed but are failing to produce results because of errors in setting up the hose and connections. There are several things you need to consider when it comes to selecting and setting up your hose connections:
Have questions? Give us a call at 905-631-6161 or contact us at info@stanmech.com. With the advent of full bottle shrink labels marketers have had a new world of packaging options open up to them. Never before has it been so easy for small producers to compete for attention on the shelf. Hand-in-hand with shrink labels’ popularity has been the increasing complexity of the shape and design of containers.
When product managers or marketing teams decide on packaging, they often focus on uniqueness and customer appeal and do not put enough focus on possible production difficulties. The container shape chosen could make life difficult for the production person responsible for the quality of shrink on the finished package. The easiest possible container shape for heat shrink labelling is a perfect cylinder. However, this ideal container shape is often eschewed for a more complex—and eye-catching—design, potentially causing problems during label shrinking. Let’s explore some of the shape challenges you may encounter and how they affect shrinking: |