AirTec Global LLC

While there are many high-tech products and efficient solutions for nearly every stage of the compressed air system, there is absolutely no replacement for the perfect air compressor. Whether you’re running a small machine shop or overseeing a massive manufacturing facility, using the right compressor is paramount to successful operations.

Finding the Compressor that Fits Your Needs

When selecting a new compressor, there is a lot to keep in mind, but one of the best ways to start is by asking yourself the following questions.

1. How much air pressure do I need?
2. How much air flow do I need

Despite their apparent similarities, air flow and air pressure are quite different from one another, accomplishing very different goals:

• Air Pressure (PSI = pounds per square inch) refers to how much power is needed to accomplish a specific goal at any given moment.
  • Example: It may take 10 psi to make a block move along a table. Anything less, and the block won’t move
• Air Flow (CFM = cubic feet per minute) refers to how much air is needed to repeatedly accomplish a goal.
  • Example: Pneumatic cylinder uses 30 cfm of air to operate properly. Any less, and the cylinder won’t be able to operate with any consistency.

These concepts go a long way in choosing the correct compressor. One of the most common mistakes made when purchasing a new compressor is oversizing, leading not only to massive inefficiencies and resource waste, but also to many mechanical problems.

Because air compressors generally feed air intermittently at different levels, some degree of storage is usually in play. If a compressor is too large, the amount of air generated will not be entirely used after storage, so the compressor ends up storing up small amounts of compressed air and never using it. This isn’t just wasteful, it’s actually harmful to compressor and, over time, can lead to costly breakdowns that may even require replacement.

On the other hand, if the compressor is too small, the lack of performance leads to incomplete tasks and pressure drops throughout the system.

How Airtec Can Help

At Airtec, we work hard to provide perfect solutions for all of our clients, no matter their scale. Purchasing a new compressor is no small task, and we are more than happy to offer our years of expertise in the compressed air industry to help you find the perfect one. We offer free quotes, personal consultations, and custom solutions to provide you with anything and everything you need to operate your system with efficiency.

Additionally, if you want to learn everything you need to know to maintain your own system and make informed air compressor purchases, please feel free to ask us about our compressed air training program. No matter what kind of system you’re operating, you can learn how to make repairs and introduce new level of efficiency to your system.

Contact Airtec today for a free quote or with any questions!

Learning how to maintain your own compressed air system system is one of the best ways to create substantial, long-term energy savings. By working with Airtec’s compressed air system training service, you will gain a new understanding of your own system that will help you achieve a new level of compressed air efficiency. Whether you learn to locate leaks or install new parts to improve your compressed air efficiency, Airtec’s in-depth compressed air training will provide you with the tools you need to take your system to a new level of performance!

A Lot of Ground to Cover

Regardless of your industry, the compressed air component of your system is typically both very complex and very large. In other words, there is a lot of room for things to go wrong. This why the average compressed air system loses around 30% of its produced air, throwing away thousands of dollars every single year.

The goal of Airtec’s compressed air training is to teach you not just how to operate your compressed air system, but to operate it with efficiency. At Airtec, we believe in the power of efficient compressed air systems because we’ve seen firsthand what they are capable of. Beyond the significant financial savings, efficient use of compressed air ensures the longevity of your system, allows you to “go green” and become more environmentally friendly, and reduces the time requirements for system maintenance.

Industrial Air Compressor Training and Air Compressor Maintenance

Compressed air training can help you unlock your system’s potential without breaking the bank. Airtec has decades of experience working the compressed air industry, and our training program is our way of sharing that experience to provide you with insight into your system, knowledge of compressed air products, and an understanding of how to make your own repairs, ultimately setting you on a path towards a completely improved system.

Some of the areas we like to cover in our compressed air training include:

• Learning how to measure compressed air consumption in different parts of the system
• Leak location and finding out which areas are prone to leaks and why
• Point-of-use air consumption control to reduce waste and provide exactly what is needed to different locations
• Gaining an understanding of the vast array of compressed air products, what they are used for, and how they can benefit your system.
• Finding out how much compressed air is necessary on intermittent-use applications

This is just an overview of what we will cover during our training program. As with all of Airtec’s solutions, compressed air training is tailored to fit your system. We aren’t just teaching you the basics (though we do teach the basics!), we’re providing you with an in-depth understanding of your system, from generation to storage to to point-of-use.

