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What is an Air Knife?

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What is an Air Knife?

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An air knife is a cleaning, drying and cooling device used in manufacturing and other processes. By creating a high intensity, balanced sheet of laminar airflow across the entire length of an object, an air knife can clean, dry or cool components, webs and conveyors. Laminar airflow refers to a uniform layer airflow that doesn’t mix with the other layers nearby. Air knives come in two types, linear and circular, and can be made out of aluminum, steel or plastic. An example of an air knife is the high-pressure air-blasting device used at the neighborhood car wash to remove any water, oil and dirt residue from a washed car. Historically, a heat lamp dryer, the alternative to the air knife, was used to remove water particles. The heat lamp dryer however didn’t remove solid phase residue completely and took up more time and space. An air knife, on the the other hand, takes less time, occupies less space and most importantly dries components completely. But drying is only one of the various

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An air knife is a fancy name for using air to blow a substance from a surface. A crude example can be seen in many machine shops. A machine operator will blow metal chips and oil from a newly machined part using a nozzle attached to a high pressure (100 PSI) air line. The same effect can be achieved by using a properly designed nozzle using low pressure air to remove water, oil, dust, and even more viscous contaminants from a surface. Most air knives use low pressure air because it is much less expensive to produce, much safer for workers, and just as or more effective than high pressure air. High pressure air is used in some applications where lower pressures do not supply enough force.

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