Nitrogen Generators

Nitrogen Generators. In many applications, oxygen is the enemy. Oxygen can cause food to spoil, rubber to deteriorate and steel to rust. The best way to combat the negative effects of oxygen is to supplant it with nitrogen. After all, the air around you is 78% nitrogen. For many years, the only option was to purchase bottled nitrogen. With the introduction of on-site nitrogen generators, users were able to cut the cord and move away from billion-dollar bottled nitrogen suppliers. This will typically lead to a huge financial savings that often results in an ROI of 18 months or less.

The overwhelming main benefit of an on-site nitrogen generator is the financial savings. Those savings can be experienced as soon as the nitrogen generator is in place. 

Dealing with the Reduced Demand of COVID-19

We contacted hundreds of customers many of which are experiencing the same pain points. Those who have stayed open during these uncertain times are experiencing reduced demand/product output. Based on our calls most of our customers have substantially reduced their workload.

As air compressor system experts, it is our recommendation to keep an eye on rapid cycling that can arise from your system operating at a reduced load.

Rapid cycling is when your air compressor rapidly loads and unloads multiple times per hour.

RAPID CYCLING CAUSES:  

1. Moisture build up in the coolant, ultimately causing the air-end to fail prematurely
2. Inconsistent plant pressure
3. Excessive cycling of compressors (multi-machine systems)
4. Oil carryover in oil flooded compressors
5. Rapid wear of inlet valves and other mechanical components

SOLUTIONS:

1) Increase effective storage: This is the first and best solution. Most plants do not operate within the guidelines suggested by most experts, which is 3-5 gallons per CFM of storage.
The following would allow for a smaller tank:

• Steady linear flows in the plant
• Smaller air compressors
• VFD, IM or Variable Displacement controls
• Large pressure band for the compressor system
• Use of a flow controller
  • Adding differential pressure will also increase the effective storage. Doubling the PSID is the same as doubling the storage. However, this is not as efficient as increasing storage.

2) Purchase smaller air compressor: Our experts will work with you to determine if this is the best solution for your current situation. A properly sized air compressor with adequate storage will prevent rapid cycling.

There are other solutions none of which we would suggest unless we have exhausted the above options. Instead, we suggest you bring in an expert to look over your system and make the proper suggestions. Call today to schedule an experienced sales engineer or technician to look over your current operating status and make suggestions.

- Ryan Mol
Sales Manager

Selecting the Best Blower for You

There are three main types of blowers and these are; positive displacement lobe, centrifugal, and high efficiency and depending on the size of the application you can tell which blower is right for your operation. For smaller applications the positive displacement lobe blowers are the right option as their output and pressure can be directly governed by the speed in which you run them at. Centrifugal blowers are used in medium or large wastewater treatment applications. These blowers usually run at a constant speed, but the airflow output can be throttled by the inlet valve. For these small to medium sized operations a Gardner Denver IQ blower package would be the right call, and Best Aire is a certified representative for Gardner Denver.

For the applications that require a large volume of air, you are going to want to use the last kind of blower that was listed earlier and that is the high efficiency blower. These blowers are ideal as they use magnetic bearing that make it super-fast and allow for the fastest payback on investment. When determining the correct blower size, the most important factors to consider are the load, flow, tank configurations, and the specific application you are considering. Once you have selecting your blower you may consider adding a variable frequency device (VFD) to give you better insight and control over your machine.

For more information about blowers or any of the other products and services that Best-Aire may be able to offer you, feel free to reach out to any of our locations spread across Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio. You can also find more information online at www.best-aire.com or give us a call at (800) 968-4422.

Use of Air compressors in the Agricultural Industry

This article will be exploring the importance of air compressors, and choosing the right air house for your company if you are in the agricultural industry. Air compressors have a variety of uses on both animals and produce farms. Taking dairy farms as an example, you would use an air compressor to power the pumps for milking cows or other livestock. Some of the other examples of where you might see and air compressor in this industry include the following. Air compressors might be used for water production, fertilizer, pesticide sprayers, or even to help eradicate greenhouse gases that may have built up. Best-Aire provides a line of oil-less or oil-free compressors as well so that your produce don’t risk any contamination. By investing in an air compressor, you are working towards ensuring your farms daily operations run smoothly.

Another Best-Aire product that can be seen and useful to the agricultural industry are blowers. A blower would be need when you are attempting to move a product such as corn or grain horizontally or up into a silo for storage. Another reason that a blower may be necessary on a farm is that you can use the blower to keep the products in the air while in transit from one location to another. By doing this you are keeping the product from becoming either damaged or contaminated and losing the product. For more information on the products and services that Best-Aire could provide whether you are in the agricultural industry or not, feel free to reach out to any of our location spread across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. You can also find us online at www.best-aire.com