If you’re interested in Airtec compressed air training, please feel free to contact us anytime! We so look forward to sharing our experience and helping you create the perfect solutions for your system.

Industrial and manufacturing environments aren’t often considered to be the tidiest places, but as you likely know, maintaining a clean workspace is important for many reasons! Clean workspaces can prevent such problems as:

• Product Contamination
• Ruined Paint, Finish, or Coating
• Clogged or Damaged System Components

And that’s just the damage that can be done by particulate matter! Lack of workspace cleaning can also lead to employee hazards, such as slippery surfaces or loose bits of sharp shaved metal. Just a little bit of cleanup can do wonders to improve the safety and efficiency of your facility, and Airtec offers several cost-effective compressed air solutions you can use to improve your industrial housekeeping.

Drum Vacuums, Chip Vacs, HEPA Vacs, and More!

Airtec carries a variety of different pneumatic vacuums for any industrial cleaning and contaminant removal need you might have. From cleaning fine particles from air filters to removing larger chips and shavings from liquids, Airtec has what you need to maintain a clean workspace.

Here are a few of the industrial cleaning solutions we at Airtec recommend:

Exair Chip Vac

One of Exair’s high-quality products, the Exair Chip Vac can be attached to any ordinary open-top drum, transforming it into a durable industrial vacuum. The chip vac picks up chips and shavings from fixtures, floors, and work surfaces with ease.

Exair Reversible Drum Vac

This Exair-produced Drum Vac attaches to common 55 gallon drums, creating a versatile, rugged vacuum. The Reversible Drum Vac is incredibly powerful, with the ability to fill a 55 gallon drum in less than 2 minutes, and with the flip of a switch, the vacuum reverses, expelling contents wherever they need to go.

Exair Heavy Duty Dry Vac

Designed for most difficult industrial cleanup situations, the Exair Heavy Duty Drum Vac can be attached to 30, 55, or 110 gallon drums. Exair engineered this rugged drum vacuum to be able to handle jagged materials, making industrial cleanup much easier.

Exair Heavy Duty HEPA Vac

Cleaning up tiny particles is an incredibly important task that is often very difficult. For facilities that work with pharmaceuticals or food production, particle cleanup is immensely important to prevent contamination. Exair’s HEPA Vac is capable of removing incredibly fine particles from surfaces, reducing contamination risks.

Exair Chip Trapper

Something of a specific-use item, the Exair Chip Trapper is a valuable tool that removes fragments from used coolants and other liquids. The Chip Trapper captures all solid materials in a reusable filter bag, pumping all liquids back out without any hassle.

Providing Efficient Compressed Air Solutions

At Airtec, we use our decades of experience in the compressed air industry to propose only the best solutions to our customers. That’s why we recommend Exair Pneumatic Vacuums for your industrial housekeeping needs.

At Airtec, we believe that compressed air efficiency doesn’t have to be a distant goal. With a few of our solutions, you will end up saving thousands of dollars in operations costs every year. Contact us today for a free quote and find out just how much you can save!

One of the biggest risks to any compressed air system is the presence of moisture in generated air. Moisture causes issues as serious and wide-ranging as increased wear on moving parts, malfunctioning controls, and false readings from key control instruments, all while significantly reducing overall air quality. That’s why Airtec recommends and offers a variety of different Air Dryers to remove moisture from the supply side of your system with ease!

Air Quality Matters

No matter what industry you are a part of, if your compressed air system is supplying poor quality air, you are going to experience higher operating costs, both short-term and in the long run.

Low-quality compressed air with high levels of moisture can cause wear-and-tear by washing important lubricants off moving parts, rusting and/or clogging pneumatic controls, freezing in control lines in cold weather, and corroding air- and gas-operated instruments, leading to misreadings and unscheduled downtime. Moisture can even damage products on the line, causing incorrect paint, coating, and finish mixtures and turning something as simple as blowoff into an ordeal. These examples might seem severe, but they only truly represent a fraction of the damage moisture in compressed air can cause over time.

It’s easy to see why dry compressed air reduces operating costs, but going beyond reducing costs, dry compressed air allows for a level of efficiency far beyond what is possible using low-quality air.

