Air knife is one tool of technology that is being constantly developed by scientists for greater efficiency and eco-friendliness. These air knives are used to convey compressed air for most of the large drying; cleaning as well as cooling applications. As mentioned earlier, these are being used extensively in all industries and hence it is necessary that they are made eco friendly for maximum results and optimal loss to the environment.

How Does an Air Knife operate?

The air knife usually operates by entraining the adjacent air as well as the compressed air using the "coanda" effect. It then essentially converts the energy which would normally be lost as noise and pressure drop into a laminar (uniform) sheet of air that is projected along the entire length of the knife to provide an air flow that covers the entire surface of the product.

Classification of Air Knives

Air knives have been classified into two types based on their performance viz; The Regular and Advanced. While the former provides good performance with a 30:1 air amplification ratio, the latter provides the best performance with a 40:1 air amplification ratio. Hence the advanced form is more efficient than the regular one. The air consumption for regular air knife is ~3.4 SCFM per inch at 80 PSIG and that of the advanced version is ~2.9 SCFM per inch at 80 PSIG. The regular version is a good option when a less expensive alternative is required. However, it is louder and uses more compressed air than the advanced edition. The advanced version is the best choice due to very low noise levels and using less air than the regular one at same pressure.

Vortex Tube:

The Vortex Tube too has been used effectively as a low cost solution to fulfill the needs of varied industrial spot cooling and process cooling.

Online shopping for Air Knives:

With the beginning of a new technological era of online shopping, air knives are also available online. You can access to them anytime, anywhere and anyplace provided you have a good internet connection