A System Functioning at Its Peak

A compressed air system functioning efficiently is a valuable asset that can greatly reduce energy costs and, in some cases, increase production. Compressed air systems are too often viewed as something of a “necessary evil,” ignoring the incredible potential for operational improvement that compressed air provides. Dry, clean compressed air increases overall efficiency, reduces the potential for leaks, and minimizes the amount of time needed for compressed air system maintenance, and best of all, it is easily achievable using an air dryer!

Airtec Creates New Levels of Efficiency

Air dryers are among the most economical additions you can make to your compressed air system. Whether you’re interested a refrigerated air dryer or a robust desiccant air dryer, you can sure that the resulting improved air quality will massively benefit your system. No matter your application or scale, there’s an air dryer to fit your needs, and Airtec is always thrilled to help you find the perfect one for you!

Airtec uses our decades of accumulated experience to provide efficient compressed air solutions for every part of the system. We are experts of all things compressed air, and we are dedicated to the idea that compressed air can and should be used efficiently!

At Airtec, we recognize that compressed air solutions are never “one-size-fits-all,” especially in regard to air dryers. That’s why we offer consultations and free quotes to help you decide which air dryer is the perfect onee to fit your application.

Please contact us or ask us for a quote, and get started saving money, time, and energy today!

No matter your industry, using resources efficiently is an important part of successful and fiscally responsible operation, but in the case of industrial or manufacturing facilities that rely heavily on compressed air, efficient resource use isn’t just a goal, it’s a necessity, both for the facility and the environment.

A recent U.S. Department of Energy survey revealed that in a typical industrial facility, around 10% of the consumed electricity is used to generate compressed air, but in some cases, up to 30% of consumed electricity is used for compressed air generation. When so much energy is at stake, waste cannot be tolerated, especially when efficiency goals must be met, but it’s important to remember that efficiency doesn’t only impact your bottom line. Compressed air inefficiency sometime has a much bigger impact than anticipated.

A Much Bigger Impact

As some of you may already know, 2018’s Earth Overshoot Day was on August 1. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, Earth Overshoot Day is the point in the year at which our demand for natural resources exceeds what our planet can renew. This year, Overshoot Day occurred on August 1, just 7 months into the year. To put that into perspective, when Overshoot Day was first conceived in 1970, it occurred on December 29, just 2 days shy of a fully sustainable year. Over the last several decades, Overshoot Day has steadily occurred earlier in the year, until culminating in this year’s Overshoot Day, which is the earliest it has ever been.

Seeing numbers like this can be unnerving, even paralyzing, but it’s important to remember that there are steps we can take every day to minimize environmental impact. In the case of facilities that utilize compressed air, minimizing environmental impact and saving money go hand-in-hand.

Increasing Efficiency

Inefficient compressed air use is among the most common ways manufacturing and other industrial facilities lose money. Take for example, a small 100 HP air compressor. An air compressor this size uses enough energy to sustain 1,800 people on any given day. Unfortunately, a typical system loses about 20% of produced compressed air. So even a 100 HP compressor ends up wasting enough energy to sustain 300 people, senselessly costing your company thousands of dollars and throwing away valuable energy.

At Airtec, we specialize in creating custom solutions designed to help save money through efficient compressed air use. By proposing efficient solutions and introducing high-quality products wherever they are necessary, we are able to ensure that your system functions at its peak, all while reducing both energy consumption and negative global impact.

With Airtec, good for the environment and good for your bottom line aren’t mutually exclusive. Get started saving your valuable compressed air today! Call or email us for a quote, and learn more about how you can achieve compressed air efficiency.

Air. It’s free, right? We have become so acustomed to living surrounded by the mixture of gasses we call atmosphere we often forget it’s there.

But atmospheric air alone is not a productive force. Factories and other productive facilities around the globe use the atmosphere to do work for us – but first, it must be compressed.

A recent survey by the U.S. Department of Energy showed that for a typical industrial facility, approximately 10% of the electricity consumed is for generating compressed air. For some facilities, compressed air generation may account for 30% or more of the electricity consumed.

But the cost of compressed air is not only the energy we use to produce it, we must account for running costs such as maintenance and the cost of the equipment itself.

So, how much does compressed air cost?

It’s generally agreed that compressed air has a cost of roughly $0.25 dollars per every 1,000 cubic feet that are produced.

That means a tiny leak of just 4 scfm can cost close to $500 dollars every year!

So how much is leakage costing your facility?

Give us a call and to see if a leak detection survey is a good fit for you, or maybe our Ultrasonic Leak Detector can help you locate and fix costly leaks.

Contact us to find out how we can help you reduce running costs by optimizing your compressed air system and eliminating waste due to leakage.

Within the manufacturing industry, the need for efficient transportation of certain materials from one part of the line to the other cannot be ignored. Efficient material transportation can create a new level of manufacturing productivity, removing unnecessary steps and reducing waste of resources.

Line vacs are among the best and fastest ways ways to move materials from place to the other, but sometimes, the volume of materials is too large or the materials in use are much too heavy to be effectively transported with a standard line vac. Exair recognized this problem and, as with their other solutions, went above and beyond in creating a product that meets needs and exceeds expectations!

Transport Heavy Materials Greater Distances with the Exair Heavy Duty Line Vac

At Airtec, we’re constantly impressed by the dedication to quality and innovation exhibited by Exair. Exair products have proven themselves time and time again to be standard-setters for compressed air efficiency. The Exair Heavy Duty Line Vacs are no exception.

Designed for even the most rugged industrial application, Exair’s Heavy Duty Line Vacs boast a hardened alloy construction that prevents wear-and-tear even when transporting heavy and abrasive materials like shot blast, tumbling media, or metal fittings. These Line Vacs utilize large throat diameters that make it possible to convey more material over greater horizontal and vertical distances. The Heavy Duty Conveyor is a true powerhouse, with conveying rate about twice that of the average air powered conveyor

Like other air conveyors, the Exair Heavy Duty Line Vacs eject a small amount of compressed air through directed nozzles into the throat, producing a vacuum on one end and high-output flows on the other with an instantaneous response. The conveying rate can be easily controlled with a simple pressure regulator, and no moving parts or electricity ensures that operation is nearly maintenance free!

The Exair Heavy Duty Line Vac is available in seven sizes, up to 3 inches (76mm), all of which fit popular hose and tube diameters. If common pipes are being used for conveying, the Threaded Heavy Duty Line Vac is also available. Like other Exair products, all Heavy Duty Line Vacs are CE compliant and meet all OSHA pressure requirements.

Airtec’s Efficient Solutions

At Airtec, we make it our mission to use efficient compressed air to help manufacturers save time and money all throughout the line. We work hard to craft solutions for our clients that meet their specific needs.

We recommend Exair’s Heavy Duty Line Vac because it ensures that materials can be transported without wasting valuable compressed air, and due to its rugged design, it is unlikely to break down or wear out.

If you are interest in the Heavy Duty Line Vac or other efficient compressed air solutions, please feel free to contact us and find out how your system can become both more cost-effective and more reliable.

A connected air compressor system for the industry of the future.

It is said that humanity is on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution. 

The first industrial revolution was kicked off by the introduction of the steam engine, a clever device designed to create mechanical energy through the use of water vapour. The second industrial revolution was ushered by new technologies like electricity and new concepts like the industrial production line. Then, a third industrial revolution came about when electronic systems, like the PLC, and information technologies were introduced in the late 1960’s that could help further the automation of production.

Today, a fourth industrial revolution is looming with the introduction of “cyber-physical” systems that exist both in the real world and in cyberspace.

Image: Industry 4.0 in Air Compressors – Wikimedia Commons.

The “industrial internet of things”, or IIoT for short, is a vision of a very near future where all physical industrial devices and machinery are interconnected through the internet cloud.

Adding connectivity to your Air Compressors can help you reduce the risk of downtime, plan better maintenance and be more energy efficient.

Cloud Services for your compressed air system – Introducing Airmatics.

Airmatics is an off the shelf solution to help you prepare your compressed air system for the connected industry.

The CMC Airmatics Airtag Module

What benefits does connectivity have?

• Data collected by the system will allow for better decisions on maintenance and operation.
• Allow for direct communication between your compressor and our service team. Remotely Troubleshoot your system.
• Get real time alarms and feedback directly from your machines.

How does it work?

Pay a single purchase and installation fee and get free data and monitoring for 10 years!

Buy an Airmatics kit for each of your compressors, follow our simple instructions and get your compressor connected in a heartbeat.

Talk with a compressed air expert to learn more!

How to increase efficiency on your entire system by eliminating leaks.

Whether you’re working in a machine shop or as a technician in a large-scale manufacturing plant, compressed air is one of the most valuable tools at your disposal. When used efficiently, compressed air is a reliable energy that keeps your equipment operating consistently, even under heavy workloads.

At Airtec, we have decades of experience to our names, and we like to use that experience to help companies achieve high levels of efficiency on their compressed air systems. Just one of the ways we can do that is by targeting problems that commonly appear within a compressed air system.

Like any heavy-use equipment, wear-and-tear is going to occur. In a compressed air system, wear-and-tear commonly manifests as leaks. Leakage is one of the biggest problems in any compressed air system, costing companies a significant amount of wasted energy. In fact, losing 20-30% of produced compressed air to leaks is not uncommon. So what can you do about it?

Detecting Costly Leaks

Unfortunately, the 20-30% of lost compressed air never occurs in a single place. Leakage tends to accumulate from hundreds of sources all throughout the system. Leaks are most typically found in manifolds, hoses, couplings, threads, nipples, and other connections where compressed air can create space over time.

So, now you have general idea of where to start looking! But as you know, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of connections in different areas of your compressed air system. How are you supposed to find these leaks in a noisy environment?

Sometimes, the largest leaks can create the most waste and can generally be heard from several feet away. If you can hear the hissing from a leak, that means that the leak is fairly severe and should be dealt with as soon as possible!!

What can you do?

While large leaks are a significant source of inefficiency, most compressed air is going to be lost in smaller leaks that can’t be heard or seen. For these leaks, you have a few different options:

1. You can spray the area in question with water and soap and watch carefully for bubbles
2. You can purchase an ultrasonic leak detection device that can detect leaks in a noisy environment.
3. Call us! We specialize in detecting, identifying and classifying leaks from largest to smallest. We can then prepare a report to let you know how much energy you can save by repairing them

At Airtec, we take compressed air efficiency seriously, and we want nothing more than to help you reduce energy cost on your system. Please feel free to drop us a line with any questions you may have!

Convey materials through your system without concern of contamination.

Every single time Exair announces a new product, we can’t help but be impressed with their dedication to innovation and quality. No matter how small or simple the part is, Exair finds a way to improve upon it, allowing for increased efficiency and durability. We at Airtec are proud to work with Exair, and we are always excited when get to announce a new Exair product!

Clean Air Conveyor

Within industries like food or pharmaceuticals, keeping the line as clean as possible is important in order to maintain health and safety standards. When components or products are conveyed from one place to another, the method of conveying can easily become susceptible to contamination.

The Sanitary Flange Air Conveyor is the perfect way to convey materials that require extra precaution against contaminants. The ISO 2852-compatible sanitary flanges limit areas where bacteria can grow, preventing the growth of anything that might compromise your product. Additionally, Exair’s Sanitary Air Conveyor is composed of type 316 stainless steel, which is corrosion-resistant and therefore more hygienic.

The Inner Workings

Air conveyors are an extremely efficient way to transport materials. Air conveyors eject a small amount of compressed air, producing a vacuum on one end and high output flows on the other. Materials enter the tube and travel to their destination, where they’re expelled. Response is instantaneous, and compressed air pressure regulation provides infinite control of the conveying rate.

Air conveyors are versatile tools with many practical applications, such as material conveying, part transfer, fiber tensioning, scrap trim removal and filling operations. The Sanitary Flange air conveyor differs from traditional air conveyors in that it is able to convert flanged piping systems into a powerful conveyor for products, parts, scrap, trim and many other bulk materials, creating a clean air flow in the process.

As with all Exair air conveyors, the Sanitary Air Conveyor is CE compliant, meets all OSHA pressure requirements, and is completely ready to ship from stock. They are available in 1-1/2 inch, 2 inch, 2-1/2 inch and 3 inch flange sizes. The Sanitary Air Conveyor starts at $1095.

Other Exair Air Conveyors

If your line doesn’t require the high quality air needed in food and pharmaceuticals, Exair offers several other air conveyor families that can fit hose, tube or threaded pipe. Many different sizes are available, ranging from 3/8 inch hose or 3/8 NPT threads to hose and pipe sizes up to 5 inches. Many other materials are available, including aluminum, type 303 stainless steel, and type 316 stainless steel. Additionally, a Heavy Duty Air Conveyor is available in hardened alloy for abrasion resistance and maximum conveying power.

At Airtec, we help people reach new heights of efficiency every single day using products like Exair’s Sanitary Air Conveyor. No matter the scale of your system, we can find the perfect solution for you. Call or email us today!